Custom project enclosures

Community Chit Chat
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Anyone know of any good sources or advice on creating custom project enclosures? I have a project I have been working of for what seems like forever now, and the big item looming ahead is putting it all into some enclosure. In my case I’ll have some displays, switches, knobs, capacitive touch switch, LEDs, Arduino, RTC, and a solder-able breadboard. I’ll also want it to look nice.

Some items work great on a breadboard, but don’t have any obvious way to attach to a box. The [Rotary Switch - 10 Position looks like it was designed to be mounted in an enclosure. The https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ro … okup-guide even has an installation section. However, consider the [Rotary Encoder - Illuminated (Red/Green). The only thing I can think of is to attached it to the [SparkFun Rotary Encoder Breakout then somehow build a bracket on the inside of the enclosure to trap it and keep it from moving. Is there a better way?

Topics:

  • - Enclosure design and creation
  • - Enclosure materials (plastic, wood,...)

    • wood would likely look the nicest (depending on skill)

    • plastic can be 3D printed

    • metals are probably best avoided

  • - Mounting components (switches, buttons, displays, ...)
  • - Mounting boards
    • Use standoffs
  • - Venting
    • How much?
  • - Power and other external connections
    • Mount boards like Arduino in correct position so matching holes in case align with power/USB connectors
  • - Easy Internal access for changes and of course debugging
    • ](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11722)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15140)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13253)
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    You might look at the [RGB rotary encoder instead, it has a bushing and nut to hold it to an enclosure. If you don’t need the blue channel, you can just leave it disconnected. :-)](Rotary Encoder - Illuminated (RGB) - COM-15141 - SparkFun Electronics)

    3

    jfbauer:
    Anyone know of any good sources or advice on creating custom project enclosures?

    https://www.polycase.com/customized-enclosures