Raspberry Pi Forums

I've really been enjoying looking through the other case designs and ideas. Here's my contribution - the PlyPi



I used 3mm ply and stainless m4 bolts with dome nuts as feet. For more photos and a general post about what the Pi means to me, you can see my blog here - http://singlelensreflections.blogspot.c ... r-and.html

Outstanding - I *really* like this one. We've had some really accomplished homebrew cases pop up here in the last few days; I'm looking forward to seeing more!

you should never power this one up - it should just stay as an ornament - excellent

I think that's the best I've seen so far. Still wondering what to do for mine. Nice work.

This is the best I have also seen, in my opinion. I love it.

That is very good. I may try that in acrylic... or even plywood

That's really nice, very professional finish!

I give up, no chance of beating that.

Love it. I might try the same with some sapele I have...
Can we have a template please?

This does look very smart indeed.

I am sure that a lot of folk would love to buy one, if they could be produced 'in volume'... I know I would!

I certainly don't have the woodworking skills, or the equipment, to even attempt to make anything like that myself.

Montala wrote:This does look very smart indeed.

I am sure that a lot of folk would love to buy one, if they could be produced 'in volume'... I know I would!

I certainly don't have the woodworking skills, or the equipment, to even attempt to make anything like that myself.

I second that. I'd certainly buy one of these. I've looked at quite a few and this is by far my favourite of them all. I may have an attempt at it but my woodworking skills are like Unicorns - non-existent.

Dear all,

Thank you so much for your kind words. One of the things I like most about the Pi has been the great sense of helpful community that's sprung up with it. This is another example and it really is appreciated.

I've been wanting to put together a wooden computer case for a while now and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. This was a first attempt and I am sure that with experience I could come up with a few improvements, but then again what in life can't be improved with a bit of hindsight!

Lorian wrote:Love it. I might try the same with some sapele I have...
Can we have a template please?

I'm away from home at the moment and forgot to scan the templates to keep with me. If I can get someone to dig them out and scan them for me, then I'd be very happy to share them individually, but honestly they're a bit rough for public consumption!

Montala wrote:This does look very smart indeed.

I am sure that a lot of folk would love to buy one, if they could be produced 'in volume'... I know I would!

Thank you! As I just said, I'm away from home (and so away from most of my tools) and so can't get any made for the next couple of months. If you were still interested then, I'm sure I could put something together. But volume's pretty much out of the question with the tools I have. It's not impossible...but it is for me, alas.

bredman wrote:I give up, no chance of beating that.

Never give up...never surrender! As I said, there are flaws in this and everyone has different tastes. And there are a million and one genius ideas for cases just floating in the ether ready to be snared.

rurwin wrote:That is very good. I may try that in acrylic... or even plywood

I'd love to see how you get on! Just don't make it too good - I don't want my shoddy cutting skills exposed on the forum

SN wrote:you should never power this one up - it should just stay as an ornament - excellent

Too late It's rather lovely working with the PlyPi sat beside me. And in all seriousness, I was worried about the SD card sticking out being a bit vulnerable. With this design the card is protected by the legs/arms/bobbly bits.

Anyway, I must get on. My glamorous assistant has just ordered some materials on ebay for a new case idea I had the other day. Wish me luck! And thank you all again.

themanoutside wrote:

rurwin wrote:That is very good. I may try that in acrylic... or even plywood

I'd love to see how you get on! Just don't make it too good - I don't want my shoddy cutting skills exposed on the forum

Looking at it again, the layers can not be independent; you have to glue some of them together because otherwise you wont get any casing between the USB and Ethernet sockets for example. So all acrylic is out, since if you glue layers together it looks rubbish.

But if you just inserted one acrylic layer -- the one next to the LEDS, and maybe extended it over the LEDs... Then you might get a light-pipe/fibre-optic effect arround a large part of the circumference.

rurwin wrote:Looking at it again, the layers can not be independent; you have to glue some of them together because otherwise you wont get any casing between the USB and Ethernet sockets for example. So all acrylic is out, since if you glue layers together it looks rubbish.

But if you just inserted one acrylic layer -- the one next to the LEDS, and maybe extended it over the LEDs... Then you might get a light-pipe/fibre-optic effect arround a large part of the circumference.

I've never worked with acrylic. Might it be possible to weld it together in some way? What is the problem with glue? Is it an issue of an uneven layer on the plastic? Would it be possible to lay down a piece of broad double sided tape as the adhesive?

I don't really want to give the game away on my next case, but I think it's something that would work very nicely with a bit of acrylic.

Amazing looking case! Perhaps you could countersink the bolts and raise the side up a bit on the top, and lower on the bottom so you could make them stackable. Have you had any problem with overheating? I am working on one like this, but out of plastic and with an LED showing power on. I will post a few images later. Keep working on this one, it looks great!

benedict3578 wrote:Amazing looking case! Perhaps you could countersink the bolts and raise the side up a bit on the top, and lower on the bottom so you could make them stackable. Have you had any problem with overheating? I am working on one like this, but out of plastic and with an LED showing power on. I will post a few images later. Keep working on this one, it looks great!

Ha! Nice idea re: stackability. I'd not thought about it, but that makes a great deal of sense. It would require another couple of layers, and probably wouldn't be something I'd want to make (I have enough trouble using one of them at a time!)...but still...

I've not had it powered on for long time periods thus far, but temp seems fine.

When you say an LED showing power on - this is a separate LED from the one on the Pi itself? How are you setting that up, if I might be so nosy?

Nice to see something other than the "me too" acrylic ones, well done.

really really nice,

themanoutside wrote:I've never worked with acrylic. Might it be possible to weld it together in some way? What is the problem with glue? Is it an issue of an uneven layer on the plastic? Would it be possible to lay down a piece of broad double sided tape as the adhesive?

The problem is that you can see the glue; even if it's just a solvent, it distorts the polished surface. So instead of a crystal-clear block, you end up with layers of transparency with a mess between them. Double sided tape might look more even, but it wont be invisible.

If might be possible to weld acrylic, but probably not at home, and even more definitely, not so you couldn't see the join. It is possible to cast it, but now you're back in the realm of having it made.

It should also be possible to mill it, and the raw materials would not be expensive, but you need a milling machine, and then it would take ages with emery cloth and metal polish to get it transparent again.

rurwin wrote:

themanoutside wrote:The problem is that you can see the glue; even if it's just a solvent, it distorts the polished surface. So instead of a crystal-clear block, you end up with layers of transparency with a mess between them. Double sided tape might look more even, but it wont be invisible.

It should also be possible to mill it, and the raw materials would not be expensive, but you need a milling machine, and then it would take ages with emery cloth and metal polish to get it transparent again.

Hi

It is possible to glue without distorting the polished surface. I once worked for a Smoke Machine Company (the type you get in Discos, Theatres, etc) and we used to have a see though Smoke Machine in the entrance hall (I built it) and it was glued together. Unfortunately I can't remember what the glue was as this was nearly 20 years ago.

Yes it does seem to take for ever to polish the material using finer and finer wet and dry followed by in my case Brasso.

Cheers

Paul

nicest case I have seen in wood...!!!

nicely done!

very nice

Yes, very nice indeed!

Beautiful