Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Making Casings for Prototype Electronic Devices?

Posted by Cliff on from the product-demos-done-on-the-cheap dept.

kiddailey asks: "I'm working on a project for self-enrichment that involves creating a working prototype of an electronic device. I've made a model of the basic shape of the device out of Sculpey (tm) and want to use it as a mold to make the actual plastic housing that I can then insert the electronics into. Has anyone done something like this before? Is there any way to achieve this without a significant R&D buget?"

3 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Depends how small it is by Yarn · · Score: 4, Informative

    I generally use wood, light, strong, cheap, but labour intensive to shape. And flammable :)

    --
    -Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent
  2. You are asking about material science by forkspoon · · Score: 1, Informative

    You are discussing the job of people who practice materials science. Materials scientists study a lot of chemistry and some physics and also learn a lot about shaping solids. Other areas of interest are molecular structures of certain materials and manipulating various structures tiny scales either chemically or mechanically to produce the indented material or structure.

    Try finding a machinist or a materials science firm that does designs for and implements commercial plastic or metal housings for consumer products. These firms are few and far between, and most material scientists work directly for companies that mass produce products, but you should be able to find someone to help you. The best bet for you would be to come up with a detailed design for the housing and hire a firm to produce prototypes for you according to the design. The shaping of plastic and metals is not something you can really do in your home, unless you are a materials scientist or you have a great deal of knowledge and experience with such things.

    Thanks,

    Travis
    forkspoon@hotmail.com

  3. Moldmaking.. by RapaNui · · Score: 3, Informative

    You could always use that as a 'plug' (male model) from which to make a female mold (out of glassfibre or plaster).
    You can then make a thin shell casing from the female mold, in glassfibre or carbon (looks _very_ cool).

    Hydrocal is a hard plaster/cement type compound that works _really_ well for short run molds, or for one-off parts, generic plaster works well. If the shape is complex, eg. has undercuts, then you'll need to make the mold from silicone. Check out Special Effect Supply, they seem to stock a lot of the stuff.

    Once you have the mold, you can then lay up a part using polyester (Yuck!) or epoxy resin and glass, carbon or kevlar fabric. Glass fabrics are now also available in colors (I've seen red, silver and blue) if you don't want to paint the final part. Another option is to cast the part using a polyurethane resin, (try ProCast
    )
    You will probably have to make a multi-part mold in order to define a wall thickness, though.

    Maybe check out FibreGlast for some ideas.

    There are _much_ more elegant ways to do this (eg. CNC machining), but molded glass or polyurethane is probably about the easiest / cheapest method of prototyping this sort of thing. With a bit of effort, you can get _really_ professional looking results.