Finally got my account working (I think) after 7 weeks. Will post more details soon once I review this website a bit to see how it works. Looking to make a zero cost case out of scrap materials I have lying around. Haven't done this type of thing since the 80s. Hopefully I'll come up with something a little different.
Sorry about the registration pains, we are desperately awaiting a proper Captcha being put in place, otherwise we have to manually vet several thousand new members daily. Ohh, and welcome aboard.
I’m almost complete with the build but was unable to post so I’ll document some of the history of what I did so far. Here is my computer/auto parts graveyard. Within here I will find the raw materials to make my case. I see some very elaborate designs out there so I plan to keep my case simple and not go too crazy with fabrication. I use my Raspberry in different locations and use all ports (including RCA video) so my case needs to be functional and practical and not just a display piece.
I have it narrowed down to these pieces. I won't use everything here but my case will use some portion of each item. Polycarbonate will be the dominant material. I knew I would use that Windows 95 CD again some day.
Complete. I used some old CDs to construct my case. I attached rubber feet to the bottom CD and I’m using hex standoffs removed from a VGA port to mount the Pi. I used an old brake line from a 78 Mustang to make spacers to mount the top CD an inch above the Pi. With this open design there are no heat dissipation worries, all ports are easily accessible with no ESD concerns and the LEDs reflect very nicely off the CD surface. I also mounted the Pi to provide easy access to insert/remove the SD card. I didn’t like the micro-USB port and I had a few 5v supplies with the barrel type plug so I mounted an old jack I removed from a headset amplifier to the bottom CD to supply power via GPIO and added an on-off switch removed from a set of Labtec speakers to the hole on the top CD. I also mounted an rj11 jack to the bottom CD and wired it to GPIO where I am running a standard phone cable connected to an IR receiver(using this to send remote codes that CEC wont pass through). I also added the Raspberry logo pattern behind the clear portion of the top CD to give it an authentic look. Since I used recycled parts the total cost to build the case was $0 and these old CDs will not end up in a landfill for 1000 years. I see some elaborate case designs and wanted to present something simple and provide a unique look that was attractive and functional.
