Laser Cut Bus Pirate Case V3

[IPenguin]

ril3y,

for non-native English speakers English and English are two different languages when it comes to explaining technical details - in particular if you are an EE or not used to technical English at all and try to explain mechanical details (I say this from experience) ;)

I think I had a pretty similar idea to what pppd tried to explain but I kept quiet because I didn't know how to express myself precisely (without looking up too many words) :D Let me try:

Because you can't put the PCB directly on the metal plate (bottom layer) pppd suggested to put an extra acrylic layer with a rectangular cut-out (the dimensions of the cut-out being slightly smaller than the footprint of the PCB) right above the metal plate that would act as a spacer for the PCB - this layer should be 1/8 thick as the contacts of the headers stick out more than 1/16 from the bottom side of the PCB.

This would lead to something like this (from top to bottom):
1. acrylic cover layer with breakouts for the vertical connectors/headers and the USB connector/jack
2. acrylic layer 1 (1/8) surrounding the Bus Pirate PCB
3. acrylic layer 2 (1/8) surrounding the Bus Birate PCB
4. extra acryl layer that acts as a holding frame and spacer for the Bus Pirate PCB - with a rectangular hole/cut-out in the middle that is slightly smaller than the PCB ... allowing the sides of the PCB to rest on this frame - so the contacts on the underside of the PCB will not touch the metal plate.
5. metal base layer with threaded holes for the screws (yup, it will require longer screws)
6. rubber feet

P.S. acryl(ic) == plexiglas, PMMA

ril3y, your design is great ... we love the Bus Pirate and use it quite a bit. So we look for a "heavy duty" version of your design, toss in our ideas and I will buy one or two regardless if there will be an option with a metal plate or not. :) :)

[ril3y]

Just out of curiosity what do you guys use it for?

As for ruggedness goes,  its pretty tough bro.  I can even get some Lexan vs Plexiglass if you would like it stronger.

Polycarbonate, aka lexan, is a tough and durable plastic material which is hundreds of times stronger than glass and many times stronger than acrylic.  Polycarbonate will meet those demanding  applications where glass and acrylic fall short.

Thats what lexan is.  Anyhow I will see what I can do to get the cases on the webstore asap.

Ril3y

[IPenguin]

I use the BP to "hack" undocumented/proprietary equipment, monitor/reverse-engineer serial protocols even in the filed and for debugging ... well, just started doing such things about two weeks ago after the first BPs v3.0 arrived. Before we used far bulkier equipment ...

I am not so much concerned about scratches on the case as the weight. Like ian and pppd I'd like it heavy enough so it will stay in place where I put it and not get pulled around/down by the USB cable.

Looking forward to see the final product on your web store ... made the link to your blog sticky but had problems accessing the shop !?!?

[ian]

It sounds like we're all eager to buy and mod a case :) For shipping costs, its probably best to make the parts as light as possible. I'll be looking at ways to add weight, or rubber feet that don't slide, to mine.

[pppd]

Thanks IPenguin, that's exactly what I was trying to explain :) I was about to do some drawing, but thanks to you it's now all cleared up.

Ian is right about the weight, I hope that shipping to Europe won't be more expensive than the case itself :)

[IPenguin]

Looks like ril3y fired up his SYNTHETOS LABORATORIES online store and has this neat fancy case for the Bus Pirate V3 up for sale, finally :)