Custom Case for a Small Electronic Board

I wanted to protect a LM2596 DC-DC step down power board with a transparent case, recycling the plastic case of a musicassette. I was able to obtain a cheap but robust case with the minimal dimensions. This approach can be used for any board with compatible sizes.

Material:

One musicassette case

Transparent adhesive tape

Tools:

Small hacksaw

Sandpaper

Drill and bits

Sharp cutter

The most convenient part of the musicassette case is the one that has the two reel centerings.

When you place the board in one corner, as it were in the final case, you may notice two fins that may disturb its correct positioning. The purpose is to have the board touching the case along its sides so it is possible to keep it firmly in place when the case is assembled. In this exercise I removed only one fin with a sharp cutter, keeping the other as spacer to have some reserved room for the wires.

Cut the case in two parts of the same size, than place the board inside one part and use the other as cover. Make the sides of the board touch the case and with a marker draw the lines at the corners to remove the excess of material.

I suggest to use some drops of water on the hacksaw to prevent the overheating of the plastic material due to the friction.

Make a pre-assembe using the trasparent tape to exclude that the board has any freeplay with the case. If necessary use sandpaper to reduce the lenght of the sides so the board is held firmly by the case.

Drill the holes for the wires and assemble again the two semi-parts to locate the hole for the trimmer. Mark the spot, disassemble, make the hole then make the final assembly.

You can use some drops of hot glue to fix the board to one of the semi-parts of the case. In this way the final assembly is easier becase there are less parts to be kept in place with fingers when you wrap the transparent tape around the case.

That's it, enjoy! :-)

I was happy with the results, but I also realized that the remainings from the musicassette case could still be used to somehow protect the cassette, so I used the stransparent tape to join the two parts together and assemble it again.