PSCD32 Development Diary

Ask the Question

I've been working on a new microcontroller project to substitute old game controllers for my Amiga CD32 with modern playstation clone controllers. https://twitter.com/SkullKidUK/status/1168955214793236480 The gadget works lovely, so I'd like to make an enclosure with 3d printing. I've never done this before so I don't have much of a frame of reference for what is good design. http://www.mrdictionary.net/stuff/2019/3d/blender13.png http://www.mrdictionary.net/stuff/2019/3d/blender12.png My design here is two pieces: a base and a lid that slides down on top. The base has a set of walls to keep the board roughly in place (I didn't design the PCB with mounting screw holes) and a set of posts to jam the two cables in an S shape like a PC keyboard to keep it steady. The walls are 3mm, except for the sliding together parts which are 2mm, which come together to make a side wall of 4mm. The enclosure is 110mm by 64mm by 30mm tall (mostly because I used a tall chunky LDO regulator I had to hand rather than a flat mounted one). This isn't going to be the final layout or design; I'd just like to practise designing and have a nice shell for my prototype. :) My blends, stls and wip pics are at: http://www.mrdictionary.net/stuff/2019/3d/ My questions are: - Does this design make sense for 3d printing? I understand that I'd have to let the software prepare the underside of the top piece with supports which I'd dremel out. Or I'd print it upside down? - How long would it take approximately? I'd like to get an upper and lower piece printed at a maker night/day but I believe something that big might take up to an hour per part? Also I don't want to hog the thing if there's demonstrations going on. --- I've put my STLs into Ultimaker Cura to see if they're compatible. There's no errors with loading my project, but the printing times seem way higher than I thought. https://imgur.com/a/Ys2so9q Is 4h44m standard for a print with very little detail? The size of the project is 121x66x26mm (two halves this size, and Ultimaker is suggesting a wide automatically added floor)
Hi Matt That doesn't sound too bad - 3d printers are pretty slow. It isn't a problem if you have to leave a print running and come back to collect it another time. It's best to stick a Post It note or label on the printer with your details so we can stick it on the finished print to identify it (or get in touch if something goes wrong). Jackie