When you have a CNC machine and modern power tools, making a transparent case from wood and plexiglass for the power supply (and other products) with your own hands is not so difficult. But how to get out of the situation if there is no such equipment, but there is a desire to work with these materials.
Below we describe the process of making a homemade transparent case for a power supply using only simple and accessible tools. There are also many useful recommendations regarding the processing of plexiglass. You will learn how to cut it, adjust the parts to size, and drill holes in them, including rectangular ones. One of the simplest ways to connect wood and plexiglass is clearly shown. Additionally, there is information on how else you can fasten these materials together.
Tools and materials
To make a homemade transparent case you will need the following consumables:
- transparent plexiglass about 5 mm thick;
- wooden board or plywood with a thickness of at least 10 mm;
- self-tapping screws with a countersunk head – 12 pcs;
- small bolts with nuts – 4 pcs;
- rectangular button 250 V and at least 2 A;
- sandpaper with grit P100 and P240;
- mineral or synthetic motor oil;
- assembled printed circuit board with mounting holes.
In order to get a finished product from all of the above, you should prepare the following tools and devices (only accessible and cheap ones were specially taken):
- electric drill;
- wood drills with a diameter of 3 mm and 10 mm;
- countersink;
- wood hacksaw;
- clamp;
- metal hacksaw with blade;
- crosshead screwdriver;
- ruler;
- black marker.
If you have an electric jigsaw, a router, a screwdriver and a grinder at your disposal, then all this will significantly speed up the manufacturing process. However, you can quite easily do without these rather expensive tools. After all, one of the key objectives of the material is to show how to make a transparent case using only budget tools.
Manufacturing of wooden body walls
Let's start with the simplest operation, that is, with the manufacture of body parts from wood, that is, its end walls. For these purposes, you can take either wooden planks with a thickness of at least 10 mm, or plywood of the same size. Even the remains of some kind of platband or cuttings of lining will do. It is not recommended to use chipboard or OSB, as these materials are not very suitable for the manufacture of small products.
The dimensions of the parts in the presented example are 70x50x10 mm. Naturally, if you are making a case for any of your products, then the width and height of the end walls are selected individually. It is advisable to leave only the thickness of the wood unchanged, since in thinner pieces it will be difficult to make the correct holes by hand.
The cheapest way to cut out such simple parts is with a regular hacksaw. For a more accurate result, it is recommended to use a miter box and an abrasive saw. In fact, such small workpieces can be made even with a hacksaw. Again, if you have an electric jigsaw, the task only becomes easier.
Much more important than cutting wooden blanks is their fit. They must be absolutely identical and, at the same time, have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. Without professional carpentry tools, this problem can be solved with just one clamp and P100-grit sandpaper. The abrasive is fixed on a flat surface, and the parts are connected to one another and polished until the edges are completely mated.
Manufacturing of body parts from plexiglass
Working with plexiglass without any CNC machines is a little more difficult than working with wood. Although this is a fairly malleable material at first glance, if not processed correctly it constantly melts, bubbles, cracks and scratches. However, it is quite possible to cope with these difficulties, armed with the information presented below.
First of all, we determine the dimensions of the parts. They are selected depending on the length and width of the end walls made of wood. First, any two opposite sides are made, then the remaining pair. If anyone is interested, in the example the dimensions of the side walls are 140x70 mm, and the top and bottom are 140x50 mm.
Now about cutting plexiglass. The cheapest and most reliable way to cut this material is to use a regular hacksaw for metal.You can also perform cutting using a special knife, homemade devices, engravers, electric jigsaws, milling cutters, and so on.
If, nevertheless, you decide to use a hacksaw for metal, then before performing the work you need to learn just a couple of tricks to avoid known problems. Firstly, with such sawing, plexiglass can melt due to friction. Secondly, markings made with a marker can be difficult to wash off, especially if it is permanent. Thirdly, plexiglass is very easily scratched, which significantly spoils the appearance of the finished product (as in the photographs in the example).
So, let's look at methods for solving the problems described above. To prevent plexiglass from melting when cutting with a metal blade, it must be pre-treated with regular motor oil. Moreover, you can lubricate both the blade itself and the cutting line. If you apply oil to plexiglass, it will be possible to cut it without any problems even with an electric jigsaw, and the material will not melt.
The first thing that comes to mind about removing permanent marker is regular medical alcohol. Yes. It copes well with marker marks, but there is one problem. The fact is that when alcohol gets on the edge of organic glass, it gives noticeable cracks. To avoid such problems, it is better to use a regular felt-tip pen to apply markings. An even better option would be a nail, which can easily scratch a cutting line on the plexiglass.
And one last point. To protect acrylic glass from accidental scratches, it should be sealed with regular masking tape before cutting and processing. In the example shown in the photo this was not done, and the result can be clearly seen. Although all work was carried out very carefully.Masking tape will not interfere with sawing, sanding, drilling, or assembly. And the problem with marker marks disappears automatically.
After cutting the plexiglass parts, they need to be adjusted to size. This can also be done on sandpaper secured to a flat base. The material will also melt, but in this case it is better not to use oil. It is much more effective to use ordinary water - it will perfectly cool the plexiglass during grinding, preventing it from melting.
Rectangular hole in plexiglass
If everything is more or less clear with round holes, then without special tools it is not so easy to make a rectangular mounting socket for the same switch. There are two ways to solve this problem. Both are simple.
If you have the same electric jigsaw (or a manual one), then we simply drill small holes in the corners of the future nest, insert a nail file into one of them, and work around the perimeter. Don't forget about lubrication. If there are no jigsaws, then we take a regular drill, the diameter of which is as close as possible to the width of the seat on the body. We drill one or two holes, and then refine it to a rectangular shape using a regular cheap needle file.
In the latter case, the processing will be much faster and easier if the plexiglass is first fixed motionless. It is also worth first working with a file at an angle of 45 degrees on both sides of the workpiece, and only then aligning the edge at a right angle.
Assembling a body made of wood and plexiglass
When all the blanks are made, all that remains is to assemble them into one product. First, let's look at the options for attaching plexiglass to wood. Glue is not entirely suitable in this case, since traces of it will be visible through the transparent material.In the end, it won't look very good.
The simplest approach is self-tapping screws with a countersunk head. If they are distributed symmetrically, they will not spoil the appearance of the product. To assemble in this way, you will need a drill, a drill with a diameter smaller than the hardware itself, and a countersink.
Two adjacent workpieces are mated and fixed together using a clamp. It is better to use two small ones, since the compression force plays a big role here. The fact is that when a drill passes through plexiglass into wood and the parts are weakly fixed, they are sure to move, which is unacceptable. When the holes are ready, we make a seat for the head and screw in the screws. We do the same with all the walls of the body.
It is also worth noting that using self-tapping screws is not always the best approach to solving such problems. Such a connection will lose strength after several assemblies and disassemblies. Therefore, it should be used only in cases where your device will not be opened often.
If you need a transparent case with the possibility of endless disassembly, then instead of self-tapping screws, use special threaded bushings and countersunk screws. In this case, the bushings are first screwed into the wood, and then the screws are screwed into them. Such a connection is absolutely not inferior to self-tapping screws in terms of strength, but in terms of functionality it is significantly superior.
After a trial assembly of the case, all that remains is to integrate the filling into it. To attach the printed circuit board, holes are made in the bottom, and bolts and nuts are used to secure it. If there are special radio mounting posts with appropriate threads, then it is preferable to use them. The button shown in the example locks itself. Additionally, we provide outlets for wires or holes for connectors, and assemble everything according to the diagram.If desired, add rubber or plastic feet.
As a result, we get an excellent transparent case for our crafts. Despite its rather fragile appearance, it is quite durable. In addition, plexiglass does not conduct current, so the case is safe from this point of view. If you don’t like the presence of wood in the product, then you can use thick plexiglass instead. However, unlike wood, it will have to be threaded for screws or bushings.
