Makerbeam cases

Andythe Random · 18 Oct 2021 at 13:10

Has anyone built their own case using makerbeam?
I have ordered the starter set and some extra bits, looking forward to starting to play with it.

chroniclard · 18 Oct 2021 at 13:15

Never heard of before but looks quite good fun.

Fluffybob · 18 Oct 2021 at 13:44

I would be very interested in seeing your progress on this.

Andythe Random · 18 Oct 2021 at 16:40

Fluffybob said:
I would be very interested in seeing your progress on this.

I will put updates recording my incompetence here

Ice Tea · 19 Oct 2021 at 07:50

Expensive Meccano kit.

Andythe Random · 19 Oct 2021 at 12:14

Ice Tea said:
Expensive Meccano kit.

Basically

Andythe Random · 20 Oct 2021 at 15:43

First little play last night.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Jay85 · 20 Oct 2021 at 16:04

The case im building in uses the same beams, made by GEEEK.

Mr Evil · 20 Oct 2021 at 19:13

I made a case out of generic t-slot extrusions, which is basically the same stuff. It's absolutely great for putting together boxy things with very little effort required.

Andythe Random · 20 Oct 2021 at 20:03

That is some chonky extrusion, what size is it, 20mm? Larger?

Mr Evil · 20 Oct 2021 at 20:23

30mm. Strong enough that it's safe to stand on. Well, safe for the case, not for me given the wheels on the bottom.

Jay85 · 21 Oct 2021 at 10:39

Mr Evil said:
30mm. Strong enough that it's safe to stand on. Well, safe for the case, not for me given the wheels on the bottom.

How light is it? Are they aluminium?

Might try something like this for my next proper case, be good designing your own case using these + acrylic panels.

Mr Evil · 21 Oct 2021 at 16:29

Jay85 said:
How light is it? Are they aluminium?

Might try something like this for my next proper case, be good designing your own case using these + acrylic panels.

It's 14.7kg for the case alone. I thought that was pretty heavy when I built it, but modern commercial full-tower steel cases can be even heavier. The extrusions are aluminium. I have an article about it on my website if you want to read more.

Jay85 · 21 Oct 2021 at 16:35

Mr Evil said:
It's 14.7kg for the case alone. I thought that was pretty heavy when I built it, but modern commercial full-tower steel cases can be even heavier. The extrusions are aluminium. I have an article about it on my website if you want to read more.

Nice will have a read up on it on your website tonight. That's surprisingly heavy! I would've though it would have been much much lighter than that.

Mr Evil · 21 Oct 2021 at 16:50

Jay85 said:
Nice will have a read up on it on your website tonight. That's surprisingly heavy! I would've though it would have been much much lighter than that.

A lot of the weight is from the 30mm extrusions, which are much stronger than they need to be. I would have used 20mm but the choice of connectors was better at 30mm. The 10mm that Makerbeam uses is probably more appropriate for a PC case, though it doesn't look strong enough to be able to sit on the case.

Andythe Random · 24 Oct 2021 at 21:48

Basic frame is done, I need to wait for the standoffs to arrive before I can do much more.
There will likely be more beams for hardware mounting before it is done.

Ice Tea · 25 Oct 2021 at 07:34

Do they supply break out plates for USB and the power & reset buttons?

Andythe Random · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:05

Ice Tea said:
Do they supply break out plates for USB and the power & reset buttons?

Not that I can find, I am planning to make something out of 3mm mdf to start with, as it is cheap and easy to work. I may then switch to another material once I am happy with my configuration.

Ice Tea · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:27

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rfvtgb-Desktop-Computer-External-Restart-black/dp/B09CKWJCFW

Amazon do a power and reset switch but apart from looking fugly i can't imagine those surface mount switches or the plastic front lasting very long.

Andythe Random · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:51

Yeah, I did look at those, among others. I decided to get a "vandal" switch from the lazer3d accessories selection instead. I could probably get an equivalent elsewhere cheaper, but decided preferred to get it from overclockers for the better after sales support.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lazer3d-lz7-16mm-vandal-led-switch-pre-wired-white-ca-03j-lz.html
They do also have a couple of full front panel options there, but since I already had usb3 and usb-c pci slot adapters(below) and did not want audio I decided to just get the switch.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-usb-3.1-gen-2-type-c-pci-slot-plate-adapter-cb-12q-ak.html