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Im doing a run of Laser Cut ZN Cases!
Its summer, so most the architecture majors have gone home, meaning the university laser is much less busy! This means I should be able to set up jigs and cut some cases! While I personally am not a fan of the ZN cases, I have received MANY requests for a laser cut ZN case, so Im finally caving an offering to do a batch. This run of cases will be all the same, so I can hit cut, swap out the case, and repeat. This will also allow me to pick ones that came out the best, and not send any lemons. I will be reusing the assets for the PiiWii pocket, so all of the gamecube buttons will be a perfect fit for the case.
I want your feedback on the case design!
The case design is a work in progress, and will be "crowd sourced". I welcome any feedback, but I will have the final say on design. Holes will be cut on the face, but not the top or bottom plates. Every person will want a different port and shoulder button placement. These are mostly round holes, and can easily be cut with a drill.
Pricing info
The expected price of the case will be $30-$40. The cases from PolyCase are $10, but shipping is expensive, and I want to cover my ass for duds. Because the polycases are made from thick ABS plastic, laser cutting requires several passes (about 35 in this case) and sometimes cases come out as duds. I want to be able to purchase and cut more cases than people order, so I can ensure everybody gets a quality case. I am expecting to make much, if any, money on this.
Design Issues and "Danger Zone"
A laser can only cut along a flat surface where the laser can focus. The curved edges, noted on by the area between the purple lines, cannot be effectively cut by a laser, and would need to be hand cut. This area will be referred to as the danger zone.
Decisions:
-5" 640*480 screen with moved or hand cut buttons OR 4" 320*240 with regular button layout
-Joysticks or 3DS sliders?
-Cooling vent holes on the back?
-What speakers, and what size speaker grills?
Here are 2 mockups to show how things fit with 2 screen sizes. The buttons are just thrown on for size reference, but have not been placed in an ergonomic way yet.
Here is the 5" 640*480 screen. This is a larger screen with 4x the resolution of the 4 inch. The problem here is that the X button rests in the danger zone, and will need to be cut out by hand. Another solution would be to do the unpopular inverted x layout with the x button between the B and Y button.
Here is the 4" screen. It is a smaller, less nice screen, but leaves room for the standard gamecube button layout on the flat face.
Anyway, Im early along on the project, but would love to see who is interested and suggestions!
Its summer, so most the architecture majors have gone home, meaning the university laser is much less busy! This means I should be able to set up jigs and cut some cases! While I personally am not a fan of the ZN cases, I have received MANY requests for a laser cut ZN case, so Im finally caving an offering to do a batch. This run of cases will be all the same, so I can hit cut, swap out the case, and repeat. This will also allow me to pick ones that came out the best, and not send any lemons. I will be reusing the assets for the PiiWii pocket, so all of the gamecube buttons will be a perfect fit for the case.
I want your feedback on the case design!
The case design is a work in progress, and will be "crowd sourced". I welcome any feedback, but I will have the final say on design. Holes will be cut on the face, but not the top or bottom plates. Every person will want a different port and shoulder button placement. These are mostly round holes, and can easily be cut with a drill.
Pricing info
The expected price of the case will be $30-$40. The cases from PolyCase are $10, but shipping is expensive, and I want to cover my ass for duds. Because the polycases are made from thick ABS plastic, laser cutting requires several passes (about 35 in this case) and sometimes cases come out as duds. I want to be able to purchase and cut more cases than people order, so I can ensure everybody gets a quality case. I am expecting to make much, if any, money on this.
Design Issues and "Danger Zone"
A laser can only cut along a flat surface where the laser can focus. The curved edges, noted on by the area between the purple lines, cannot be effectively cut by a laser, and would need to be hand cut. This area will be referred to as the danger zone.
Decisions:
-5" 640*480 screen with moved or hand cut buttons OR 4" 320*240 with regular button layout
-Joysticks or 3DS sliders?
-Cooling vent holes on the back?
-What speakers, and what size speaker grills?
Here are 2 mockups to show how things fit with 2 screen sizes. The buttons are just thrown on for size reference, but have not been placed in an ergonomic way yet.
Here is the 5" 640*480 screen. This is a larger screen with 4x the resolution of the 4 inch. The problem here is that the X button rests in the danger zone, and will need to be cut out by hand. Another solution would be to do the unpopular inverted x layout with the x button between the B and Y button.
Here is the 4" screen. It is a smaller, less nice screen, but leaves room for the standard gamecube button layout on the flat face.
Anyway, Im early along on the project, but would love to see who is interested and suggestions!