Need guidance for manufacturing small quantity electronics device enclosures

[Farhan Ahmad]

Hi,

I have been working on an aviation weather device called PaperMETAR for pilots and aviation enthusiast. I have a design that I like. You can see the design and more information about the product at https://papermetar.com/

I would like to do a small Kickstarter with the goal to get commitment for 200 units. I am currently 3D printing the enclosure, but I don't like the quality that I have been able to achieve with my Bambu Labs X1 Carbon 3D printer. I have tried PLA, ABS, and also their matte variants. I have also looked at SLS and other FDM options. I don't like those finishes either.

There is injection molding, but that's not cost effective at this scale. I am struggling to find a good, cost effective option that still has good material and finish.

Any insights or guidance for me?

Thank you!

Farhan

[Chris Meyer]

Seems like something that resin casting would cover:

https://www.smooth-on.com/applications/

be aware this is an entire skill-set / hobby in itself but can yield indistinguishable parts from molding *except* it takes a ton more time on a per-unit basis (in other words if you have more time than money this might be worth looking into).  Midwest Prototyping (now Prototek) has an entire area for resin casting and would happily provide tours/information/pricing from Blue Mounds:

https://prototek.com/silicone-urethane-casting/

Chris

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[Bob Baddeley]

That's a neat looking product. When it comes to the gap between prototype and large scale production, there are lots of options.

1) Change your design and go with an existing off-the-shelf enclosure. Look at New Age Enclosures, Takachi Enclosures, and Hammond. For example, check out these: https://www.takachi-enclosure.com/products/WSC. All of these sites will also do customization of your enclosure as well, so you start with the existing box and give them drawings of where they need to make holes or do printing, and they're set up to do them. You could also use the laser or router at Sector67 to customize the boxes. I've actually done pretty decent volumes of production parts using New Age Enclosures parts and customizing them on the Sector laser.

2) Like Chris said, resin casting. There's also vacuum casting, which is similar. The molds don't last more than a few dozen parts, so you're going to spend a lot of time making molds and casting and working with goo. It's not fun. You can of course hire companies to do this, but it's not cheap on a per part basis.

3) Change your design for a cheaper assembly method. Consider stacked acrylic sheets held together with bolts, or vacuum formed plastics (the molds are cheap) with threaded inserts or glued in bosses.

4) If it weren't for the tariffs, I'd suggest getting them 3D printed from places like jlcpcb or pcbway, which have spectacular resources for making low volume parts with great finishes that are really cheap.

bob

On Mon, Jun 16, 2025 at 9:02 PM Farhan Ahmad <fah...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[sam enerson]

A cheapo attempt that may be worth trying first is using acetone to smooth out an ABS print.  I've seen a few different set ups usually involving a plastic tote and a small fan.  Interested to see the results if you go this route since I have only watched this process on youtube.  

https://all3dp.com/2/abs-acetone-smoothing-3d-print-vapor-smoothing/ 

best, 

sam

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Samuel K. Enerson

+1 (608) 359-6507

[Farhan Ahmad]

Thanks, Chris. I have reached out to prototek about urethane casting in the past. Their quotes were very high (more than $150 per unit for all four parts) because they can't do this in-house and had some other partner quote it.

I will have to learn more about resin casting. Anyone here might be up for helping me with this small project? :)

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[Farhan Ahmad]

Thanks, Bob! I appreciate your earlier soldering help with this project!

One of the unique aspects of this product is the design as it's aligned with the aviation devices that you find in a cockpit. I will reach out to Takachi and see if they can help produce something like this.

Re: Chinese manufacturers. I did reach out to RapidDirect recently and am waiting to hear back from them. It sounds like they might still be one of the most cost effective options.

One question to everyone, based on your experience, what would be a very rough per unit estimate for a plastic-based enclosure like this? The dimensions are 5" x 4" x 3". A very rough ballpark in the $10's is what I am hoping for.

Thank you!
Farhan

On Mon, Jun 16, 2025 at 9:24 PM Bob Baddeley <bob.ba...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Farhan Ahmad]

I did try acetone smoothing for a little bit, but got worried that I wouldn't be able to do it consistently across multiple units and gave up.

Anyone here have experience with acetone smoothing for ABS?

- Farhan

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[Farhan Ahmad]

One other question, has anyone tried creating molds with resin printers? I realize you can only create very few units using these types of molds. I am curious to see how the experience has been.

Thank you!

[Brett Hay]

Farhan,

I haven't tried making molds from my resin printers yet, but I love the quality of their prints.
Did you consider 3D printing on resin printers, nice 8k or better printers.
I have 3 resin printers. My Saturn 2 gives me really smooth clean prints, and they almost appear as glass. I haven't tried my Saturn 3 Ultra yet, but if your problem from 3D printing was cosmetic, like layer lines or smoothness, Id suggest trying a higher resolution, 8K or better, resin printers, to get an idea.
Your enclosure size would be compatible.

There is a 3D printing sourcing site called Craftcloud. You can submit your file and get live pricing options from people in USA, and around the world, very affordable pricing. Though I don't think you could specify 8k, but you certainly could specify a resin type print. And possibly mention high res or 8k.
Its a great option for people on cheap budget!
I've seen 3D printed parts that I've had quoted from Protolabs around $150, on that site maybe go for $10 or so. Understandably it's not going to be an exact same output, and likely made on hobbies grade machine vs some industrial machine, but it has its use case pricing wise.

On another note, since I've designed parts and had production runs manufactured for both injection molded plastics, and sand casted metal, I'll provide a crude guess in case it's helpful for injection molding, from a big place like Protolabs.
I would guess ballpark-wise that going with injection molding, the tooling (molds) cost for both halves (2 different parts of enclosures, front back) might be between $8-10k total, then a production run of low volume would be maybe in the $6-12 total(both halves parts), and incur a $500 setup fee per production run.
Of course if your enclosure needs a battery door, then that would likely add a third part. But if you simply either had it plugged in to operate, or built-in battery, id expect just a simple 2 part enclosure viable.

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[Sol Kim]

Hello! My work uses Markforged 3D Printers, specifically the X7. It uses their own proprietary filament called onyx which is expensive, but we’ve had excellent results with both strength, finish, and dimensional accuracy. They can also be printed with Kevlar for added strength. We use them for prototyping primarily but we have working units in production as well. Expensive but I assume cheaper than injection molding and a lot more versatile in my opinion

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[Farhan Ahmad]

Thank you for all the info, Brett! Looking online, I see some YouTube videos claiming that they are doing small production runs using resin printers (generally, Form Labs). I have been wanting to try out resin printing, and might just get the Saturn.

I hadn't heard of Craftcloud. That seems promising.

- Farhan

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[Dithermaster]

We have a Saturn 4 Ultra and it makes great prints; the only layer lines are on planes that are nearly (but not quite) horizontal with respect to the build platform, but that can often be addressed by part orientation. I see they now have even higher resolution ones than ours (although the cause of layer lines is layer thickness, not XY resolution). If you use resin printing you must paint the part or at least coat it with UV protection, otherwise it will over-cure and become too brittle.

///d@

Dennis

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[Farhan Ahmad]

Hi again,

I am hoping to get one print using a Formlabs Form 4 SLA printer. Does anyone here have access to the UW Design Innovation Lab and might be willing to help?

Thank you!

Farhan

On Mon, Jun 16, 2025 at 9:02 PM Farhan Ahmad <fah...@gmail.com> wrote:

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