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[Project] 386/486/SBC 3D Printed Retro Case

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First post, by wiretap

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I felt like designing a 386/486 style case that people could expand upon, modify, remix, etc. So first off, feel free to contribute to or modify this open source design by me -- just reference this thread or my username in your mod/design. All Sketchup design files and the parts list is included to get you started. Not sure if I'll have time to finish the rest of the case soon, since work is getting busy, but I wanted to share this with the community to inspire some more builds like this, and allow people to modify the design to make it better since I have almost no 3D modeling skills.

Design files in 2nd post.

Overall size of the case faceplate is roughly 275mm tall by 175mm wide. I just printed it and gave everything a rough test fit. It is by no means perfect, but should go together ok if you have a well calibrated 3D printer. Minimal to no sanding/filing/drilling out required.

It features a single 5.25" bay and a single 3.5" bay, turbo display, turbo/reset buttons, keylock switch, rocker power switch, turbo/power/hdd LED's. It is somewhat miniature, designed to fit easily on a 300 x 300mm print bed. I'm using the Longer LK5 Pro 3D printer I picked up for $188 shipped from Aliexpress on their 11/11 sale. The filament I used is Printed Solid Jessie #500 -- an Amiga 500 retro beige.

So first off you need Sketchup if you want to open the design files. I use Sketchup 2017 since it is the last free desktop version I believe. (maybe someone could port it over to Fusion 360 or something) Then you'll need a 3D printer slicer program to prep the STL files (I used the latest Cura).

Here's the parts list for everything that will fit in the faceplate as-is:

Turbo Display: ATTiny85 2-digit Turbo Display -- Re: Fabricating a New Turbo Display
Turbo Button: Latching green version of this -- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000882790991.html
Reset Button: Momentary red version of this -- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000882790991.html
LED's from this, or 5mm LED's of your choosing -- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000345599216.html
5mm LED holder: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001382340508.html
Keylock Switch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWN8GXM or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FS2Q931
Power Switch: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000987280507.html or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MF4GV6W
Case badge: 1" x 1" standard
Mounting Hardware: M3 screws, 10mm x 10mm x 10mm M3 mounting cubes -- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001307756906.html
Misc: Super glue gel, Gorilla Glue, epoxy, etc to secure the drive bay to the front faceplate.
Case Feet: Stick on rubber bumpers, drill some holes and mount some fancy ones, or design and 3D print some.
Rest of the case: 1/8" thick acrylic, standoffs for mounting the motherboard, etc. The U-shape shell can be 3D printed to make it mostly complete. Just add a clear acrylic window and some sort of rear plate/bar for ISA/PCI mounting.
Case hardware note -- I recommend using a PicoPSU or Meanwell to power the system. There is no room in this for an ATX/SFX power supply.

The main faceplate can be printed rear side down with supports.
The drive bay holder can be printed with supports and a brim to prevent warping/lifting. This piece is thin and tall, so it can lift/warp if you don't have a heated enclosure, ymmv. Print with the mounting tabs side down.
The u-shaped shell is best printed with all the long flat sides vertical. Use a brim to adhere the thin edges down.

For my slicer/print settings (latest Cura was used):
- 0.2mm layer height
- 220C nozzle temperature for the Jessie Amiga 500 PLA
- 80C bed temp with 125% flow for the first layer, and normal 100% flow with 60C bed temperature thereafter
- 50mm/s print speed, and blower fan off for the 1st and 2nd layer, 100% blower fan speed starting at layer 3

After printing, you'll need to install the buttons, switches, drive bay, etc. The drive bay may need a little bit of edge filing and brim cleaning (ymmv), then it can be glued in place. The 6-way threaded cubes can also be glued into the cutouts on the back side corners of the faceplate. The cubes will allow you to screw 1/8" thick acrylic or the cover shell STL to make the rest of the case. The length of the rest of the case depends on your motherboard size and add-in ISA/PCI/VLB/AGP/PCIe cards. Just note the drive cage size so your cards don't get blocked by it. If using a small Baby-AT motherboard like a Zida Tomato, the side panels need to be at least 16 inches long. With a 4-ISA SBC backplane, you can keep it to 10-12" long panels which cuts down a lot of cost.

The U-shaped cover shell has been added to the ZIP in the second post. This is designed to fit on a 300x300mm print bed, and will likely only fit SBC backplanes. You may get lucky with some really small Baby-AT boards fitting if the CPU/RAM is low enough.

Timelapse video of printing the face plate:
https://youtu.be/zNnTFA47jHw

Timelapse video of printing the drive bay:
https://youtu.be/JnXoMyAnuvQ

Pictures:

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Last edited by wiretap on 2022-09-28, 14:26. Edited 15 times in total.

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Reply 1 of 81, by wiretap

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STL and Sketchup source files for the faceplate, drive bay, 3-sided shell, and standoffs. Backplate needs to be designed based on your motherboard/SBC specifics. The left side is left open so you can cut a piece of acrylic to fit in the opening for a clear window.

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This is how it will look once you print & assemble the items in the ZIP file:

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With 5.25" floppy mounted:

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Last edited by wiretap on 2022-09-28, 18:51. Edited 6 times in total.

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Reply 2 of 81, by MN_Moody

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this is amazing, thanks so much for doing all the work and documenting the process of recreating your final build so well. I have a 486 SBC and backplane that were looking for a home, both of the "eligible" enclosures in my stable lack a 5.25" drive bay and I'm not fond of external CD-ROM drive solutions... this looks like a perfect alternative. Time to get the Ender 3 working!

Reply 4 of 81, by wiretap

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No, it is made to DIY your own acrylic (or other 1/8" thick material) enclosure on the back side.

I put cutouts for 10mm cube mounts on the back.

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Reply 5 of 81, by wiretap

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Waiting on some Aliexpress buttons and switches to finish up the front panel.. Grabbed a $30 motherboard. PC Chips M326 v5.2. It gets through some of the POST, but fails before it gets to a memory check. The battery corrosion got under the AT 12-pin connector and ate away the 12V pin and trace, and the keyboard connector. I was able to clean up everything, reapply solder mask, and run a new wire (24ga)to the back side of the board. I also replaced the keyboard connector. Still waiting on the new AT power connector to arrive from Mouser.

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Reply 6 of 81, by Turbo ->

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That printed faceplate looks great. The only downside is that it does not have a smooth surface, due to the printing technology. But I guess this will also improve with time. Will this plastic get yellow?

Reply 8 of 81, by wiretap

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Depending on the 5.25 and 3.5 bay device selection, it can get quite heavy hanging off the faceplate and cause some bowing outward. I have revised the faceplate to include 2 more cube mount locations to hold the faceplate to the side panels to prevent this. If you already printed the rev2 faceplate, you can just superglue some of the cube mounts to that location.

Design files updated in post #2. (only the faceplate was updated to rev 3)

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Reply 10 of 81, by wiretap

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Test fit with all the parts.. the only thing that doesn't fit is the LEDs inside of the LED retaining rings. I need to make a cutout on the backside to allow for expansion of the retaining rings once the LED is inserted. I'll work on that soon and upload the revised model & STL files.

For the parts, I might switch over to a black surround to the red power switch. It seems like it would go with the reset button, turbo button, and LED surrounds a little better. The white is a little too bright. But I do like the switch. It has a huge "thock" to it when switched, and the travel distance is pretty decent.

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Reply 11 of 81, by wiretap

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Rev 4 is printed.. LED holder fits great now. I just have to print out another drive holder and verify the fit, then I'll upload the final rev of this case faceplate if it is all good.

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Reply 13 of 81, by wiretap

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Did a little test on an old rev print. The lettering on the button panel can be marked with sharpie.. turns out ok. Looks excellent from more than a foot away. Other markers may be more suitable, or even some sort of dye/paint if you could apply it cleanly enough. Or you could always take the sketchup model and export everything to STL on the faceplate except the text, then print the text seprate in a different color and glue it on afterwards. (or obviously print in 2 colors if you have a dual head machine)

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Reply 15 of 81, by wiretap

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You're welcome. If I have some time, I'll do another variant in a different style. Or if anyone else wants to, feel free. I'm about to be real busy at work for the next 2-3 months with 72-80hr shifts, so not a lot of free time.

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Reply 18 of 81, by alpm

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wiretap wrote on 2022-01-23, 19:07:
alpm wrote on 2022-01-23, 16:52:

Hey @wiretap, would it be possible for you to share the STL/3d-model files?

They are in post #2.

Thanks!! 😁

Reply 19 of 81, by wiretap

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Added some motherboard standoffs to the 2nd post in this thread. They can be stuck down with automotive grade 3M sticky tape, or superglued in place. I'm using them by screwing them to the board first, then laying the board where it needs to go and marking the mounting locations for where the standoff mounts sit. Then superglue them in place. They are a tight fit with 6/32" screws, and also fit M3 screws, but don't overtighten.

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