I was wondering what people use for enclosures when they can’t afford to get a custom molded one like the ones offered by @psychotiller Facing this problem myself I thought I would ask what the budget friendly people Macgyver’d for their personal builds
Tackle box. Dollar store. Done
plant trays seem to work pretty well. If you have access to a 3d printer print some end-caps, then buy a piece of sheet metal, bend the edges on a 2x4 to fit.
I dremel’d out a plastic hardware screw organizer box for a build. Used 2-ton epoxy to hold it on there. It worked well for a few hundred miles, as a proof-of-concept, but neither was up to task in the long-term.
Harbor Frieght and Tool
$4.99 can’t beat it
Has a lid and dual latches…can hold up to four 6s lipos - just cut the handle off.
http://m.harborfreight.com/15-bin-portable-parts-storage-case-93929.html
I,ve used one of these. Big enough to put some lipos in. Everything else sticky Velcro and gaffa tape…
I am going to launch a webshop soon for EU skaters. Here I will also offer some vacuum formed enclosures. I cant promise you a price atm, but I try to keep the costs low! Emy webshop will hopefully be up and running i a month or so.
IKEA 0,99€, can´t beat that bros!
http://www.ikea.com/de/de/catalog/products/40177228/
Funny thing is, that this is perfect for up to a 10s4p with a huge bms and dual vesc and all the other fancy electronic I´ll post a picture mounted later.
Build a vac form oven for cheap…
Yet to trim and mount it but you get the idea. All done with a £10 heater, some MDF off cuts and a few nuts and bolts.
I built one but I can’t seem to find a way to get my plastic hot enough to form with a simple heater. I made a small box, lined it with tine foil but I still couldn’t get it hot enough with the heater. Also tried putting a heat gun and a hair drier through holes in the box with no luck.
1000W heater worked great for me.
Mine was a 1.6kw heater and seemed to do a good job. First attempt it didn’t quite seem to get hot enough. I covered the abs with a foil lid and bingo, super saggy.
Not sure a hairdryer would increase the heat too much. A heat gun might help. I think a lid might do the trick as you lose so much heat through the top.
The way I have it set up my plastic was the lid as I figured the heat would rise and go onto the plastic. I ended up using the stove which heated it up very well but not very evenly. I wasn’t able to mold it fully and had to do most of it with a heat gun and my hands.
Nice find!
This link below would look great as well! It can only be mounted in a flat board without flex though…
I just found these from IKEA as well. They look like they would work out great!
http://www.ikea.com/dk/da/catalog/products/40315791/
yep, just try it. But it´s a bit more expensive though
I think its still very cheap!
alright i just realised that the links and the prices you posted are from Denmark, so not in Euro, so much cheaper than I thought
I figured the same but I think the side not facing the heater was just not heating enough. By adding the foil it retained enough heat to make it flexible all the way through. I waited longer on the second time and it sagged at least double the depth of the enclosure and the edges were really flexible.