Am I allowed to share 3D printable phone cases in here?

Seems very sturdy. What are the printing material specs for both parts? How soft is the inner layer?
The backside pictures make it look like something was made for Batman (the Nolan Dark Knight trilogy version, not the 50’s :wink: )

Ah, I’m a US customer. I’ve shipped my own product to EU before, I’d expect usually 20 USD for a small package. I made a game called “Escape from Kabul”, it is on eBay, shipped one to Italy last month:

You can see for yourself via these links:
https://www.prusa3d.com/product/filatech-filaflexible40-black-filament-500g/ https://www.prusa3d.com/product/prusament-pc-blend-jet-black-970g/

The Flex material (surrounding the whole device) is pretty tough yet also flexible, albeit a bit of a challenge to get the Librem 5 on there but manageable, while the Polycarbinate (clamping across the back) is very strong

I suppose I should design one just using the FLEX material on it’s own though

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Sorry for the late response.

That’s okay then as long as you’re okay with spending that much, but maybe I could find a cheaper yet effective way to do so?

Typically a smaller package weighs less and is cheaper. If all it is, is the case, use one of those padded bubble envelopes, in the U.S. they would be 6x9 inches. I don’t know the EU equivalent.

No worries yet, I haven’t received my L5 either.

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I have a case for my L5 printed by someone from the forum (very thanks to him!). It is not the same as here in the pictures, but similar. The heat was in issue when I was in Cuba where the normal environment temperature is 28++°C :slight_smile:

Well, okay then. That will give me time to improve on the design that I have in mind allowing full protection plus heatsink ventillation.

I’ll post the screenshots here whenever I’m ready to share them

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Woah, damn! Was that an issue printing it out or while it’s inside of a case at that temperature?

The problem with the temperature is with having the L5 in such a case.

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Alright, I’ll see what I can do to help reduce the heat insulation while it’s within such a case

Mini-holes and exterior crenellations?

For heat escape and didspersal.

(The crenellations would have a secondary effect of giving a firmer grip.)

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It’s a good idea, but I have something else in mind that i’d like to try out

Sorry it’s been awhile. Here’s something that I have been working on this time with a heat escape in mind.

This is just the soft interior material keep in mind. Will work on the Exterior hard shell soon enough, but would like some criticisms for now in case I’ve missed something or could improve in anyway.

Uploading: Screenshot at 2023-04-06 21-20-13.png… Uploading: Screenshot at 2023-04-06 21-20-17.png… Uploading: Screenshot at 2023-04-06 21-20-42.png…

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Hey guys,

Sorry it’s been ages, but I have been making progress on my prints and designs. These may not have been the latest one(s), but this will give you an idea of what it looks like. There are rough spots on this one, but I can assure you that tweaks are, or if not have been made (need to test them to confirm) and I am also working on another design (which also needs to be tested).

So these will be ventilated while also being strong and protective; and on top of that being quite stylish.

(Keeping in mind, that the inside layer is Filiflex and that the exterior, in these pictures are just PLA; but will be changed to Poly Carbinate once the final design is blocked out (although, the casing itself is still really durable when combined with one another))

So what are your opinions so far? Is there a flaw I’ve made or does it look crude and ugly in anyway? Please share your opinions with me as it may be helpful.

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I like this design very much. From an esthetic perspective, I think I would prefer the light part to be dark as well. A slight difference in color of the hard and soft part might by nice, maybe something like black and very dark grey.

I have these questions:

  1. Why did you decide to cover the volume and power buttons? Do they still work well with the case?
  2. Does the case have any influence on the sound quality, both of speakers and microphones?

I might be interested in buying this case from you. What would be a good price for you?

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Fair questions, and yes I did have other colors in mind for variety.

Answering your questions:
1/ I wanted to make the case as protective as possible and accessible. The buttons may have been covered but it’s been laid out to feel like buttons themselves (cover buttons). So there is no issue on using them. I would’ve done the same on the otherside but there’s no way to acccess the switches then.

2/ No there is no issue with the sound quality and the jack above is still accessible.

I haven’t fixed a price yet tbh and just by unfortunate bad luck my 3D printer has been having issues which I have located the source of the problem and hope to fix soon.

However, I had intended on sharing the .stl file for free and a spot somewhere to provide donation pool, but I can I can post these out to people if they wish.

I don’t know if it would be an issue, but I’m based in the UK and depending where you, I wouldn’t know how expensive p&p would be.

What are your thoughts?

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Thanks for the answers. I live in the Netherlands. I will keep an eye on this thread. Can all 3D printers in theory print the design?
Which printing material do you exactly recommend?
Probably I could find somewhere in the neighborhood who could print the case.
I’m happy to donate you for making this case design, after someone printed one for me. I could also do I direct bank transfer or crypto payment.

Perhaps you should post your product on Amazon and put a link in this thread so that we can purchase from you via Amazon. I use Amazon for almost everything so I don’t have to sign-up, create a password, and enter my credit card information any more than once (at Amazon).

Your product looks really good. I always get an “Otter Box” for every phone I buy. But in the case of the Librem 5, I doubt we’ll ever see an Otter Box. But your product is pretty much there.

I know a guy at work who kept 30 3D printers running in his garage to fill Amazon orders for an product that he invented. Rather than continuing to buy more printers after that, he found an injection molding company to build his product for him. He paid a lot for the molds (from previous profits), and pays much less now for new inventory.

So charge a fair market price (fair to yourself). Hopefully your efforts will pay off. I’ll probably buy from you too, if you post an Amazon link here. Oh, but I do need a belt clip attached also. That’s my whole reason for me to get the case to begin with. Copy one from Otter Box “Defender Series”.

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Well…funny you mentioned this, cause I have been working on another case that maybe more of your thing. I’m still testing things out, but maybe I could find a way to attach a clip at the back. Possibly find a screen cover for it too, but not guaranteed at this point.

I’ll see what I can do

Well, I only ever used the model on the Prusa printers, but I would assume so yes.

I’ve tested this using the FeliFlex 40 (for the interior) and the PLA and the Poly Carbonate (PC (really tough to remove from brims and stands from the prints) (hard exterior shell). I know it works as great as it had for me, there are probably other filaments that would work, but they are untested.

As far as donations, I might first wanna find the best place for users to download the print files first before starting with something like Librepay for the time being. They do accept bank transfers, paypal and credit card payments.