Case for Librem 5?

Do you need any more measurements or tests from the rigids? I know the wall thickness will need print tests to find a good balance, as printed is not the same as molded (which can have thinner walls and still be better).

Also, I did a quick test with the full rigid case, and had interesting result: I removed the back cover and added a couple of small peaces of foam double sided adhesive to make up for the missing thickness. Now the phone seems to work great under similar load to previous. Promising, considering how to design a case that allows for heat to dissipate…

Ay, the sides and metal transfer heat. The standard back cover may also prevent heat from leaving the phone. There are several variations to try.

Btw. I tested leaving the phone on and put it in a case inside the belt pouch - it got hot fairly quick (very nice at wintertime under the jacket at -20C… :slight_smile:

After the suspend is enabled and optimized, this problem, too, will likely resolve itself.

No, thank you … in the pile of posts I’ve missed your review with the last model, I was waiting for it. I’m adjusting the rubber case model based on the last inputs.

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Just noticed, on your offer, there is material marked TPU M95A. That 95A (possibly with M being a modifier) is the Shore hardness scale (see comparison chart or this one or this). You may want to make sure 95A is flexible enough - or just the right flexible. The printing service may be able to estimate that. To me it seems that may not quite be flexible enough (but I admittedly have little experience with flexible materials, just estimating from written descriptions). I’d probably go for 60A or even a bit lower. Do they offer other TPU hardnesses?

[edit to add: 95A is described as hard rubber (not very flexible), while 40A is closer to inner tire rubber.]

If the side metal it transfer heat then no need make holes because the case already accepting heat from metal side, so if you want stop transfering the heat from side metal to case then you need to use a different material to build the case like isolated material.

It is because the cpu it inverted to monitor with paste, so very sensitive heat, yes good L5 feature to wintertime. :smile:

Here the final models (this time using skynet, as suggested by someone before, hoping that it doesn’t gain self-awareness):
v.1.1 rubber case
https://skynet-send.hns.siasky.net/#b-AAD-lZW0EF5OFRto-Dx3H3-9T2aX4ojS5aJgGS0VDBtW_Q+ZXbQpn84XoT7J+P2+JFAYNFYQLv3kSFq+qqb6IwownVThKQuT1VJj/R3sZHfAwkR

v.2.0.3 rigid case
https://skynet-send.hns.siasky.net/#b-AADe7gsigNQqX86suQh0QL4Ryb0OkqYp-cGzJ6AeYqP4uQ+dnJMgOfttvtZdTHfUW0uO5c2hZDeThA+CO3y38BGiSKZDOmJJu+BYo0jc9uJNqXB

The last is the one tested by @JR-Fi, with splits width increased, upper hole added and cooling holes (not sure they will cool down but they are cool).
The first incorporates all the modifications except the increase of thicknesses and internal dimensions (which are the same as measured on my phone, making it pretty snug). I do not exclude that further adjustment may be required.

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I am in front of a dilemma : the first flexible version (because of the tinnier dimensions) or the v1.1 (because of the back hole)… I think I shall sleep and decide not know, it’s wiser ^^
Again thank you for hashing shared all those jobs and knowledge !

I took a quick look with Slicer and may have found a bit of confusion. The top hole now has bottom edge at level with the audio hole, but actually I meant the new hole’s center should be at that level. It shouldn’t be necessary to fix that now (can do it later) because the “better err on the side of safety” size of the hole should be large enough to work. It’s just not center on that hole. Very minor detail.

The heat holes were a good idea but the placement may not be right. That’s where the wifi-module is now. I think their placement is based on those images of older Dogwood versions where cpu was placed differently (Evergreen has different cpu and heating/cooling arrangement). Just by touching my phone I can tell that the corner where they are now, is not the biggest heat concern.

If you have the patience still, I think it would be good to have one plain base rigid version that doesn’t have the new heatholes and also does not have the slits. That way it would be a solid rigid case (unusable as such) that anyone can then modify anyway they like (add holes, saw slits, remove ends, add bells and whistles etc.). It would be a startingpoint for developing new versions.

If I may ask, in what file format do you have the design files? Blender compatible? Could you share that for anyone to make their own modifications?

I’ve centered it based on the position of the hole on my phone. It’s an Evergreen

No problem.

It’s a commercial CAD: NX by Siemens. I’m a strong supporter of open source software, but when it comes to CAD systems there is nothing as effective and productive as the commercial pruducts.

It isn’t tinier, it’s wrong. I’ve tried with the rubber case of a spyphone: no way to stretch it by 1 mm. We have been sidetracked by the starting file that, in retrospect, seems to have nothing to do with the Librem5

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Well, I quess it’s about what your comfortable with. I’d still have to use Blender, hence the question, but no worries, I just realized Blender can work with stl-files directly. Now if I just had the time to really get into this… :thinking:

Two more “final models”:
v1.1.1 rubber without cooling holes
https://skynet-send.hns.siasky.net/#b-AAB6LpTO2AGA0uD2_zHtN-HRb2kfUXgDkzZWTtUzrptCLg+eFy6o2+Bhya1SCbTIbFEYyimEYq0o5aJjNakdhVUZopraQzh+CibzJcwN6z6jEY8

v.2.0.4 rigid without cooling holes and slits (needs craftsmanship to be used)
https://skynet-send.hns.siasky.net/#b-AABz0TRzuAYOCdOsZMlCOxe7fTWV7WL0bCrE3EMZ8zOGvQ+VTsyNOO5bMllkK5i4Wxk3U905+pReidwQmpIvMBwzZMF1mO7Iz56PHQ1+vz6wH6x

I think they could be uploaded on the git repo, if someone can access.

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As I don’t have a 3d printer nor experience with the file format etc can anyone recommend where I might send these files online so I could get a case shipped to me in the US ?

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The stl-file is the “jpg” of 3D printing in how common it is, so you can use pretty much any 3D printing service or find a friend or a club that has one. It’s more about the quality that you need or want (vs. what you can afford) beyond that. The hard plastic case in the pics was made with an Ultimaker 3 which is a hobbyist printer.

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The thought occured to me (and this is just humor again), perhaps file extension for 3d printing should have been: “d^3”.

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Why not go the whole hog and use d³ ?

To take it a bit more seriously, file extensions seem to be chosen so that they work on the widest possible range of systems, rather than relying on support for 8-bit ISO Latin 1 characters (as above) or Unicode characters, and whether some particular character might have a special meaning in some shell or operating system.

As you point out, superscript would not be supported.

Yes they choose the widest possible support among all character sets. I remember the teletype days when mil coms were all caps. They were loathe to go lower case until the majority of systems also supported lower case. (I imagine someone had to program an upshift table for systems that had not yet converted.)

I also remeber typing on a manual mill.

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Back to the topic at hand: has anyone else printed / had any of these printed by a service? What do you think? What materials did you use, what precision, what colors, price etc.? How did you like them? Pics?

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I tried to order it to be printed from I.materialise.com but they said it would be to thin on the sides and canceled my order… so if anyone can recommend a site that will print the rubber model that @fiacco posted the .stl file for (and maybe which materials should be selected) it would be much appreciated.

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I can imagine. 3D printing is dependent on the print material, I don’t think they have yet to do commercial 3D printing with that can handle much stress. (There may be methods in the military/industrial complex however.)

It is unlike the chemical bonding you get with plastic (includng rubber) molding. Then there is the first article, whice is usually machined on aluminum. But since you’re only talking about a one-off, a first article is all you’re going to get! (Which would cost about as much as the phone itself.)

Cheap solution? Find one of those thick rubber bands you get around fresh aperagus or broccoli.

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Hello, I received the improved version of the flexible TPU case (see the picture where I twist it). And I have to say that I am satisfied with it compared to the prototype.
For those who are wondering, it’s a TPU Multijet process with a chemical treatment finish.

The point of improvement is the one I already imagined at the time: there is still a gap of 2mm vertical and 1mm or 2mm horizontal. It’s not a scandal because the phone holds in place but it is not firmly held in the shell. For the rest the holes are aligned, the thickness is much thinner than before and it doesn’t feel like it tears easily. Here are some pictures with comparison between prototype and @fiacco improvements, hoping that @fiacco can help us to update the STL file for a final version :

In any case, a HUGE thanks to @fiacco and all to all those who helped to improve the concept.

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