For Librem 5 Fir, Purism might want to ask the people from MIT to collaborate on developing the case and screen 
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The new polymer sounds amazing, but using experimental materials is not Purism’s goal, and that kind of expensive R&D is best left for companies like Samsung which have deep pockets and armies of engineers to perfect it. Rather than something exotic, most people will be content with a simple TPU case that doesn’t require much investment on Purism’s part and can be created quickly.
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I wasn’t expecting Purism to be included in such an endeavor at all hence the smiley
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Hello, I am discussing with people in purism git. Now, I am waiting for instructions about how to modify STL files in OpenSCAD :
So far I feel I am almost alone in this adventure, any help would be very appreciated !
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Good job! That’s a nice looking case!
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I can help.
What is the starting file? I see that there are many .stl under the case folder.
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Forget it, I’ve just found it few posts above
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Thank you, I give you a big heart for this !
To summarize, here is the starting STL file :
And here is a summary of the proposed instructions :
In the instructions diagram, I made a mistake. It says :
Thickness :
- back : 1.5mm
- everywhere else : 1mm
while the correct modifications are :
Thickness:
- back : original STL dimensions minus 1.5mm (unless we are already at 1.5mm, the idea being that the thickness at the back must be very thin)
- everywhere else : original STL dimensions minus 1mm
If you see that it’s too time consuming, please forget it, I don’t want to burden anyone with hard work !
In any case, a huge thanks for your kind help.
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So, I’ve made some modification not exactly as you would expect, but I’ve built a parametric model and I can modify it at will, just tell me how.
- I’ve reduced the overall height to 153 mm (internal), it’s 1.5 mm shorter than the .stl and equal to the phone.
- I’ve modified the back chamfer according to my phone’s shape.
- I haven’t changed the width because it’s already tighter than the phone but, as said, it’s a matter of seconds.
- The internal thickness is 16.9mm as the stl, but the phone is 15.5 mm thick. Are you sure?
- I’ve reduced the thicknesses according to the attachment. I thinned them a bit less than what you asked: -0.5 mm on the side and -1.1 on the back.
- I’ve made the rounded rectangles on the sides, keeping the overall dimensions of the stl (not sure if you meant to increase the width rounding the extremities)
Here is a dimensioned drawing, you can check and tell me what has to be changed
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First of all, a huge respect and thanks: you did in a few minutes what I couldn’t do in several weeks! Thank you very much.
I have a few comments and questions:
- about my request to reduce the thickness: if you think it’s too short, we can keep your proposal about thickness because my feeling is based on an impression and not on a calculation and I could be wrong.
- you say you didn’t change the width, but in your (beautiful) colored diagram, we see that the grey (new) is less wide than the green (old) and red (common space). What do you think, did I misinterpret your diagram?
- For the rounded corners, that’s what I was asking for: a more generous, welcoming shape, less sharp than the original STL file. I really like how you did it.
- Would it be possible to change the shape of the LED flash from oval to rectangular with rounded corners please?
- Can you confirm that the location of the holes for the camera and the LED flash are correct? Because on the original STL file, the location was off.
Thanks again for everything!
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I have a rather silly question: will this case not be problematic for the cooling of the metallic frame around the L5? Was is tested under load of the L5?
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If it goes grey to red to green, then the grey extends into the red, and the green is extra that was there before.
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It is difficult to say because you would have to compare with an infrared thermometer (Fluke type) with measurements like :
- idle with and without case
- load with and without case
After that, considering the thickness we are talking about, for surfing, mail, etc. I would be surprised if it affects the performance of the L5, but this is a personal opinion not at all scientific.
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Thank you for your explanation, according to what you say, I think the proposal from @fiacco is really promising
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Sir, that is a cinderblock. All jokes aside, good effort. I like it.
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Maybe add a few perforations for heat dissipation?
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mine too
The internal dimension is the same, the external is lower because of the thickness reduction
Yes sure. I’ll do it
I didn’t check, I just moved them by 1.5 mm. I’ll make a measurement tomorrow.
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Where is the new fixed .stl? I could print this tomorrow or friday and test the possible heat issue (my bet is that most heat is dissipated via screen and not sides but I could also drill a few holes to see if there is any effect).
Only question I have: Is there enough clearance for USB-C connectors slightly bigger than the cable provided with the L5?
Edit: design challenge idea: similar case, but made to be used without the back cover. Use back cover clips to lock to place. Would make it a bit thinner (1-2mm).
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It’s on my hard disk . I’ll put it here after having optimized the dimensions
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