This is the final product. It certainly isn’t beautiful, nor necessarily cheap, but it will protect my (vastly more expensive) L5 until some manufacturer makes a real case. (I prefer flexible, soft cases over rigid 3D printed cases (but that’s just me))
Buy 2 of these cases: Phone Case for Samsung Galaxy J7 Star J 7 Crown 7J Refine 2018 J7V V 2nd Gen (thanks @amarok for your list of case dimensions!). I got these from Amazon.
This made-for-plastic glue will work. It can fill gaps and dries in 20 seconds (cyanoacrylate glues did NOT work on this case, for me anyway). You don’t need very much of the glue, maybe 1-2 cc total, after mixing the two components of the glue together, in a 1:1 ratio, but you only mix what you need at that moment because it hardens very quickly. You can get small amounts of glue out of the respective tubes by sucking it out from the container using a 3 cc syringe with an 18 gauge needle tip. (Do not use the mixing tubes that come with the glue, unless you want to waste a lot of glue)
These are the pieces that you end up with (note that I have the two half-cases stacked one upon the other, on the right). You can discard the left and middle pieces, if you like.
@Zimmy, Nice jerry-rigged solution. Did you buy this case from Amazon?
Since the second microphone is generally a nuisance, I wonder if covering it up helps with the audio when making calls.
Now for your next project, find an assortment of cases that match either the width or the height of the L5, and have holes lining up with at least one of the L5’s camera, buttons, ports, or SIM tray, then slice them all up and glue them together to make one good one.
Bonus points if they’re all the same color!
P.S. I totally agree about flexible vs. rigid cases.
Yes, that’s the case. Regarding call, the cellular radio in my L5 is on the fritz (an in contact with Purism support and I might need a new cellular modem), so I can’t do any testing at this moment. If the case interferes with the second microphone, it’s pretty easy to cut a hole in the case material to unblock it.
Thumbs up for this DIY. Possible option for further development: try moldable glue (available in black) like Sugru or Kintsuglue to patch up holes or add corner bumpers.
I didn’t think about that glue, but its worth a try and would give a more cosmetic result. I wonder if it will adhere to this case material, though. The cyanoacrylate glues I tried didn’t dry or adhere in the least on this material. It just stayed wet without any adhesion at all.
@Zimmy, I wonder if a regular hole punch (the office supply type) would work for creating some of the apertures. Or do you think it would be too hard to place it in the correct position in and around the case?
To be honest, I think a hole punch would be problematic, not so much in terms of alignment but punching out a sequence of circular holes, to approximate a rectangular aperture, might be challenging, besides not having any control over width (diameter) of the aperture. Maybe there is a machine tool for hand usage that has variable punched-hole diameters.
What I did find is that, when you get to the point of creating apertures, one erroneous cut could be quite unforgiving and you might end up ruining all of your work up to that point. The further your progression into the project, the more careful you have to be.
I wonder if a silicone band like this one could be used around the sides as a shock absorber (and if it would be possible to cut/punch holes at the appropriate points):
I should note that to withdraw the glue components from the combo glue tubes, use a long, blunt 14 gauge luer lock dispensing needle, such as this:
Using these, you won’t need to buy the expensive dual plunger applicator gun that you would otherwise need to dispense the glue (unless you want to use the glue for other things).
The longer the needle, the more suction you need to apply to get the rather viscous glue components to flow into your syringe. You also might want a larger syringe (like a 10 cc syringe, rather than a 3 cc syringe). The larger the syringe, the more suction power it can generate. The glue will not set up inside the respective syringes (unless it was somehow mistakenly mixed with the other glue component).
Yes, but 7 inch in diameter is probably too long! Actually just my guess while at home I have several of rubber bands in size of 130mm×15mm×3mm and those fit well but not protecting for real as one size to big, might slip away when phone fells down, therefore I guess that ideal diameter would be around 110mm. Anyway next smaller size, natural rubber one, perhaps same thing in black, that I just found would be in dimension 95mm×15mm×3mm: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002481648813.html (don’t have this linked one but in this thickness of 3mm might be just perfect, as stretched to less than 2.5mm ). You’d need to remove it completely just for charging or connecting headsets purpose.
0.75 inch (19mm) of width is certainly worth to be tried, please. And, 4.75 inch (120mm) diameter + stretch is certainly appropriate measure for those silicone bands. Sorry for my misunderstanding.
3D printed doesn’t necessarily mean rigid. There are flexible filaments such as NinjaFlex that are commonly used to 3D print phone cases, rubber tyres for RC cars, etc… Not all printers can handle them well though. For best results, you need direct extrusion, and not something like e.g. Bowden extruders.
That said, respect. Were I to attempt this, I’d probably screw up a couple of cases before I got something semi-presentable.
Until I move myself to make my own case here is 1mm layer that I’m about to use (with another glue , just while based on another idea) and that you might already implement on top of the case that you already made.
Same video, just another link given: https://youtu.be/JLrrfXijV0s.
). You’d need to remove it completely just for charging or connecting headsets purpose.
, just while based on another idea) and that you might already implement on top of the case that you already made.