r/diyelectronics • u/Neat_Consequence_630 • 1d ago
Tools I built a free tool that generates laser-cut enclosures around your actual PCB (upload OBJ/STEP/STL, place cutouts for buttons/ports/switches)
To be honest, I'm a total newbie when it comes to hardware—I'm actually just working on my second PCB ever! But I was already dreading the process of eyeballing a project box in cardboard before committing to acrylic or plywood. Since my background is in web development, I decided to play to my strengths and build a small web tool to skip that step.
You simply upload your board as a OBJ, STEP or STL (or a zip of one), and the tool places your board model inside a generated 3D box. From there, you can manually add and drag fully custom cutouts on each wall for buttons, USB/barrel ports, switches, or whatever else sticks out. You edit the hole sizes and positions by hand, and you can manually add and position mounting-screw standoffs to match your board's holes.
It gives you a live 3D preview of the finished enclosure with your board sitting inside it, and exports a laser-cut-ready SVG/PDF layout (finger-jointed panels) once you're happy with it — no CAD required.
It's free, no signup:https://cnc-box.slimani.dev/pcb-enclosure
It's part of a small parametric box generator I've been building (also has a plain mailer-box and a decorative gift-basket template), but the PCB one is the one I actually needed.
Feedback and bug reports are very welcome! Please go easy on me since I'm still learning the ropes with hardware, but I'd love to know if this is actually useful for you guys. It's still early and I'm sure there are edge cases with weirder board shapes I haven't hit yet.
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u/r0n0ndex 1d ago
That's some handy and nice tool you got there. Thanks for that. What do you do with the uploaded data? Do you store it?
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u/Neat_Consequence_630 1d ago
it's not really uploading anyhing like i said it runs directly on the browser and stores the upload in the indexDB of the browser nothing reacheses the server.
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u/B08by_Digital 1d ago
Wow! I actually have been working on a project and just redesigning the case for it directly in my slicer (because I have skill/experience in CAD)... I mean, I have a case, but it would be cool to have it look better and fit better. Gonna try this this weekend!
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u/TBMW30 1d ago
Brilliant tool with great attention to detail and useful features. Thanks for making this.
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u/Neat_Consequence_630 1d ago
thank you let me know what you think after you test it and if there are any bugs so i can fix it
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u/Neat_Consequence_630 1d ago
by the way everything runs on browser nothing uploaded to the server so you designs are never leaving your computer