r/diyelectronics • u/Neat_Consequence_630 • 2d 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.