Interested in a solid billet aluminum case for your D2/D2G? Know Solidworks?

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

HELP ME HELP YOU. I have access to a full set of CNC machines that can make just about anything I can give them a design for. I know we have plenty of nerds on here (no offense, I'm a nerd too), anyone know solidworks? Can you get me a solidworks file, or g-code for a case for the front and back? The D2 and D2G have the same dimensions, give or take (close enough that I can't tell a difference with my D2 Innocase on my D2G)... If someone can get me a file for one with the extended battery with battery door, I can probably make a separate one that fits those, too. Due to the cost of the material, this would have to be a bulk thing (i.e., I'd have to get $$ up front from all interested parties, buy enough material for that run, and then ship them). But that's way in the future, I have to make a prototype first. So, who can help?

[Joseph61189]

HELP ME HELP YOU. I have access to a full set of CNC machines that can make just about anything I can give them a design for. I know we have plenty of nerds on here (no offense, I'm a nerd too), anyone know solidworks? Can you get me a solidworks file, or g-code for a case for the front and back? The D2 and D2G have the same dimensions, give or take (close enough that I can't tell a difference with my D2 Innocase on my D2G)... If someone can get me a file for one with the extended battery with battery door, I can probably make a separate one that fits those, too. Due to the cost of the material, this would have to be a bulk thing (i.e., I'd have to get $$ up front from all interested parties, buy enough material for that run, and then ship them). But that's way in the future, I have to make a prototype first. So, who can help?

What about MasterCAM? We Use MX2.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I'd have to double check with my grandfather (his machine shop), but yeah, that should work. Anything we can generate g code off of. Are you actually interested in helping? If I get a working prototype, you'll get one for free, or at substantially reduced cost, depending on what it costs me (shouldn't be much).

[Joseph61189]

I'd have to double check with my grandfather (his machine shop), but yeah, that should work. Anything we can generate g code off of. Are you actually interested in helping? If I get a working prototype, you'll get one for free, or at substantially reduced cost, depending on what it costs me (shouldn't be much).

Yeah Im rather interested. I am currently in trade school for machining and looking for a good CNC project to wow my instructors with. I have a Droid2, just didn't think about ever making a case. Certainly going to require some thinking design wise.

[Khyren]

I have an idea in which to make the front part lock to the front open or closed without clips. Only one spot where it won't be locked but that's when your fingers are sliding it open. PM me for the details.

[zero7404]

HELP ME HELP YOU. I have access to a full set of CNC machines that can make just about anything I can give them a design for. I know we have plenty of nerds on here (no offense, I'm a nerd too), anyone know solidworks? Can you get me a solidworks file, or g-code for a case for the front and back? The D2 and D2G have the same dimensions, give or take (close enough that I can't tell a difference with my D2 Innocase on my D2G)... If someone can get me a file for one with the extended battery with battery door, I can probably make a separate one that fits those, too. Due to the cost of the material, this would have to be a bulk thing (i.e., I'd have to get $$ up front from all interested parties, buy enough material for that run, and then ship them). But that's way in the future, I have to make a prototype first. So, who can help?

i'm a mech engineer and have access to sw ... although i'm not sure if i should grab a license/seat to make somthing not pertaining to my job.

if i were to sit and design a case for this phone, i would make it a tribute to all those that have been wanting a quality design with integration for the extended battery. because i know otterbox don't care ...

btw, how would you propose getting a metal case on the phone securely ? in order to get the curves just right, the contours of the phone need to be traced precisely .... tough task without a starter model that's got the contours already in it.

best way for you is to do this:

go to cellular nationwide network and grab a dummy droid 2 phone (they sell these).

then slap modeler's clay all over it, and heat it just enough in an oven to get it hard enough to remove from the phone dummy, which will likely melt. then harden it some more in the oven.

after it's hard enough you can take it to a machine shop who can then reproduce and turn it into a metal mold for injection molding use.

there's some serious money involved in doing this, best option is to just buy a case already on the market.

if you're adamant about making a nice case for it, perhaps buy yourself the semi-rubberized droid 2 case from verizon. hog out the center where the ext. battery goes, then give it to a machine shop and ask them to make it out of Garolite G10.

[LtKen]

I've seen many metal cases come and go -- the commonality being that the metal kills the signal from the radio. Think faraday cage.....

[Abe21599]

i know SW fairly well but where do u plan on getting the exact dimensions? i have a DX but figured id throw in my 2 cents lol

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

HELP ME HELP YOU. I have access to a full set of CNC machines that can make just about anything I can give them a design for. I know we have plenty of nerds on here (no offense, I'm a nerd too), anyone know solidworks? Can you get me a solidworks file, or g-code for a case for the front and back? The D2 and D2G have the same dimensions, give or take (close enough that I can't tell a difference with my D2 Innocase on my D2G)... If someone can get me a file for one with the extended battery with battery door, I can probably make a separate one that fits those, too. Due to the cost of the material, this would have to be a bulk thing (i.e., I'd have to get $$ up front from all interested parties, buy enough material for that run, and then ship them). But that's way in the future, I have to make a prototype first. So, who can help?

i'm a mech engineer and have access to sw ... although i'm not sure if i should grab a license/seat to make somthing not pertaining to my job.

if i were to sit and design a case for this phone, i would make it a tribute to all those that have been wanting a quality design with integration for the extended battery. because i know otterbox don't care ...

btw, how would you propose getting a metal case on the phone securely ? in order to get the curves just right, the contours of the phone need to be traced precisely .... tough task without a starter model that's got the contours already in it.

best way for you is to do this:

go to cellular nationwide network and grab a dummy droid 2 phone (they sell these).

then slap modeler's clay all over it, and heat it just enough in an oven to get it hard enough to remove from the phone dummy, which will likely melt. then harden it some more in the oven.

after it's hard enough you can take it to a machine shop who can then reproduce and turn it into a metal mold for injection molding use.

there's some serious money involved in doing this, best option is to just buy a case already on the market.

if you're adamant about making a nice case for it, perhaps buy yourself the semi-rubberized droid 2 case from verizon. hog out the center where the ext. battery goes, then give it to a machine shop and ask them to make it out of Garolite G10.

I'm not giving it to the machine shop, I'll be doing this from the ground up. As for dimensions, there's no problem here that I can't solve with a pair of micrometers and some careful record keeping.. If you look at the inside of any case for this phone, they're very, very regular. Mine has no depressions or contours that aren't cosmetic (there's a bump at the foot to provide surface to keep the speaker off of any flat surface you lay the phone on). Simply put, I want to make a 4pc case, 2 pieces per side, that slide together (lengthwise) over the phone. There's no serious money involved in it because all of the measuring and design would be done by me in my spare time, and the machine work is free (for me in small quantities, if I run batches of these, I'll have to charge for labor), and I'm sure there's enough pieces of scrap aluminum laying around for me to experiment with for months. I'm pretty sure I can overcome the antenna blockage in the same way the iPhone cases do... Make a cutout, or series of small ones. It'll all come down to experimentation.

[zero7404]

a lot of r&d go into making a case specific to a device. the best tools to import geometry would be laser 3D scanners that can generate a model of the surfaces. or a properly configured CMM machine that can touch the phone in several places and generate points which can then be turned into surfaces.

but all of this is a lot of work ... your best bet is picking a case you like the most and either modding it to suit you or using as-is.

as i said before, this would be a good candidate for Garolite G10, it's a strong engineered plastic that can be easily machined. if you are a skilled machinist, you can probably machine out the contours, see if that fits, then machine the rest into a case. but the tabs are the most critical part of the design.

you can snag blocks of any engineered plastic you want on amazon or onlineplastics. large blocks of garolite aren't cheap though, somewhere around $ 1000-$ 2000 for a 24x36x1 block ... or something like that.