Rasp Case v 1.5

I put my Raspberry Pi 2 inside the chipboard/wooden box that previously hosted the old Raspi version. It's not an ideal switch, partly because of certain layout changes in the new Raspberry.

The new Raspi is in some ways better for this type of corner placement than the old, and with the added USB ports I decided not to connect it to a USB hub. However the microSD connector is now hidden inside the case. 

There are now 4 screw positions in the circuit board which is better than the two. The board can be fit very firmly to the case bottom with 3mm machine screws. To fit them I had to drill through the screw holes with a 3mm drill, though. (I don't remember having to do that before)

The USB positioning means the keyboard cable now comes outside from the box and back into the Raspi. I've not had the heart to cut the cable and make some kind of on-board connection. It WOULD have been possible to face the USBs towards the inside just as before, and use the USB hub to pull them out. This would have helpfully exposed the SD card too.

The Network cable output does not need to be extended either. The composite video is not only physically different, it's a bit different to set up in the boot I currently use so I've not connected it to the backside either. Also, it can also be reached from the side of the case.

It's possible that I'll put my old Rasp 1 back into this box and devise something new for the 2B.


A short how-to

Below I have some loose schematics about how the case is built, something that I did not discuss before. The cover that holds the keyboard has the side boards glued into it. The back panel and the case bottom are glued (and screwed) together.

Not to scale.

The cover part is removable and connected with machine screws, as shown in the section image below. This is achieved by embedding M3 size nuts into the side panels, leaving room for the screw to penetrate (all this sounds bit rude). A thin veneer glued to the bottom of the side panel holds the nuts in place. The 3mm holes into the veneer have to be made quite carefully. A thicker material could be used as well.

All this because the machine screws/nuts make the cover more replaceable. Wood screws might also suffice, it's not like they would ruin the parts very quickly.

The picture below shows in elevation how the Raspberry Pi is the connected to the bottom panel. This really does not need much explanation. None of the pictures are in any kind of scale, I'm just showing the basic principle.