I’ve been designing PCB mounting plates into several project enclosures. Liz (BlitzCityDIY) suggested I’d do a Layer by Layer tutorial on the subject. I shared a CAD explosion on twitter and was asked why I used a separate mounting plate instead of building them into the case itself. This got me thinking about some of the benefits of this design method.
Modularity. Don’t have to reprint the whole case for minor changes and updates.
Can adjust position of components and only reprint PCB mount.
Can use additional hardware standoffs, screws and hex nuts to secure PCBs.
Can hold various PCBs together in a single mount.
PCB Mount takes ~20 minutes to print verses several hours for half of an enclosure.
Elevates the PCB and allows clearance for wiring and spacing for positioning.
In this tutorial we’ll take a look at using PCB mounting plates for enclosure designs. We’ll dive into four projects and pull out how to use PCB mounts and why they’re helpful. Check out the links to the learn guides of the projects featured in this video. Thanks for watching!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
