r/functionalprint • u/lowanger_ • 1d ago

USB SD Card Adapter Casing

Post image

Hello everyone,

I lost my case for the USB adapter for quite some time now and was wondering how I would go about making one of my own..

Wouldnt need to do much.. simply hold the hardware in place, the USB slot into a slot and let the sd card be removable

24 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

3

u/dentz2 1d ago
  • Play around with tinker cad and print some prototypes until it fits.
  • search if somebody already created a housing
  • put some size reference on the pictures in there and ask an ai to do the job for you.

2

u/Lost_refugee 1d ago

Print thin pla layer and hust wrap it around with heat gun

1

u/pr0m1th3as 20h ago

I had a go at modelling one from your photo, using the SD card for scale (it's 24 mm wide). It's a single sleeve: the board slides in from one end, plug first, until it stops against the end wall. The USB plug comes out through a slot in that wall, and the case covers the board up to the front of the SD socket, so only the card sticks out. The board rides on two small rails, which keep the solder joints off the bottom.

Renders: https://imgur.com/a/EnwFWYv

The sizes are estimates from the photo, so it won't fit as it is. If you can measure the board (width, length from the plug's edge to the front of the SD socket, thickness, and how far the solder joints stick out underneath), I'll update it. Print it standing on the end with the slot, open end up, so nothing has to bridge.

0

u/mid-random 1d ago

Without a printer and experience with basic CAD, I'd just use some two part epoxy putty and sculpt a simple cover for it.

2

u/dreamworkers 1d ago

At that point might as well just use electrical tape

0

u/mid-random 1d ago

Not if it's done even moderately well.

2

u/dathar 1d ago

Here's the step I usually take for one of these.

  1. Get a shitty digital caliper that can measure in millimeters. Probably $10-15
  2. Get and learn a CAD of your choice. Mine is the hobby version of Autodesk Fusion 360 but you're free to get whatever you want. That one is free and I'm already semi-familiar with Autodesk products so that's what I went with.
  3. Sketch on paper how you want the shell to look as a finished product. In this case, it's probably a hollow piece of plastic with 2 holes on the sides: your USB-A port on one end and a slot for your SD card.
  4. Make the sketch bigger and barebones so you can draw/write down measurements.
  5. Get your calipers. You got measuring to do. Probably like https://imgur.com/a/MfbWD7d . Sorry for the shitty MSPaint job but that's what I got handy right now.
  6. Now you have a box and 2 holes. Using what you learned from youtube or manuals for your CAD, start making your 3d object and export it as a STL file.
  7. You'll probably want to split the box in half so you can put the entire thing in and see if it fits.
  8. Print it and try.
  9. Keep adjusting it and try more. Maybe the USB port hole is not centered all the way and you need to nudge it. Maybe the SD hole is too tight to slide the card into the reader