Project boxes
Custom Project Boxes
A project box sized to your board and drilled by CNC instead of by hand, in ABS, polycarbonate or acrylic, with the logo printed on. Custom project boxes from one unit to 10,000, with no mold and no minimum.
Past the catalog
A custom project box that fits the board, not the other way round.
A custom project box is what you order when the catalog ABS box is a size too small, needs eleven holes drilled by hand, and still looks like a catalog box. Toolless cuts the box to your board's dimensions from pre-colored ABS sheet, mills every connector opening, vent and mounting boss from the CAD file, bends the panels on a computerized thermal bender and solvent-bonds them into a rigid housing. The finished box arrives ready for the board to drop in.
There is no mold, so one box for a bench prototype and 500 for a first production run are the same process at the same quality. Small ABS plastic boxes for a sensor node and larger custom electronics boxes for a controller come off the same equipment.
Three starting points
Pre-designed or fully custom.
Two pre-designed constructions cover most board housings and are resized to your board. Anything they cannot do becomes a fully custom box.
C Box
Two C-shaped halves that snap together over the board. The most economical construction, with the board held in internal slots or on inserts, and customized with any cutout or print.
C Box detailsU Box
A four-piece construction with separate end panels, which suits boxes with dense connector fields on the ends or boards that need access from both sides.
U Box detailsFully custom
Sloped fronts, curved tops, two-tone panels, windows, hinged lids and any footprint the sheet allows. Designed in SolidWorks around your components.
Custom enclosuresHandheld
A handheld project box built for the hand and the drop.
A handheld project box has to be light enough to carry and stiff enough to survive the floor. We choose the sheet thickness against the drop requirement, add corner doublers where the box lands and place the joint lines where fingers do not catch them. Battery doors run on magnets or a snap, light pipes bring status LEDs to the surface and the label is printed rather than stuck on.
- Bonded ABS boxes pass the usual drop tests and match molded parts in similar material
- Curved surfaces formed in one direction for grips and wrapped tops
- Brass inserts, bosses and standoff recesses for the board; magnets and latches for doors
- UV-printed legends and logos, or engraving for permanent identification
Specifications
What an ABS box from Toolless is made of.
General-purpose ABS covers 80 percent of what we ship. The remaining options are chosen for flame rating, clarity or chemical exposure, and the materials page lists each grade.
ABS enclosures- Standard material
- General-purpose ABS ALLEN 552/LXS (UL94 HB) in white, black, light grey and dark grey
- Thickness in stock
- 3, 4, 6 and 8 mm ABS; sheet from 2 mm to about 12 mm overall
- Other materials
- Flame-retardant ABS (UL94 V-0), Boltaron 4335, polycarbonate, PETG, acrylic
- Board mounting
- Internal slots, bosses with heat-staked brass inserts, standoff recesses
- Openings
- Connector cutouts, vents, display windows, light pipes, milled from the flat panel
- Quantity
- 1 to 10,000 units; setup charge on one- and two-unit orders; blanket orders 10 to 10,000
- Files
- STEP, IGES, SAT, SolidWorks, STL, DXF in; prt, igs, stp, stl, sldprt out
Proof
From Kickstarter case to production box.
The FlightBox ADS-B receiver case began as a Kickstarter campaign. The prototype arrived in one week and the design carried through to the shipped product; the Kickstarter page has the story. A second example, a receiver box and start logger built around a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with stacked hats and external USB ports, is written up in the receiver box case study.
Custom electronics boxes for single-board computers are a large part of what leaves the plant: cases for Raspberry Pi 1 through 5 and Zero, BeagleBone, Banana Pi, Arduino, Cubieboard, Adafruit and Orange Pi boards, with lead times as short as 3 to 4 weeks. See custom Raspberry Pi cases.
Related
Other ways to box a board.
Standard enclosures
The C Box and U Box range, with the configurator and CAD downloads.
Learn moreElectronic enclosures
Housings for boards, displays and power supplies of every size.
Learn moreWall mount boxes
Flanged and keyholed boxes for controllers and sensors.
Learn moreAffordable enclosures
Why a no-mold box costs less at the quantities most projects ship.
Learn moreCan I order just one custom project box?
Yes. One or two units are possible with a setup charge, and there is no tooling to pay for. The process is at its most economical between 100 and 10,000 units, which is where most production orders land.
How do I get the box sized to my board?
Send a STEP, IGES, SAT, SolidWorks, STL or DXF file of the board, or the outline dimensions, connector positions and tallest component height. For a C Box or U Box you can also size the box yourself in the TraceParts-hosted Product Designer and download the CAD.
Which ABS grade should I choose?
General-purpose ABS (UL94 HB) suits most indoor electronics and is stocked in four colors and four thicknesses. Flame-retardant ABS (UL94 V-0) is stocked in black and white, 3 mm, for products whose specification requires it. Polycarbonate is the choice when a transparent or UV-stabilized panel is needed.
Can the box be snapped together without screws?
Yes. The C Box is a two-piece, snap-together design, and internal slots can hold the board without fasteners. Magnets, hinges and latches are available for lids and doors that need to open in service.
Why engineers choose Toolless
Trusted for enclosures since 1998.
Startups, OEMs and medical device makers across the USA, Canada and Australia come back for the next run. Read more testimonials.
- Years without molds
- 25+
- Certified quality system
- ISO 9001
- Units per order
- 1–10,000
- Sq ft in Everett, WA
- 13,000
“We initially considered injection molding, but with our volume the cost of tooling would never be recovered. It took only a week to settle on a design and get a prototype, and we were in production a week later.”
“I spent 9 years as a quality engineer at Rockwell and tend to be a perfectionist. Your professionalism and diligence in helping evolve our cover is greatly appreciated.”
“After a number of orders, Toolless have become our preferred supplier. Even though we are located in Australia, all deliveries have been fast and hassle free.”
Start your enclosure
Send the board. We’ll send the box.
Quotes come from an engineer, not a form robot. Attach CAD, photos or a sketch and we reply within one business day.