the pi-rack

dave@davepedu.com (dave) — Fri, 01 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I recently acquired a low-end 3d printer (0.3mm extrusion head) and after a few practice prints I decided to put my new skills to the test. I wanted to create a Raspberry Pi case, but I thought that would be a little boring. So the idea I settled on was creating something akin to a blade server - an enclosure that takes care of power and LAN distribution, that houses several Pis. Overkill? Absolutely!

Armed with $10 calipers, a few RasPis to measure, and Sketchup Make, I created the Raspberry Pi Rack!

I posted many more photos, and even the source 3d model files you want to print your own, over on Hackaday.

The bill of materials isn’t crazy either:

4x 1/4" by 6" threaded rods e.g. from Lowes
16x 1/4" lock nuts
8x 1/4" wing nugs (for easy disassembly - can absolutely be replaced with lock nuts for a more permanent assembly)
24x 1/4" by 1/2" nylon washers
1x male molex connector (I salvaged mine from computer fan parts)
1x prototype board
1x 6-pin SIP header
1x 6-pin SIP header, 90˚ angle
2x 6-pin SIP header, straight
12x M to F breadboard jumper
12x F to F breadboard jumpers
5 volt Ethernet switch
3x screw + nut sets (these are to secure the switch, I can’t recall what I used. Something like a M3x15mm screw).
12x RJ45 (ethernet) headers
Cat5/e cable (a couple feet should do the trick).
ATX power supply. Any desktop computer has one of these.

Not counting the Raspberry Pis, all the supplies come in easily under $100. Not bad.

Happy hacking!

This project was featured on the Hackaday.com Homepage!

3d Printing on davepedu.com

the pi-rack