Need Advice Please

[jasoninlv]

Hi Guys
I posted this back in Feb 2026
still looking for help

Hi everyone,


I’m looking for some guidance on designing or sourcing a enclosure for a Teensy 4.0 lockable

My initial thought was to go 3D-printed, but a lot of the examples
I’ve seen don’t look very polished or durable.

( I PRINTED A FEW LIKE A CLAMSHELL BUT THEY DON"T STAY TOGETHER TO WELL )

I reached out to Polycase, but unfortunately they don’t do true custom enclosures.

(I CALLED A FEW injection mold companies, but they want way tooooo MUCH for the mold )

Ideally, I’d love something that looks clean and professional possibly a metal enclosure or maybe a liquid resin printed


Has anyone here:

• Designed a clean, professional case for a Teensy? any Model ???
• Used aluminum or steel enclosures successfully? how do you all mount it in the case
• Found a manufacturer that does small-batch custom or semi-custom cases?
• Solved locking/tamper-resistant designs in a clean way?

Any suggestions, examples, vendors, or “don’t do this” lessons would be hugely appreciated. I’m open to hybrid ideas too (metal shell + internal printed frame, etc.).


Thanks in advance — really appreciate any direction you can point me in. also

 

[TeaOnPC]

If this is a personal project, I personally don't see the need to go past getting a nice 3D print. I'm doubtful any manufacturer would be interested in producing a small set of cases.

A couple years ago 3D printing was definitely in a weird spot that you couldn't get a "professional" quality print, or at the very least wouldn't be seen as anything more than a prototype. Nowadays you can definitely get a nice and clean looking print with basic tweaks to your print profile, arranging your print in a way that reduces the visibility of layer lines, reducing nozzle size(this also helps deal with the layer lines) etc.

Filament choice can make a night and day difference, PETG will be significantly shinier then PLA. Printing with ABS/ASA and doing an "Acetone Bath" will give you glossy, almost injection mold quality prints without having to go through the hassle of using resin printers. I would highly recommend this route as it would yield what I think is close to what you're looking for with minimal extra costs.

I would also say that depending on your project, making a larger "motherboard" PCB to act as a main board to connect your Teensy and sensors/peripherals could also help you narrow down design considerations as it'll help cement exactly what design considerations should be made.

In my experience, one of the best parts of 3D printing is iterating on a design, most of my design projects have more than 10 revisions. Not only do you learn more about your design, but you also become more efficient in how you design.

Edit: Fixed typo