3D Printed Ultimate All-in-one Iphone Case/ Wallet/ Money Clip/ Beer Opener
by mstyle183 in Workshop > 3D Printing
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3D Printed Ultimate All-in-one Iphone Case/ Wallet/ Money Clip/ Beer Opener
UPDATE:
The newer and improved version case can now be purchased in this 3d printing store front. It's more expensinve that i would like to make it.. But this is the only way it can purchased before it's manufactured. But i hope the fact it's a 3d printed case should give it the extra wow and therefore worth it.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/450144/sleek_all_in_one_iphone_4_case__card_holder__money.html
I'm Working on The Version with the bottle opener since it needs a metal part that cant be added in 3d printing.
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ok one tip i was given when making instructables was to make the begging very appealing.. here it goes
Are you tired of carrying a bunch of other stuff in your pockets? do you ever wonder i wish i could just get one item that does it all? Well after a lot of research and personal pocket experience i have been able to design a product that covers pretty much everything you will need out in the road.. Wallet, credit card holder, id holder, business card holder, money clip, earphone holder.. and YES a bottle OPENER.. all in a tiny very compact case that will also prevent damages to your iphone.. this is like the Macgyver of the iphone cases.. this is like the swiss army of wallets.. this is like the master of money clips.. this is insanity!!
The motivation behind this iphone wallet was in part when i saw a girl at the club with no purse... She was using her bra as a wallet.. she had some cash, some credit cards, her ID and thats about it. If you think about it that pretty much all what you need when you go out in the world. So not only this is perfect for girls but is also perfect for guy that hate carrying a lot of stuff around in their pockets.
The thickness was very essential.. my iphone had a hard shell case that was about 1 millimeter thick of clear acryilic. This is definetly no Utter box case or whatever that horrendous case is called. I liked this case because it protected against falls and yet added very little to "pant bulge"** While making this wallet/case i made sure it keep the strength to protect the phone and still keep the case extremely thin. Right now the credit card section adds just about 5 millimeters
When Designing this i encountered a lot of issues that took a lot of time and countless hours to figure out. I found very little help from designers out there who already had accomplished creating a case. I guess the common belief is why share your knowledge with others who might compete with you.. i understand that feeling.. However, by making this tutorial i'm giving you the basics that i wish someone had given me. Good luck my fellow designers. ***All i ask is to please go and vote for me in both the shopbot contest and the make it real contest :)
Materials
- 3d program (like Solidworks or Maya)
- 3d printer or access to the internet so you can get it printed
- tons of creativity and patience
** Pant Bulge is the look you get when you have a lot of stuff in your pocket
PS.. Please check out my other instructable that incorporates earphone organizer into your watch band
https://www.instructables.com/id/3d-printed-6th-gen-nano-watch-band-w-earphone-org/
The newer and improved version case can now be purchased in this 3d printing store front. It's more expensinve that i would like to make it.. But this is the only way it can purchased before it's manufactured. But i hope the fact it's a 3d printed case should give it the extra wow and therefore worth it.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/450144/sleek_all_in_one_iphone_4_case__card_holder__money.html
I'm Working on The Version with the bottle opener since it needs a metal part that cant be added in 3d printing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok one tip i was given when making instructables was to make the begging very appealing.. here it goes
Are you tired of carrying a bunch of other stuff in your pockets? do you ever wonder i wish i could just get one item that does it all? Well after a lot of research and personal pocket experience i have been able to design a product that covers pretty much everything you will need out in the road.. Wallet, credit card holder, id holder, business card holder, money clip, earphone holder.. and YES a bottle OPENER.. all in a tiny very compact case that will also prevent damages to your iphone.. this is like the Macgyver of the iphone cases.. this is like the swiss army of wallets.. this is like the master of money clips.. this is insanity!!
The motivation behind this iphone wallet was in part when i saw a girl at the club with no purse... She was using her bra as a wallet.. she had some cash, some credit cards, her ID and thats about it. If you think about it that pretty much all what you need when you go out in the world. So not only this is perfect for girls but is also perfect for guy that hate carrying a lot of stuff around in their pockets.
The thickness was very essential.. my iphone had a hard shell case that was about 1 millimeter thick of clear acryilic. This is definetly no Utter box case or whatever that horrendous case is called. I liked this case because it protected against falls and yet added very little to "pant bulge"** While making this wallet/case i made sure it keep the strength to protect the phone and still keep the case extremely thin. Right now the credit card section adds just about 5 millimeters
When Designing this i encountered a lot of issues that took a lot of time and countless hours to figure out. I found very little help from designers out there who already had accomplished creating a case. I guess the common belief is why share your knowledge with others who might compete with you.. i understand that feeling.. However, by making this tutorial i'm giving you the basics that i wish someone had given me. Good luck my fellow designers. ***All i ask is to please go and vote for me in both the shopbot contest and the make it real contest :)
Materials
- 3d program (like Solidworks or Maya)
- 3d printer or access to the internet so you can get it printed
- tons of creativity and patience
** Pant Bulge is the look you get when you have a lot of stuff in your pocket
PS.. Please check out my other instructable that incorporates earphone organizer into your watch band
https://www.instructables.com/id/3d-printed-6th-gen-nano-watch-band-w-earphone-org/
How to Come Up With the Idea
When Designing a new product you need to identify your problems and then design your product.
My main problem was pant bulge.. i hate the look you get when wearing a nice pair of pants and you have all these stuff in your pockets making you look like you are growing something on your legs or butt. The wallet is been a huge peeped of mine since i started to develop back pains because the bulge of my wallet was making my back crocked while i sat at work for hours.. I have since reduced the amount i carry in my wallet in order to reduce the thickness on it..
My other problem is that i'm a very forgetful person.. Sometimes i will forget my wallet or my headphones. If you like to listen to music at work or like to buy anything. You know that when you forget these is a pain in the butt.
So i first tried to buy a iphone case that did similar stuff as mine.. However, most of them only did one or two things.. None of them did it all. Some like the headphone organizer actually made the iphone so thick it looked like a freaking camel!
So i started researching the internet and found out that there are some places that are very affordable. If you design your case well enough you can use very little material and actually make your 3d printed case almost cheaper than your store bought case
So in summary
Identify your problem.
Try to find out if there is a solution out there
Design your product that fixes your problems
get it 3d printed.
This are a couple of 3d printing websites
Ponoko.com
Shapeways.com
Sculpteo.com
If you find a cheaper website let me know
My main problem was pant bulge.. i hate the look you get when wearing a nice pair of pants and you have all these stuff in your pockets making you look like you are growing something on your legs or butt. The wallet is been a huge peeped of mine since i started to develop back pains because the bulge of my wallet was making my back crocked while i sat at work for hours.. I have since reduced the amount i carry in my wallet in order to reduce the thickness on it..
My other problem is that i'm a very forgetful person.. Sometimes i will forget my wallet or my headphones. If you like to listen to music at work or like to buy anything. You know that when you forget these is a pain in the butt.
So i first tried to buy a iphone case that did similar stuff as mine.. However, most of them only did one or two things.. None of them did it all. Some like the headphone organizer actually made the iphone so thick it looked like a freaking camel!
So i started researching the internet and found out that there are some places that are very affordable. If you design your case well enough you can use very little material and actually make your 3d printed case almost cheaper than your store bought case
So in summary
Identify your problem.
Try to find out if there is a solution out there
Design your product that fixes your problems
get it 3d printed.
This are a couple of 3d printing websites
Ponoko.com
Shapeways.com
Sculpteo.com
If you find a cheaper website let me know
How to 3d Model, Check for Thickness, Close Holes, and Get Your Product 3d Printed
I made this tutorial so you won't make the same mistakes that i did.. It took me forever for get my case to be the correct size. The problem was that i was basing my measurements of the apple's specs page.. This is a bad idea.. you don't have all the measurements you need here.. you have to find the CADs page.
https://developer.apple.com/resources/cases/
This is crucial since iphone cases have to be down to the millimeters to look and work properly. That little tip right there would save you days!! your welcome...
Anyways, once you find the correct measurements you can build a 3d model or you can find one that has already been made.. scale it down to size and use it as a template to make your iphone case.
http://grabcad.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=iphone+4
This is another crucial part you have to take notice. Programs export files at different sizes.. Maya said my item was 1 millimeter thick however, when i export it and import it into Shapeways.com it keep saying the item was huge and it would cost hundreds of dollars
The problem was that shapeways and maya had different ways to measure stuff.. i saw people using rhino and other programs and they had similar issues.. The way i was able to go around this .. in Maya i exported a small square that was 10 millimeters big.. when imported into shapeways.com it said it was 4 millimeters.. Therefore, .4 millimeters in maya = 1 millimeters in shapeways.. (note when picking what type of measurements pick inches)
That again took me couple of days to figure it out... the problem is that Shapeways.com will accept a model that is not thick enough in certain parts and will only let you know when they are canceling your order :(
Model your case.. create measuring squares to make sure is thick enough
Now the more complicated your case is the more you might have to worry about thickness.. You could manually check to make sure your thickness is the same everywhere. However, i found this website which actually will check the thickness for you.. this is incredible.. it saved me so much time. However, this website is way more expensive... So i decided to use shapeways.com (like i said these guys aren't giving me any money so if you know another cheaper place let me know :)
i hope this helps.. it will save you tons of work.. and if you use this to make your iphone case.. please share your results
I made this video to show you how to make a simple iphone case with a credit card holder.. i also provided the resulting model. (please note that i have changed the model since then considerably and added more features)
https://developer.apple.com/resources/cases/
This is crucial since iphone cases have to be down to the millimeters to look and work properly. That little tip right there would save you days!! your welcome...
Anyways, once you find the correct measurements you can build a 3d model or you can find one that has already been made.. scale it down to size and use it as a template to make your iphone case.
http://grabcad.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=iphone+4
This is another crucial part you have to take notice. Programs export files at different sizes.. Maya said my item was 1 millimeter thick however, when i export it and import it into Shapeways.com it keep saying the item was huge and it would cost hundreds of dollars
The problem was that shapeways and maya had different ways to measure stuff.. i saw people using rhino and other programs and they had similar issues.. The way i was able to go around this .. in Maya i exported a small square that was 10 millimeters big.. when imported into shapeways.com it said it was 4 millimeters.. Therefore, .4 millimeters in maya = 1 millimeters in shapeways.. (note when picking what type of measurements pick inches)
That again took me couple of days to figure it out... the problem is that Shapeways.com will accept a model that is not thick enough in certain parts and will only let you know when they are canceling your order :(
Model your case.. create measuring squares to make sure is thick enough
Now the more complicated your case is the more you might have to worry about thickness.. You could manually check to make sure your thickness is the same everywhere. However, i found this website which actually will check the thickness for you.. this is incredible.. it saved me so much time. However, this website is way more expensive... So i decided to use shapeways.com (like i said these guys aren't giving me any money so if you know another cheaper place let me know :)
i hope this helps.. it will save you tons of work.. and if you use this to make your iphone case.. please share your results
I made this video to show you how to make a simple iphone case with a credit card holder.. i also provided the resulting model. (please note that i have changed the model since then considerably and added more features)
Downloads
How It Works
Phone wallets are usually big, thick and clumsy looking.. Some look like small purses mainly because they are made out of leather or fabric.. some have money clips and some don'.
However adding a money clip on top the credit card holder makes it more thick.. at least the way they do it. Same thing with earphone holders and bottle openers.
The way my Iphone case works is that the money clip also works as a pressure pin to keep the credit cards from falling out. The money clip also works as a bottle opener (if this design is done in some kinda metal) and finally the bottom part of the money clip works also as part of the earphone organizer.
By combining all these features in the money clip area you are maximizing the efficiency of the case and also reducing it's thickness
However adding a money clip on top the credit card holder makes it more thick.. at least the way they do it. Same thing with earphone holders and bottle openers.
The way my Iphone case works is that the money clip also works as a pressure pin to keep the credit cards from falling out. The money clip also works as a bottle opener (if this design is done in some kinda metal) and finally the bottom part of the money clip works also as part of the earphone organizer.
By combining all these features in the money clip area you are maximizing the efficiency of the case and also reducing it's thickness