We told the fab the missing annular rings were intentional. They weren't.
Part two. The fab asked about one thing before building. We said it was deliberate. It was a parser bug, and it is why only the through-hole joints failed.
· 7 min read
Blog
notes from the bench
Turning PCBs into printable enclosures — real builds, real measurements, real parts.
What a 3D-printed prototype enclosure actually costs in 2026
Filament is under half a percent of the bill. Here's the itemized total for a palm-sized ESP32 enclosure, design time included.
· 11 min read
From 3D-printed enclosure to injection molding: when to switch
A single-cavity prototype steel tool for a palm-sized enclosure runs about $10k — we've had our own parts quoted. Here's the break-even math on when it pays.
· 10 min read
DIY your enclosure in Fusion 360 vs. hiring it out — the real cost breakdown
DIY in Fusion 360 is right for some founders. Here's the exact line where it stops being cheaper — license terms, tolerance stacks, real hours.
· 8 min read
STEP vs STL: which file your enclosure design actually needs
STL is a triangle mesh. STEP is real CAD geometry. Converting one direction is routine; the other throws away everything you'd want to change later.
· 11 min read
Custom PCB fabrication: three of five boards arrived dead
Three of five assembled boards arrived dead. The defect wasn't ours, and proving that took test points we had added a month earlier.
· 6 min read
From jumper wires to a custom PCB: building the HC-01 humidor controller
An ESP32 rat's nest became a four-revision custom board. The most expensive mistake was a sensor we never actually measured.
· 4 min read