3D print of PCB mounting brackets using openscad

Wed 2025/11/05 Project 3d printing / openscad

Overview

• repo status: Repo Information
• installation: Common Setup

Summary

This project is my first 3D printing project. I used openscad since it was much easier to figure out (for me!) than Fusion360.

The project generates mounting brackets to be used in the corners of a PCB. They provide bolt holes to be able to mount the PCB without drilling holes in it.

To run

See doc/test_process.md to do the initial install.

And then do these steps:

• run openscad
• load the .scad file
• generate the .stm file
• import the stm file into your 3D printer
• slice it
• print it

The steps needed to slice and print on your 3D printer will be different than mine (a BambuLab A1 mini).

To use the brackets

• Put a bracket in each corner
• rotate it as needed to put the bolt holes where your project requires them
• use small wire ties or small elastics to hold the brackets in place.
• use 6-32 bolts to mount them as needed.

This shows brackets on a small PCB using elastics to hold them in.

Those elastics can be found in the "hair care" section of stores. They typically have many sizes for putting hair in a ponytail.

The reason these work is that they are stretchy but with fairly low force. That makes brackets stay put on the PCB corners long enough to bolt everything down.

This shows the same but also has a wire tie.

Wire ties can be used hold the brackets in place more permanently.

Note: the wire ties are the smallest I could find at the hardware store. The bigger ties will be more applicable to larger PCBs.

These are the dimensions used in the scad file:

strip_thick = 0.97;
strip_width = 2.46;

Next steps

• create generic "feet" that the bolts can screw into.
• create similar brackets for a servo I'm using in a project.
• create similar brackets for larger PCBs (if necessary)