The case for these carts is just as important to this project as the PCBs themselves. The most important function is to protect the board Frome damage. The next most important function after that is to identify the cartridge. There's an immense amount of work that will go into the case, but it's got one guiding principle at heart: hacker friendly. I don't want fragile snap tabs, security screws, or permanently sealed cases to slow people down. As a kid, I always wanted to know what was in the cartridges and how they worked. Wouldn't it have been nice to be able to open up the cart, see all the chips labeled, and have a description and schematic on the back showing and explaining how it worked? It would take longer to design such a silkscreen, but imagine the surprise when a kid got curious and snuck a screw driver to sneak a peak. They might actually learn something and become more curious. Then they'd eventually learn that the cartridge could be reprogrammed and used for other things. That's one of the main goals of this project. To inspire Roger people. A few years ago I thought I was incapable of learning to program, understand circuit diagrams, and design boards. Here I am learning all of it now. Most of that knowledge came from the efforts of others in the open source community. I know that's all a stretch for a log talking about cart cases, but those are the guiding principles of the case designated the entire project. 

For the physical case, I'm considering stamped aluminum sheet metal with a screw or two holding it together. I had an Atari 1200xl and liked the metal face plate of the cartridges. Having a background in industrial processes, I know just how much custom molds for injection molding plastics can be. I also really hat plastic. It's just cheap, disposable, and very harmful to the environment. Aluminum mining isn't any better, but the energy it takes to recycle it is far lower than to mine it. I'd aim for sourcing recycled aluminum only. If that doesn't work out, I may actually go to wooden carts. Renewable, many types, biodegradable wife a natural finish is used, fairly cheap, easy to work with. Making a jig to curl and route out the cases from wood will be fairly simple for me. I have a decent bit of experience with wood working and can figure out most things. I think white oak would be a good base wood to work with. Cherry, black walnut, and maple are also lovely choices. I've already got a case design in my head that would be very simple to implement. I also happen to have a good sized chunk of mahogany that was destined for the burn pile. I may make my very first cart out of it and keep it for myself. I suspect it's not a very sustainable wood these days, which is why I value my scraps. 

Regardless of the material used, it has be strong enough to support the PCB for many plug and unplug cycles. I plan to add as much support to the board as possible to help these carts last as long as possible. The though of resin casting those carts had occurred, but takes away any chance of hacking and puts plastic into the equation. There is a company I'm investigating for future projects called Ecopoxy, that makes environmentally friendly epoxy resins. They told me they're using 95% plant based formulas these days, which is a great start. I may cast cases out of it for testing some day. It would be nice to have clear cases at some point, so that's definitely on my list of options. 

For the shape of the case, I'd love to have a rounded and sleek profile like the Pi 400, but not at the expense of cost and material waste. Though, if using wood it's as simple as routing the corners to make them round. I'd want to start with rectangles so I don't end up with a ton of rounded or awkward scrap I couldn't use. Wood scrap is easy to use and recycle, thankfully. Eventually, I think I want to do CNC milled plywood cases. 

I have many more thoughts on cases, but I feel I've written down enough of them to clear my head for the day. Hope someone finds this useful or interesting, would love comments and thoughts down below.