CNC 3018 Offline Controller Enclosure

thingiverse

With the CNC3018 Pro I got an offline controller. But it was just a PCB stacked between two machined acrylic sheets. You probably know CNC work is messy. Dust can affect the PCB. I decided to keep the front panel and make a proper 3D printable enclosure for it. This enclosure attaches to the side of the CNC. Regarding the front panel, I glued a small piece of transparent acrylic over the LCD cutout. Another issue is that this offline controller uses the only available serial port on the CNC motherboard. So, if you connect to computer using USB cable, you cannot use the CNC while the offline controller is plugged in. So I added the possibility to turn off the offline controller using a switch. Anyway, the enclosure may be used with the original ribbon cable (there is a clip on the side of the enclosure for this purpose). Or if you prefer you can do the cable and switch mod shown in the photos (connector pin information is printed on PCB, you only need to connect one 5V, one GND, RxD and TxD). The bottom half has been printed with supports because I was afraid I would not get a proper SD slot. I designed an optional cover for the exposed ribbon connector. It needs some glue to stay in place. More detailed assembly and wiring instructions are available on my website: [A proper enclosure for CNC3018 Offline Controller](https://www.onetransistor.eu/2022/01/3dprinted-enclosure-cnc3018-offline-controller.html)