Casing
The final step to construct a prototype device is the casing. Unfortunately, Altoids tins generally will not hold the Gumstix and expansion board stack and an LCD panel.
We printed our case using a Z-Corp powder-based 3D-printer. Since the 3D printed case can be brittle if not thick enough, we opted to go with laser cutting acrylic for the top face, which would be handled most frequently. Laser cutting the top cover involves shaping the cover as well as cutting out holes for the controls. The LCD, PCBs and acrylic cover are attached to the 3D printed body using screws and nuts. The nuts are placed in counter sunk holes which are part of the 3D model sent to the printer. An STL file of the 3D model for our case as well as the Illustrator file for laser cutting the top face are available in the downloads section.
An alternative strategy for making a case is to use acrylic exclusively, like in Holly Gates' tutorial. One would probably need to stack up several sheets of acrylic to form the side wall, because most laser cutters cannot cut really thick pieces of acrylic. However, a table saw or Dremel can get around that problem. Acrylic is also attractive because threads cut into acrylic will probably hold the screws without requiring countersunk nuts.