For the first time, I was able to lift the box up without any pieces falling to the ground. That’s right guys, it’s glue time! The job isn’t difficult but a bit of pre-planning is required to keep an access to the guts of the Raspberry Pi NAS. With that in mind, let’s glue things together!
Raspberry Pi NAS – Acrylic glue to the rescue
Solvent-based glue is the best for that job. It creates a strong and rigid bond between parts. The interlaced wings are also a big help in keeping this box together while I’m trying to chemically bond the box. I decided that I want to keep the top lid as a snap-on. This way, I can access the Raspberry Pi NAS guts, miniSD card, and all the cables.
I started with the inside support and worked my way around, carefully examining the surfaces making sure I’m adding the abrasive substance to the correct faces. This time there was no space for errors. I want my enclosure to look nice.
The blue HDD bays are glued from the inside – as outside of the case slides left and right to allow access to the actual drive inside. I didn’t plan this, but there is a small lip at each edge which also allows me to add more glue, and therefore, more rigidity on both sides.
The Raspberry Pi NAS enclosure is drying now. It will take up to 24h to bond all the pieces together. I’m leaving for work later on, which means I have to shelf this project for the next 4 days. In the last part I’m going to power it up, load the SD card, set up my PLEX server and create the backup schedules. I will also include links to all the materials needed for this -if you want to make a Raspberry Pi NAS of your own.
Shopping for components
| Item | Amazon UK | Amazon USA | Aliexpress.com | Banggood.com | Comments |
| 1 x USB 3.0 4 port hub | £8.99 | $9.99 | $6.64 | $11.99 | I picked the microUSB powerd one, other are available |
| 4 x USB angled cables | £6.99 pack of two | $6.99 pack of two | $1.68 | $2.99 | Plan the bends accordingly |
| 1 x 2.5 -3 A 5V power supply | £5.79 | $8.99 | $4.99 | $5.75 | Works from 2.4A but aim for 3A if possible |
| 1 x Raspberry PI 2/3 | £32.00 | $35.10 | $39.50 | $39.99 | There is no speed penalty for RPI2 |
| 3 x HDD | £5.95 | $8.99 | $8.49 | $9.49 | Needs to have a specific opening mechanism |
| USB hub with power 2.5A | £12.22 | $16.99 |
Conclusion
In the last post, I will focus on the software, RAID, PLEX and local storage.
Project Download
Download project files here. Bear in mind that Patreon supporters have early access to project files and videos.
