3D-Printed Mini-ITX Case — Designed for the Framework Desktop

N.B. I have not yet printed the base with the new corrugated back design, so there may be some issues, but I don't expect there to be any.

3D-Printed Mini-ITX Case — Designed for the Framework Desktop

A fully 3D-printable Mini-ITX case designed for use with the Framework Desktop computer. Prints in PETG on a standard 250×210mm bed. Supports needed only for the rear wall cutouts on the bottom tray.

Hardware Compatibility

What You Print

The case prints as four parts — no supports needed on any of them:

• Bottom tray — walls, base plate, standoff bosses, PSU mount rails, USB-C adapter pockets, I/O shield and PSU exhaust openings, corrugated rear wall sandwich panel

• Top lid — drop-in plate with graduated bell-curve air duct, honeycomb intake grille, held by 12 magnets. Rounded corners for easy drop-in fit

• M.2 cover — magnetic access panel for the NVMe SSD slot on the underside

• Feet (×4) — bell-curve hollow feet, glued into base recesses. PCB acts as structural second skin via standoffs, eliminating the need for a center foot

Key Features

• Corrugated rear wall — sandwich panel (two skins + vertical webs) eliminates PETG thermal bowing. Channels are fully enclosed: sealed at sides, top (by ledge), and around all cutouts

• Bell-curve air duct — graduated quarter-circle flare over the full duct height funnels air from the lid intake grille down to the CPU fan. Sealed at the fan end with plasticine for vibration isolation

• Magnetic lid — 12 pairs of 3×2mm neodymium magnets (glued in after printing) hold the lid securely with no screws or clips

• PSU screw counterbores — exterior recesses let standard #6-32 screws reach through the 7mm sandwich wall to engage PSU threads

• USB-C front panel — two NFHK Type-E adapters glue into blind pockets from the inside, with exterior chamfers for plug insertion

• Tool-free access — magnetic lid lifts off, M.2 cover pops off, for quick SSD swaps

• Honeycomb ventilation — side wall hex vents + base plate honeycomb + lid intake grille provide generous airflow

Dimensions

Rendering from Source

Open 00_START_HERE.scad in OpenSCAD. All other files are loaded automatically.

Command-line rendering:

openscad -D 'render_mode="bottom"' -o bottom_tray.stl 00_START_HERE.scad
openscad -D 'render_mode="top"'    -o top_lid.stl    00_START_HERE.scad
openscad -D 'render_mode="covers"' -o m2_cover.stl   00_START_HERE.scad
openscad -D 'render_mode="feet"'   -o feet.stl       00_START_HERE.scad

Render Modes

Test Fixtures

Small partial prints for verifying fitment before committing to a full print. Recommended print order: test fixtures first, then full parts.

Printing Notes

• Material: PETG recommended (heat resistance, low warping)

• Layer height: 0.2mm

• Supports: Required for the bottom tray — the I/O shield and PSU exhaust rear wall cutouts need support

• Brim: Recommended for the bottom tray (nearly fills 250mm bed width)

• Orientation: All parts render in print orientation

Post-Print Assembly

1. Screw M3 brass hex standoffs into the 4 printed bosses (or press in heat-set inserts first for repeated assembly/disassembly)

2. Glue 3×2mm neodymium magnets into the 12 wall ledge pockets and 12 lid pockets (check polarity with a test fit first!)

3. Glue magnets into the M.2 cover and base panel bosses

4. Glue 4 bell feet into the base recesses

5. Glue 2× NFHK Type-E USB-C adapters into the front wall pockets from the inside

6. Apply plasticine around the duct-to-fan interface for an airtight, vibration-damped seal

Grounding

Plastic case — no chassis earth path. The motherboard is grounded through the ATX power connector ground wires. All rear I/O and front USB-C ports are grounded through the board. No additional grounding wiring is required.

Customisation

All dimensions are parameterised in params.scad. Key sections:

• Hardware measurements (top of file) — adjust heatsink_height for your cooler

• Standoffs — mitx_holes array for mounting hole positions

• PSU — psu_w, psu_d, psu_h for different SFX units

• Fan — fan_size, fan_thickness for different fans

• Tolerances — tolerance, usbc_pocket_tol, magnet_pocket_tol for printer calibration

Hardware-measured parameters are marked as immutable. If a position correction is needed, use the corresponding _adjust parameter rather than modifying the base measurement.

File Structure

Disclaimer

This is an independent community project. All product names, logos, and brands mentioned are property of their respective owners. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Framework Computer Inc., AMD, Corsair, Noctua, or Prusa Research.

License

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). You are free to share and adapt this design for non-commercial purposes, provided you give appropriate credit and distribute any modifications under the same license.