I recently bought a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine and I highly recommend it. It is a great tool for DIY engineering and really helps with different tasks that previously required ordering something from a company.
Cutting Machine
This machine is quite versatile, I have used it for making antennas from copper tape, solder paste stencils, birthday cards, and now an iphone case.
Fathers Day Card
This machine can create detailed cut outs smaller than 1mm wide with amazing accuracy. It can cut paper, card-stock, vinyl, fabric, copper tape, plastics, and other materials.
Making the iPhone Case
I happened to have a few extra Tech Armor screen protectors that were meant for my Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S4 is larger than the iPhone so I could make a full iPhone cover using these. I really like the Tech Armor screen protectors as they are easy to put on without any bubbles. Rather than buying another set of screen protectors I decided to try and make one using my silhouette cutting machine.
I searched the Internet for a while and was unable to find a dxf or even a basic image of a screen protector for the iPhone. However, I did find the dimensions from apple which are located here.
From those dimensions I designed my own dxf of an Phone cover and imported that into the Silhouette software the final print can be imported in to the silhouette software with this studio file.
The Results
Once everything was ready I did a test cut on some paper to make sure everything looked alright and then I cut out the Tech Armor screen.
The result of the cut
The result of the cut
The edges of the cut looked near perfect and the size and shape were exactly how I designed it. the next step was to attach it to the iPhone.
Edges at first did not go down as expected
As the last picture shows the edges did not go down perfectly. I think there were a few burrs left on that I should have scrapped off. With a little effort the edges went down nicely and the iPhone had a nice new screen protector.
With a little effort the cover seated perfectly on the iphone.
Project Complete
These type of cutting machines are mainly marketed towards scrap booking but I have found that this is as valuable to DIY engineering as it is to scrap booking.