Router-Cut Project Enclosure

Measure the assembled board stack including the cables, then add clearance on every face.

1. An Uno with one shield is roughly 70 × 55 mm in plan and about 35 mm tall once stacked.
2. Add 5 mm clearance all round, and more at the USB end where a plug sits proud.
3. Mark the window on quarter-inch plywood with the speed square and pencil.

Cut just inside the line, then work back to it with a sanding block.

1. Rough the opening out with the jigsaw, staying about 1 mm shy of the line.
2. Sand to the line, checking with the speed square that the corners stay square.
3. Test-fit the board stack through the opening before going any further.

Cut the panels from three-quarter-inch plywood: two sides, two ends, a base and a removable face.

1. Set the mitre saw to a true 90° and confirm it against the speed square, not the scale printed on the saw.
2. Cut all like parts in one setup without moving the fence, so opposite faces come out identical.
3. Label each panel on its inside face as it comes off the saw.

Clamp the template to the face panel and follow it with a bearing-guided flush-trim bit.

1. Clamp both template and workpiece to the bench — never hold either by hand.
2. Set the bit so the bearing runs on the template edge and the cutter clears the workpiece.
3. Take the depth in two or three passes, not one.
4. Feed the router against the bit's rotation — left to right on the near edge of the work.

Assemble five panels into a box and leave the face panel removable so the electronics can come out.

1. Glue and clamp the base, sides and ends. Check the diagonals: equal diagonals mean a square box.
2. Drill a clearance hole first — plywood edge grain splits readily and takes a screw poorly.
3. Drive the screws once the glue has grabbed.
4. Leave the face panel dry-fitted, held by four screws only.

Sand the outside smooth and break every edge so nothing is sharp to the hand.

1. Work up through the grits, finishing around 180.
2. Ease the arrises with a few strokes by hand.
3. Fit the board stack and check every opening lines up.