I just got an awsome idea... I was looking at parts bins... And I noticed that there is no spot to fit an Arduino or breadboard... I want to solve this problem.
I need to have custom plastic parts bins made. Where can I get this done? Either over the internet or local (Gilbert, Arizona, and only as far as Phoenix).
unless your going to do thousands of units getting plastic molds tooling is retarded in cost
I found some bins down at "family dollar" (staples has them too for about 8x the cost made by rubbermaid)
http://www.sterilite.com/3_Drawer_Desktop_Unit.html
Along with holding glue and heatshrink I also tend to pile parts up for whatever project I am working on at the time
the top fold down section is more than large enough for an arduino and the back of the top can hold a few rolls of wire, solder etc
I mean making a portable one... The ones that latch and have a handle...
I take it you've look both at the dollar stores and harbor freight? As well as Walmart?
Totally possible if you're skilled at designing parts for injection molds and have a few tens of thousands of dollars lying around. Plastic parts are only cheap if you are making a really large number of them...on the order of the number of Arduinos ever produced, maybe.
Look at http://www.ponoko.com/.
They laser cut a variety of materials. Wood, metals, leather, and acrylics. People have made cases out of the acrylic which will probably cost you $30-50. Depends on the size of the source material and the amount of time it will take the laser to cut.
The trick is that you are cutting flat material. You will need some skill at drawing vector graphics. There are plenty of examples you can follow. And InkScape is available for free.
Sparkfun Lamp (probably not the kind of case you are thinking):
http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/sparkfun-mini-lamp--4742
Makerbot design (shows how to take the "flat" pieces and turn them into a box.):
just use sponge CNC cut by hot wire
I have several similar drawer units (mostly by Sterilite, I think. But I'm not positive), and have had problems with sticky drawers on some of them due to sloppy tolerances.
My Arduino parts and small projects are mostly stored in Rubbermaid "Takealong' sandwich-sized containers. Last year Wal-mart had a big clearance when they switched from the orange-ish "autumn" color to something else (red for Xmas, I think). I bought a bunch at 4/$1. They're a good match for Arduino-sized stuff, and convenient for pulling something off the shelf and taking it to the workbench without the risk of spilling that you get with those cabinets of drawers. I even used one of the taller ones to make a temporary rain-resistant enclosure (I'm sure UV would eat it in a few months if I put it in the sun, but it was a cheap way to make a prototype).