[personal profile] chebe
Not too long ago I got my hands on a Purism Librem 5. I'm still trying to get to know this device, so I can't say much about it yet. Except that I love everything it's going for. I just don't know how to make it work for me. Mainly because, with a fully charged battery, and all the hardware switches in the off position, by morning there is hardly any charge left. *sad shrug*

But you know me; if it's a small piece of tech it needs a case! You cannot buy a case for this phone. You must make your own. Thankfully there is a whole case repo with options for you. I went with the slim phone case.

You might have noticed that these cases are meant to be printed in TPU. I've never tried TPU before, so let's give that a go! I ordered the TPU from my printer manufacturer in the hopes that it would work with less effort. I, um. Well, it's a case, that's for sure. But. This is stringy. When the print comes off the bed I had to pull/scrape away as much excess material as I could. I had to snip some blobs off. I tried to melt some problems away. But mostly that resulted in nearly creating holes. There are places where the layers didn't bond, and I had to cut some of them off. The inside corners of the case gathered a lot of extra material, and makes the case fit even tighter. But it does fit. So, mostly a success I guess. (If I try another print I'd pick a chonky case.) TPU is tricky y'all.


Librem5, screen off, in a black TPU case, front view from above. The corners of the case look rough, and there's gaping at the sides.

Librem5, in a black TPU case, front
Photo by [personal profile] chebe




Librem5, in a black TPU case, back view from above. The case has visible impressions from the print bed, as well as visible filament lines. The areas around the camera lens and light looking a bit rough.

Librem5, in a black TPU case, back
Photo by [personal profile] chebe




Librem5, screen off, in a black TPU case, side view from above, with the long right-hand edge of the phone closest to camera. Interruptions in the edge of the case show where layers didn't bond and had to be cut off.

Librem5, in a black TPU case, side
Photo by [personal profile] chebe