I've got a prototype I've been working on and made a simple case for it out of plywood and hardboard. It turned out ok, but I'd like a much more professional looking case for the finished project. I've been thinking about different materials but have not tried making a case from anything else yet.
I have switches that would be much easier to mount in a sheet metal top panel. I'd like to keep cost low, so wood is good. I thought about using aluminum sheet and angle bar with blind rivets to build something.
Does anyone have some good resources or ideas and experience building their own enclosures? What materials have you liked working with best? I have access to general shop tools like table saw/drill press, band saw.
Ideally I'd like to figure out a process with materials to build fair sized enclosures such as 8x11x3 inches.
I like abs plastic, you can usually buy sheets of it from a car audio supply house for a fair price (under the metra brand), they have it for filling in dash gaps n whatnot
easy to saw, and when your done cutting it up, you take the plastic saw dust, and dissolve it in some acetone and BAM now you have abs based glue that once dry is ~80 as strong as the original material
I generally pick up sheets of acrylic from my local hardware store like Lowes and Home Depot. Some times i'll even pick up a small sheet of galvanized steel.
The steel and aluminum are pretty easy to work with. A set of tin snips and platypus pliers are all you really need. Those are pliers with about a 3 inch wide mouth great for making folds in the metal. Its also handy to have some claps and scrap wood around for making large folds. Personally i use a hand brake for most folds.
Thanks for the info. For the acrylic do you just fasten it together with adhesive?
I had wondered how hard it would be to work with the metals. I saw that a brake would be useful. Although I had not though of the usefulness of the flat pliers.
I'll check out the enclosures link, but I think it will be too expensive for the size I am looking for in general.
sheet metal is not that hard to deal with, just wear gloves
way back when I was a kid I would work with like flashing (thin cheap stuff) all the time, but now in my apartment I cant see dealing with razor sharp shards in the carpet heh
If you really do live where your profile indicates, find a Harbor Freight near you and pick up the tools (brake, pliers, etc) there; certain things from them I would stay away from, but many things are worth the lesser cost (sometimes you may have to mod the tools or "clean them up" to get 'em to work perfectly).
Look into local plastic and/or metal supply places - here in Phoenix, we have a place called "Davis Metals" in the "run-down" part of town that sells both new and used metals of all shapes and sizes (some you may need a flat-bed semi to get home). We also have similar plastic supply places. Online ordering for such stuff isn't worth it - you will get gouged on price for most things. Also look into local junk yards and scrap dealers, they might have stuff for sale as well. Stay away from buying metal from places like Lowes or Home Depot, unless you need it quick, or can't find it anywhere else; they charge a lot for metal, too.
Another fabrication method would be to solder a case together; get some right-angle welding magnets, and cut the pieces to make the case out of thin steel. File and finish the edges, and sand them good and shiny, including a bit of the flat sides of the inside joint. Arrange the magnets in such a way so you can solder on the inside of the joint. Butt the ends up as close as possible, then use a high-power soldering iron:
or a small butane torch:
To heat the metal up; then apply acid-core solder to the inside of the joint (use acid-code only for metal work and big-wire soldering job; NEVER use it for PCB work OR plumbing); add enough to make the joint, if some flows out, no big deal - finish it up when cooled (make sure it is completely cool before handling or removing the magnets - use gloves!) by taking a file to it to clean up the joint.
Doing this can give you a really nice finished appearance, and it will be very strong if your soldering is done well (not as strong as brazing or welding, though - but much easier to do). You can cut/nibble/drill your panels and such, test fit, etc - before you solder it together. You can make a mockup out of cardboard and printed templates. Once you have the case built and finished up, spray paint it or have it powder-coated.
If your dealing with sheets of acrylic then you have a couple of options based on the thickness your dealing with. There is special adhesive used for bonding acrylic. Well its not so much an adhesive as it is a solvent that basically melts the pieces together. Other options include using angle brackets with nuts and bolts. Rivets can also give it a nice industrial look. For the panels that doesn't need to be removable that is. There are also small acrylic cubes you can get. Then with a tap and die set you can drill holes into them and give them threading so you can screw right into the cubes. If the panels are thick enough, say 1/4 inch or more, then you can tap the edge of one panel so you can screw directly to it. Plus when working with acrylic you have a wide range of colors to choose from. You have solid and transparent colors. Also with a heat gun you can mold the acyltic to almost any shape you need.
Here is an article i wrote a while back on modding with acrylic. Last i saw the images where not showing up in the article. They are stored on that forums image hosting page so access is limited. On most other forums i go by the screen name mpilchfamily. http://forum.xcpus.com/mods/112-moding-acrylic.html
cr0sh2 - definitely like the ideas on soldering together a case. Sounds challenging. I actually did pick up a nibbling cutter from Harbor Freight just the other day, thinking I would try it out on a panel.
One question though regarding cutting metal. I would just have aviation snips to cut it, nothing like a big sheering machine. Is there an easy way to clean up a cut from snips or is there another method?
Allot of filing. But if your careful with ytou cut you can keep it clean. Then you only need to file the edge to keep it from slicing a finger off. The nibblers are a good way to get a nice clean cut edge. Problem is it takes forever and its hell on your hand. That's why i took the handles off an old pair of snips and attached them to my nibblers.
Another options would be a nice plasma cutter. See if you can find a local shop that has a laser cutter and can cut it for you. I use to work at a sheet metal fab shop ran by a roofing company. We use to do small jobs like this all the time.
I've gotten most of my sheet materials from old kitchen appliances or other torn-apart things like printers. Microwave ovens especially have a fairly large sheet of steel wrapped around them. Also cookie sheets are great - some are aluminum and some are steel. Ace Hardware sells sheet steel, aluminum and even diamond plate aluminum as well as acrylic.
Sometimes I use extruded aluminum entirely if the object is pretty small.
Good quality wood looks really nice if you take your time and finish it properly. Countersink the nails and fill the holes with wood putty or use dowels and glue for a "no surface blemish" finish. A well-cut sheet of aluminum for a fascia can look nice on wood.
I just collected some iPod Nano packaging that I'll be using for project boxes. They're cool little clear polycarbonate boxes
And don't forget paint! A coat of spray paint can make a huge difference.
I try to put as much effort into the box/chassis as I do for the rest of the project and it usually pays off.
koyaanisqatsi - Very nice. I'd like to do one in that fashion some day. It looks like the sheet metal is the same thickness as the angle pieces? I guess there is no reason an enclosure would necessarily need a flush face.
How do you make your labels/markings? They look very nice as well.
Ya, the sheet metal was about the same thickness - not exact, but close enough to fudge and still look nice. The face is aluminum and the sides are some perforated steel I got from my grandfather's estate last year.
Labels and markings are just thrown together in The GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) or Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) and printed onto label paper, then cut out with a stenciling knife.
Oh and I just thought of Masonite. It's what many whiteboards are made of. You can get sheets of it with or without the white coating. It's thin enough to mount things like switches and knobs into.
I like wood. Most of the wood I use is from trees in my yard or
construction scraps (FREE). For a lot of the cases I start from
a solid glue-up and route using a router template.
I have started to work on a modular system consisting
of three parts -- posts with a milled groove in two sides,
side panels and bases. The posts can be milled in long lengths
and sized when you build your case. Quick boxes.
The face is aluminum and the sides are some perforated steel I got from my grandfather's estate last year.