I have a bunch of projects coming up on my bench and I'm interested in box/case/enclosure/chassis providers. I've perused the standard chinese chassis fare on Ebay, I know of Par-metal (and of course Bud and Hammond) as well as the store here, and I found some interesting options on Amazon ("junction" boxes like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09J2935KZ/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A28DZI5I4PJFY4&psc=1 - image below since this link may not work for long). I'd like to know what other sources you all use for project enclosures.
I've searched here but the threads for this seem to be minimal. I hope I haven't opened a topic that's been addressed a lot in the past.
Thanks much in advance!
Carlp
I've searched here but the threads for this seem to be minimal. I hope I haven't opened a topic that's been addressed a lot in the past.
Thanks much in advance!
Carlp
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Anything I might suggest would depend on what sort of projects you're thinking. Tube? Sand? Big ? Small? Hot ? Cool?
Thanks!
Still clueless, what do you mean by "That's me..."? Are you selling these?
Hearinspace - yes, I didn't provide much in the way of specifics. That was by design. I have a bunch of projects of various sizes and shape, might want a fairly shallow enclosure for a source switching box (my existing very small ones don't have enough weight and can't sit under other gear) to amp enclosures including a tube preamp (tubes will likely be INSIDE the enclosure - I don't care if I see the tubes or not), a DIY power supply for the bench, and more. What I'm looking for is suppliers who have a variety of boxes that might fit the bill for specific projects now or in the future A few minutes ago I found enclosurehub.com which has boxes of various sizes. Par-metal has a ton of options. I'm looking for suppliers like these for current and future projects.
Still clueless, what do you mean by "That's me..."? Are you selling these?
Hearinspace - yes, I didn't provide much in the way of specifics. That was by design. I have a bunch of projects of various sizes and shape, might want a fairly shallow enclosure for a source switching box (my existing very small ones don't have enough weight and can't sit under other gear) to amp enclosures including a tube preamp (tubes will likely be INSIDE the enclosure - I don't care if I see the tubes or not), a DIY power supply for the bench, and more. What I'm looking for is suppliers who have a variety of boxes that might fit the bill for specific projects now or in the future A few minutes ago I found enclosurehub.com which has boxes of various sizes. Par-metal has a ton of options. I'm looking for suppliers like these for current and future projects.
Yes, HiFi2000 is easy to work with and fast. Customization is never cheap, but they are reasonable enough.
There are discounts for multiple enclosures if the same type (but not for the customization).
If you only want a front panel, best to use frontpanelexpress.com, which has lots of options, and you design it all.
There are discounts for multiple enclosures if the same type (but not for the customization).
If you only want a front panel, best to use frontpanelexpress.com, which has lots of options, and you design it all.
Modushop! Gianluca is great to work with.
Modushop - aka HiFi2000
Modushop - aka HiFi2000
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I powder coat my builds with malachite green hammer-tone at home. Takes a bit of equipment but worth it if you are going to do a few chassis.
The lettering is done with a Brother label maker with transparent film/white lettering. They make a black too. It is called lamination film I believe. Looks good and holds up fine for years so far. The label is very slightly visible under strong light.
The lettering is done with a Brother label maker with transparent film/white lettering. They make a black too. It is called lamination film I believe. Looks good and holds up fine for years so far. The label is very slightly visible under strong light.
Carl, I've used the box you have a picture of, from amazon, several different vendors offer the box under different names. Decent box, metal is steel, so more trouble than Al to work with. The other issues can be the frame is a soft plastic so easy to strip the hole. Another issue is shielding if you need that. The plastic sides break the shield cage. There is another vendor on amazon that has a pure aluminum box from yaeCCC, Eightwood and JIUWU. It is a clever little box and somewhat better shielded than the steel one although still not great.
Nice work! I'm curious if you have had issues with building with aluminum vs. steel. I never built any tube gear on aluminum. Other people tell me not to bother with building on aluminum. What are your thoughts?.
I use the Wolgram RU series rack enclosures.
They are all-aluminum and easy to cut and drill. I put my integrated amplifier in a 3RU15. In hindsight, the heavy-duty series would have been better.
Ed
They are all-aluminum and easy to cut and drill. I put my integrated amplifier in a 3RU15. In hindsight, the heavy-duty series would have been better.
Ed
There are some that say steel has problems such a eddy currents. There are equal numbers that say steel is preferable. Aluminum is so much easier to work with - for me. Unless you build the exact same on both chassis and compare, you'll never know.
Nice.
I've been thinking about switching to something different than steel plate on wood. Yea, eddy currents. I mount the transformers on the wood on the back.
Double sided copper PCB blanks makes an interesting box too, but only for something with like a separate power supply.
I may be odd and the only one doing this but I’ve been using PVC junction boxes for the past 12 years, the one’s that look a suitcase. You can use wood bits instead of expensive metal drilling bits. Not sure what they cost today but I imagine they’re still cheaper than hammond enclosures.
For plastic cases I can recommend BOPLA.
https://www.bopla.de/en/enclosure-technology/ultramas
I'd be interested in some sturdy steel cases though, built around a solid internal frame. The idea is to be able to remove the top lid and bottom plate, without sacrificing structural integrity and have easy access to both sides of the circuit board. Most enclosures don't allow that, because you have to mount your stuff directly to the bottom plate and thus won't be able to remove it easily.
https://www.bopla.de/en/enclosure-technology/ultramas
I'd be interested in some sturdy steel cases though, built around a solid internal frame. The idea is to be able to remove the top lid and bottom plate, without sacrificing structural integrity and have easy access to both sides of the circuit board. Most enclosures don't allow that, because you have to mount your stuff directly to the bottom plate and thus won't be able to remove it easily.