bent corners on dj mixer top panel

[arteom]

Have a DJ mixer that was damaged in shipping, as a result has some damaged corners. Wanted to ask if anyone has any tips on how I might go about repairing the corners that are bent. I imagine anything mended manually will still look off, is there anything like a corner that can be put over damaged corners so it would look better?

 

[russc]

external images won't load

 

[rayma]

Place the bare panel flat on a wood work bench. Place a flat board over the area to be flattened,
and tap the area repeatedly with a rubber hammer as needed. Flip the panel upside down,
and repeat until flat. Use a big rubber hammer, and ear plugs.

 

[arteom]

fixed broken image links. thanks for the tip rayma, will give that a shot.

 

[rayma]

Start with the back side up, and maybe a thin towel under the panel to reduce marring.
Tap it moderately, a little at a time. Don't try to flatten it with just one hit.

 

[vinylkid58]

Hopefully, the aluminum is soft enough that it won't crank when you hammer it back flat.

jeff

 

[Mark Tillotson]

Using a soft-jawed vice might be a less risky approach, as hammering is going to shock-load the internals repeatedly.

Soft is relative here, rubber might be too soft, cardboard is probably OK.

 

[rayma]

Should remove the panel from the mixer first.

 

[simon7000]

The trick is to tap it so lightly you don't see any movement from each tap. It should take several hundred light taps to flatten each corner without damaging anything else.

You will need to remove the panel from everything else before trying to straighten things out.

I once did this kind of work in front of folks who didn't understand why I was using such light hits until they were amazed that it worked!

 

[turk 182]

i've used two pieces of hardwood and a 6 inch C clamp to straighten bent rackmount ears before.

 

[MAAC0]

I believe the front plate You can bend by hand. The plate under You hammer as it won't be seen afterwards.

 

[Windcrest77]

I'd stand it up in my vise lined with playing cards, or thick paper, to not scratch it. Tighten it till the curve is flat. Then pull the whole mixer straight in the vise to get the start of the dip coparallel to the original surface. I wouldn't pound it with a hammer at all. I've straightened lots of stuff this way.

 

[arteom]

thanks all. I've been doing some upgrades on the mixer, plan to take the top panel off this weekend to try some of the suggestions here. I am also considering having a replacement panel made, as one of the upgrades planned is swapping the line crossfader with a rotary version. Already have channel 1 pot functioning as the crossfader and really like this combination.