Aluminium box vs sheet metal chassis

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I have temporary access to a 5 axis cnc router, and for my current amplifier project I was thinking of making a fancy milled top plate to mount the tubes and transformers on. - sheet metal isn't thick enough.

To support the top plate I was going to use 8mm tick milled aluminium bars for the sides. Using the router, I can use a mortise and tenon to join the front and back to the 2 sides and secure with a few m3 screws. The top plate would be screwed down using a few m2 screws each side.

I was wondering, would this create strong enough joints or should I just go with sheet metal?
 
I have a CNC router. I've settled on using 3003 aluminum sheet at .1 inch. 3003 for me is better than 6061 which is tempered pretty hard for bending. I mill two V grooves across the plate, that gives me a way to bend the front and rear panels down. I mill all the holes at the same time. Sand the sheet, them literally make perfect bends with my bare hands, they come out perfectly squared up. So it's a U shaped top. Then I CNC route the two sides from Baltic birch plywood veneered to taste. I CNC rabbits, install machine screw inserts to the wood edge, the U shaped top with front and back just screws to the wood sides.
 
[ linguistic diversion:

To rout - carve with a tool
To route - determine a path on map or network

So "CNC route" as a verb is toolpath calculation rather than actual cutting :)
(In British english they are pronouced differently so the distinction is glaring, "route" is same as "root")


And its rabbet, not rabbit - rabbits are much harder to machine!
 
I mill all the holes at the same time. Sand the sheet, them literally make perfect bends with my bare hands, they come out perfectly squared up. So it's a U shaped top. Then I CNC route the two sides from Baltic birch plywood veneered to taste. I CNC rabbits, install machine screw inserts to the wood edge, the U shaped top with front and back just screws to the wood sides.

Can you show some pictures ? Thanks.
 
That’s great that you could machine kerfs into your panels, and then bend them.
I’ve done a lot of work with foam-cor sheets with kerfing and bending into all kinds of curves.

Does the end plate have a receiving groove to retain the panel once it’s formed?
 
[ linguistic diversion:

To rout - carve with a tool
To route - determine a path on map or network

So "CNC route" as a verb is toolpath calculation rather than actual cutting :)
(In British english they are pronouced differently so the distinction is glaring, "route" is same as "root")


And its rabbet, not rabbit - rabbits are much harder to machine!
And don´t get me started on:
Welsh Rabbit recipe | Epicurious.com
 

PRR

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[ linguistic diversion:
To rout - carve with a tool
To route - determine a path on map or network.... (In British english they are pronouced differently so the distinction is glaring, "route" is same as "root")

In my town, the car brake disk is a "router".

Rich dirt suitable for growing grass (a rarity here) is pronounced like the thing for weaving cloth.

eduard> ... my English teacher at high school always complaining about people writing color and not colour.

One is universal in the US, the other is proper in England and most of Canada. I'd think outside those two clusters, you can flip a coin.
 
I have temporary access to a 5 axis cnc router, and for my current amplifier project I was thinking of making a fancy milled top plate to mount the tubes and transformers on. - sheet metal isn't thick enough.

To support the top plate I was going to use 8mm tick milled aluminium bars for the sides. Using the router, I can use a mortise and tenon to join the front and back to the 2 sides and secure with a few m3 screws. The top plate would be screwed down using a few m2 screws each side.

I was wondering, would this create strong enough joints or should I just go with sheet metal?

enclosures coming out of China is actually done this way....
4 pieces of aluminum extruded square bars that can accept nuts for 4mm screws....
top, bottom and rear plates are 3mm aluminum, from panel is 9mm thick brushed aluminum....

the enclosures themselves are reasonably priced but shipping costs more than the cost of the item..
 
In my town, the car brake disk is a "router".

Rich dirt suitable for growing grass (a rarity here) is pronounced like the thing for weaving cloth.

eduard> ... my English teacher at high school always complaining about people writing color and not colour.

One is universal in the US, the other is proper in England and most of Canada. I'd think outside those two clusters, you can flip a coin.


Its not only learned in great britain as mothertongue, british english is learned in all european schools as the regular foreign english. Nobody learns US- slang english here. Only when it comes to internet forums, problems occur.
Btw, I prefer metal sheet housig every time. All my tube amps are being made of steet metal housing instead of aluminum and wood. Wood is best for speakers and old tube radios. Not for top of the line tube amps.
 
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