enclosures from steel house framing - right type?

[amonte]

I've been wanting to try this for a while and I was in Lowe's today, so I figured I'd get some framing and give it a shot.  Now that I have it at home and I'm comparing what I have to what is in the article, I notice that the "top" layer on the stud that I bought has a small ridge on each side, whereas the one in the Geofex article is completely flat.  The ridge on both sides of both pieces - the shinier top half, and the sturdier bottom.  (sorry if I'm not describing this well)

Has anyone made a stombox with this type of stud? Or am I better off getting the completely flat studs? (I'd have to get them somewhere else and bring these back to Lowe's)

[Hal]

post pictures...

anything can be turned into a box...

[amonte]

can't - don't have a camera.  I'll see if I can come up with something though...

[ninoman123]

I got those from Lowes too. Worked fine for a box. =) Just make sure u use the right part for the top and the bottom. I screwed my first box up and it didnt fit together right

[amonte]

I got those from Lowes too. Worked fine for a box. =) Just make sure u use the right part for the top and the bottom. I screwed my first box up and it didnt fit together right

When you said you screwed up the first box, how did you screw it up?  I have both pieces - a shiny one and a dull one - but if I am not mistaken, other than the finish, they are identical.

[RickL]

That sounds like what I used. They certainly seem to be sturdy enough but I had a hard time getting the two pieces to fit together the way I wanted. I either got a really tight fit or gaps that made the box look sloppy. I have a hard time justifying the amount of work required to get a good looking box.

TANSTAAFL

[ninoman123]

the shiny part is the top and the duller part is the bottom. I dont have the correct metal working tools, and it is a lot of work to get these to work right and look good. I use plastic boxes that I get from the local electronic shop, I havent gotten any hum yet.

[amonte]

that's a bummer - I was really looking forward to building some pedals this way.  Has anyone had a mostly positive experience using the steel studs that makes it worth the effort?  At this point, I'm probably going to go ahead and try it anyway, but I'm not expecting too much at this point.