cheap rack enclosures I've stumbled accross

[scratch]

check out www.rpelectronics.com > catalog > Enclosures and racks > at the bottom of the page 'rack case'

$37.95US for a 1U 10" deep enclosure ...

[mnordbye]

That's the cheapest rack enclosures i've ever seen.. Thanks for the heads up!

Magnus N

[Rmanen]

Now if only I could find rack enclosures priced like that in europe...

[Austin73]

I presume your not in the UK but Maplin of all people do 1u for £30 upto 4u for £40 hope this helps can't send link as i have a screaming baby attached to me at present

aus

[Pushtone]

I live just down the street from RP Electronics and I used one of these rack cases to build a Fire Fly in.
Its the smallest in the line up and is 12" wide, but still has rack ears, go figure. The rest of the line up is standard 19" wide.

They ship flat and all the sides screw together.

The only problem I encountered was the gap between the front panel and the front of the case.
There is a four sided case AND a nicer looking front panel. When put together there is an 2/8" gap.
One switch I wanted to use wasn't long enough to go through both.
And if you tighten down the nuts from any jacks, pots or switches the nice looking front panel will deform and bend inward.

I solved to problem by inserting two layers of 1/8" kraft foam to fill the gap. You can see the edge of the foam in one of the pics (link above).
The Middle Atlantic rack boxes are easier to work with but are a lot more expensive than these.

[Papa_lazerous]

When put together there is an 2/8" gap.

2/8" = 1/4" 

sorry mate I couldn't resist

[Pushtone]

Well, it took two sheets of 1/8" foam to fill it. That was my point.

[Electric_Death]

Not bad but how about some good ole fashion plywood and 2x4's?
Slap on a nice coat of dark woodstain and poly in one and vwala! Looks like a million dollars

I've built 3 so far and I gotta tell ya, I think they look better and are definitely stronger than anything I could have bought for 10 times the cost.

[scratch]

Pushtone,

if it's like the other cases I've built, the side panels bolt onto the actual rack mount panel? In my case I left off that piece that sits behind the front panel. It would go in one way and the pots would fit nicely, but the switches wouldn't reach. The other way the switches would just extend but then I couldn't fit my pots properly, in the end I left it out and mounted the pots and switches directly to the front panel.

The only drawback to that is the top cover kind of sags at the front, but since it's in a rack nothing actually sits on it, so not a real issue for me.

[MartyMart]

These things are killer racks and a decent price too :
http://www.modushop.biz/ecommerce/cat062_l2.php?n=1

1u's come with an IEC inlet pre-punched in the back, they don't suffer from any access problems
to the front panel, it's just one 4mm piece of alu 

Lovely !!