Pedalboard Power Supply Enclosures

[GGBB]

What are people using to house pedalboard power supplies?  I'm trying to plan a build that has 8 DC outs from four dual-secondary transformers, and I'd like to do it in a long and skinny box, but I have only come across this Hammond which I find a bit too bulky at 3.5"x2.2" (two different lengths available).

[Circusbrains]

I got tired of buying enclosures and have decided to bend scrap aluminum sheet

[davent]

I like the Hammond 1444 series with lots of 2" tall options.
http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg21.htm

Two inches allowed  just enough clearance for the small board mounted transformers and caps i used in my Spyder type supply.

[wavley]

And of course, as it always seems to turn out... R.G. did it first http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/spyder/spyder.htm

[R.G.]

See : Steel Studs.  http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/steelstud/steelstud.htm

[GGBB]

Thanks all.

I've seen the stud article before - great idea - but it will be too shallow for the transformers.  I'm going to need at least 1.75" internal height.

I like the Hammond 1444 series with lots of 2" tall options.
http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg21.htm

Two inches allowed  just enough clearance for the small board mounted transformers and caps i used in my Spyder type supply.

That would work but I'm hoping for something narrower around 2 x 3.  I found another Hammond that's more along the lines of what I was thinking - the 1411W: http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg18.htm.  It's longer than I planned but I was going to do two boxes with 4 transformers so with this one I'd do a single with all 8.

Any other leads/ideas would be appreciated.

[R.G.]

There are two varieties of the steel studs. One is the tin-can variety I show in the folding, and the other is the heavy duty structural stuff. The structural stuff is bigger as well as heavier.

For another option, go look at http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=20161&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1268&top_cat=0 where you'll find extruded aluminum tube, rectangular, in 2" by 3" external size, 1/8" thick. That's hard to work with, but some time spent with a saw or grinder would remove most of the "bottom" along the length, leaving a 2" by 3" C channel with an open bottom, and 1 7/8" inside height. You'd then need to do a flat plate bottom and end pieces, but that's not too difficult compared to folding the whole thing up. And it's major sturdy. They have other sizes and alloys of rectangular tube as well, like 2" by 3" hot rolled mild steel in 0.083" thickness that's a bit cheaper than aluminum and probably much stronger as well as heavier.

[tubegeek]

Also look around for a bricks and mortar metals supplier near home - I have gotten aluminum C channel in large enough sizes at a place like that. I think the oinline place must have a small stock list if it doesn't have good C channel.

I have also used large structural studs in this way. The only trouble with them is the job of either bending up the ends or screwing in (or pop riveting in) an end made of a separate piece of metal. That job requires a little bit of skill.

You can get the big C channel in quite large sizes, and usually for free in a dumpster if you keep your eyes peeled. My basement is infested with that stuff. I built a big tube-rectified outboard power supply on big C channel, and it was just the ticket.

[R.G.]

I have also used large structural studs in this way. The only trouble with them is the job of either bending up the ends or screwing in (or pop riveting in) an end made of a separate piece of metal. That job requires a little bit of skill.

Excellent advice. One dodge I like is to saw up a wooden plug that's just a fit inside the end of the structural stud, perhaps sticking out a bit, held in place with a couple of screws on the front and back of the C, and then nicely sanded and polished. With a good car-repair-style paint job on the section of stud, the polished wood thing can look very nice indeed.

You can get the big C channel in quite large sizes, and usually for free in a dumpster if you keep your eyes peeled.

Even better, if you locate the bricks-and-mortar supplier, they will usually **give** you any bent ones that are casualties of forklifts that move the stuff around the yard. Be sure and take a hacksaw with you so you can laboriously cut the 20-foot bent lengths up to something that will fit in your trunk. Donuts for the forklift driver will not hurt either...