Cheap enclosures locally available $0.99

[MattAnonymous]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted here (or built anything for that matter), but my diy instinct keeps an eye open at all times.  I was at my local BigLots and noticed that they are selling various sized tins (for xmas stuff) that are pretty sturdy and start at only $0.99.

[StephenGiles]

That's lucky, I am yet to see usable small tins on sale in England. Large tins of biscuits - yes, maybe I need to look in some more upmarket stores in London.
Stephen

[ryanscissorhands]

OR. . . maybe you just need to eat more biscuits.

[bluesdevil]

Walgreen's (US drugstore chain) has ornamental xmas tins on sale at 3 for $1.00 this week.... I found some good round and octagonal shaped ones that measure about 4" across X 2" deep.  Gonna put my upcoming projects, the Tube Reamer and Buzz Box in 'em.  Hopefully the Hammerite spray paint I have will adhere to them without primer. or maybe just go with the holiday look and give 'em away as xmas presents.

[Joe Hart]

How sturdy are the Walgreen's tins??  Octagonal... neat-o!
-Joe Hart

[bluesdevil]

They seem strong enough not to crumble under footswitch use, but there is some give on the lid when I press my finger down on it..... and a pronounced "clack" sound when I lift off.  The bottom seems to be stronger and doesn't make a sound when pressing..... maybe turning it upside down would be best  for stomp switch use.  Definitely worth a try using!!

[jmusser]

I've seen a lot of these in flea markets, and in Odd Lots & Big Lots. They are usually real flimsy, but there are a lot of them in weird shapes, that would make neat enclosures. I have thought about maybe glueing a small section of 1" PVC pipe in there from the bottom up to the lid that would surround the stomp switch. Then you could notch it or drill it to get the wires out, and then even mount the perf board to the side of it. It's unorthodox for sure, but I figure it would work. I have so many other enclosures that I'm working on that I have never tried it, but I believe that would work for most things like Altoid tins or whatever that our flimsy. You could put large washers on the inside of the enclosures to put the input and out out jacks through to make those sturdy. Depending how handy you are, you could braze or glue sections of scrap metal in the places that needed reinforcement. It just depends on how dedicated you are to using them.

[Mark Hammer]

While he was visiting here from Tokyo for a year, Osamu Hoshuyama built some synth modules, in fact an entire synth pretty much, into plastic lunch containers from the dollar store.  Sounded pretty damn good!

http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Ehoushu/synth/MOSular01.JPG

[jmusser]

Mark, from now on you're only allowed to show effects from our own planet. Holy crap! It looks like you could launch intercontinental ballistic missles from those things!

[Ge_Whiz]

That's lucky, I am yet to see usable small tins on sale in England. Large tins of biscuits - yes, maybe I need to look in some more upmarket stores in London.
Stephen

Stephen, many souvenir shops around the UK sell classic tobacco tins decorated with a sticker (usually suggesting that the contents are hemp-related) for about £2.50. Outrageous, but there you go. I've tried to locate a supplier of the unmarked tins for a bulk purchase but have so far failed. While not much use for a stompbox (Flat face? Crush Sync?), I have made a number of small amps in them (like an uprated clone of those tatty little cigarette box ones).

[aaronkessman]

im using a cigarette tin for my EA trem, upside down because the bottom is more sturdy, and so far it's held up great. however, the drilling of holes is somewhat atrocious. They did not at ALL drill well and caused a good amount of buckling in the surrounding metal. also, there were lots of jagged edges which could only be clipped off.

Im wondering what you guys are using to punch holes?

btw, i like the idea of an internal support for tin boxes. pvc pipe seems like a great idea.

[aaronkessman]

im using a cigarette tin for my EA trem, upside down because the bottom is more sturdy, and so far it's held up great. however, the drilling of holes is somewhat atrocious. They did not at ALL drill well and caused a good amount of buckling in the surrounding metal. also, there were lots of jagged edges which could only be clipped off.

Im wondering what you guys are using to punch holes?

btw, i like the idea of an internal support for tin boxes. pvc pipe seems like a great idea.

[john-mike]

I've used eletrical boxes from home depot before.
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0488703975.1100365708@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecaddddggmgjgcgelceffdfgidgnj.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&N=2984+3040&keyword=electrical&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&y=0&x=0
They have a much bigger selection in the store and it's <$1 for a metal box and top.

It looks kinda funky but...$1!
The only proble is you cant drill through the sides because it's very thick. But you can just puch out the perforated holes and use some big metal washers.

[ethrbunny]

Ive been using the electrical boxes too. They make a 'waterproof' plastic box that doesn't have those  internal dividers for about 8$. Metal is probably cooler but I can't use my dremel to make things fit..  

I haven't tried painting them though. Im going to try and find these cookies tins today.

Another nice advantage of the plastic (its v thick - no chance of 'stomping' it) is that there's no chance of shorting out your board to the box.