Making your own DIY Enclosures

[mojotron]

I have seen posts of plastic and metal enclosures that people have some look really good.

I would like to build my own enclosures, but I would like them to look as nice, and be as sturdy, as the Hammond 1590-DD and 1590-BB.

Can anyone give me some pointers on where to start?

[mojotron]

That is... Besides just drilling and painting... I would like to make my own enclosures out of metal or plastic. I really like the bent steel ones, or the plastc ones - it they would hold up like the Hammond enclosures do....

Is there a DIY enclosure link?

[smashinator]

Plastic is pretty easy, at least in theory.  Sculpt your enclosure, make a mold of that, then cast.   You can get plastic casting kits at a lot of hobby stores.  I had some long ago, but I can't remember the brand, or even the type of plastic.

Bending sheet metal is also not a big deal, if you already have the tools you need.    You can get a small bending brake from Harbor Freight for around $30.  Did you every make a toolbox in high school metal shop?

[Chico]

mojotron:

I am just getting started in this myself.  I need to spend some more time with it, but I have a few tips.

I bought a 4x8 foot sheet of 16 ga al. for US$60 from a local metal supply shop.  That may appear to be a lot of money, but I figure that it works out (on average) to be just over $1 per box for stompboxes.  I have also made some pretty large  enclosures etc.

http://www.circuitmuse.com/circuitmuse_007.htm
http://www.circuitmuse.com/circuitmuse_005.htm
http://www.circuitmuse.com/circuitmuse_002.htm

These pix are not that great, but I am redoing the web site entirely and things are a little chaotic right now.  When the new site opens, I planned on having a section devoted to metal working.

My tools are really simple.

I have an 18" brake I purchased from Harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39103

I use a circular saw, get a blade with at least 60 teeth.  Mine has 104 (I think)

I clamp a drywall T square to the sheet of AL and use that as a guide to get straight cuts.

Most of my enclosures consist of two pieces, each generally U shaped.  The two pieces mate to form the enclosure.  Think Way Huge style of enclosure.

My technique to secure the two sections together is pretty DIY.  I use aluminum screw posts (the kind that are intended for bookbinding etc.)  I use 5 minute epoxy to hold the screw posts into the al.  I have made approximately 20 enclosures with this technique and have yet to have one give on me.

http://www.screwpost.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=1

I am sure that there are many here that can give you more "pro" options, and better designs for enclosures, but I think that a lot can be done with a few simple tools.

[Outlaws]

Chico,

That is awsome.   :mrgreen:

[Paul Marossy]

I made my own aluminum enclosures out of a pile of old transceivers that were given to me. They started out looking like this:



and ended up looking like this:



and this



and this



and this



and this



and this



and this



and this



Sorry, I got carried away...  :oops:

It only took about an hour to cut down each box and get it ready for drilling and stuff. They aren't quite as sturdy as a Hammond die cast enclosure, but they work just fine.  Hey, they're free!

[mojotron]

I made my own aluminum enclosures out of a pile of old transceivers that were given to me. They started out looking like this:

Paul, are all of those done full face using Rayven stickyback - they look fantastic!

I have been using soak-off decals and SOL to melt them in... but I can still see lines around where the decals are.... I don't know how to do this better - so that there are no lines?

[mojotron]

Paul, also.... is the  Rayven stickyback transperent?

Also, any issues painting  Rayven stickyback ?

Can you back a box with  stickyback on it?

Thanks

[mojotron]

Chico,
That looks great!

So you can cut Al with a skill saw? Do you need a special bit?

[jmusser]

I've built several now out of old quart cooking pots and those medal index card boxes with the hinged lids that I get for a little bit of nothing at the flea market. I take the quart pots and put them in a vice, then section them in half with a hack saw. I use both the sectioned pieces. I make tops and bottoms out of scrap aluminum I cut out with heavy tin snips. I then use epoxy putty to mount the pieces together, and mount stand offs to the inside walls of the sectioned pieces. The bottom of the pot becomes the top, and the other ring, you have to make a bottom and top both for. I use a thin car body epoxy filler to fill in small gaps on the top, and sand it smooth. I take the ring section, and force an aluminum disc in it while it's on a flat surface, then I take the epoxy putty, knead it and then roll it into night crawler sized strings, then press it inside the ring up against the bottom of the disk that will become the top. This makes a shelf for the top to sit on, so you won't mash it in when using the stomp switch. I then wack off hex stand offs and putty them in. I have an arced piece of aluminum that I can use for a thickness gage of how far the bottom disc will be inset, so I know where the standoffs have to go. On the file card boxes. I take the top off an use it for a box and make a bottom for it, and then I section the box bottom off to about 1 3/4", and make a top for it. I hope that makes sense. It's a lot of work, but it makes some great looking and unique enclosures. I still have tons of them to paint and label when it gets warm.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

There are rectangular section aluminium tubes begging to have a board stuffed in them! You could make an aluminium U sections for the ends, and have the battery end one held in by screws.

I'm suprised we don't hear more avbout pop rivets here, they are cheap & easy for turning scrap metal into something useful.

[NaBo]

hey mojo,

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/steelstud/steelstud.htm

dunno if you saw this over at geo, might be the "bent steel ones" you mentioned earlier... either way, it's probly the easiest and cheapest ways to make a decent, sturdy custom enclosure.  with a bit of grinding and filler, i bet they'd look top notch, too!

[Chico]

Paul, nice boxes.  

How do you secure the box components?  Looks sort of like you are using sheet metal screws.  Do they tend to strip out their holes?  Do you thread the enclosure?

The one thing that I struggled most with in regards to making my own boxes is not so much the shaping of the metal, but providing an easy way of assembly and disassembly.  

Thats why I decided to keep my basic design simple.  My basic box is a generally upside down U shaped piece of al. with flanged ends that fold in about 1/4 of an inch.  I install all electronics including jacks, switches, pots and circuit board on this top piece.  I make a mating U shaped bottom, and attach the two sections along the flanges with aluminum screw posts.  The screw posts allow repeated assembly and disassembly, e.g., to change battery etc.

Best regards

Tom

[lethargytartare]

Pop rivets rule!  I'm very much unconcerned about how good my pedals look, so the exposed face of the rivet is fine with me.  Here's one shot  of a looper I whipped out the other night.  I use steel stud material and you can see the pop rivets holding the corners together:

http://www.lethargytartare.com/caves/gerbcave/diystory/P1010028.jpg

Then I use JB Weld to smoothe out the corners -- just run a bead over the seam (and in the seam), let it dry, sand it down -- or not, JB weld cures with a nice glossy surface and makes the joint look very organic...can be interesting.  and it's tough as hell too -- I rebuilt a screw post that only needed to support a piece of circuit board with JB Weld and it worked great.  

I'm still not excited about using the track for a base, but I haven't put much effort into finding an alternative.  I think that if I ever made a pedal I really wanted to treat extra-special, I'd just spring for a hammond.   Right now, some of my pedals have cardboard bottoms attached with duct tape :lol:  hey, it's easy to replace batteries, and the bottom never takes and stress anyway, so works for me...

And for the record -- built this way, these boxes are absolutely tough.  I've been working with 3x3 size boxes so far, and I don't get any flex at all under the stomp.   And after making a few, I'm now pretty comfortable making a lot of the cuts by-eye only, so the only measuring and careful cutting is the first cut-to-size, and scoring the side bends.

As for bending, I lightly score the place where the sides will be bent down with my dremel, and then just bend it by hand.  I should probably wear gloves, but...pssh...And then when I need to drill the holes for the rivets, I secure the tab to the sidewall with vice-grips (locking pliers).  And debur everything with the dremel, of course.

Here's the first one I made:
http://www.lethargytartare.com/caves/gerbcave/diystory/P1010025.jpg

I'm also very fond of junction boxes...just simpler to get the job done, and they have attachable bottoms already.

Good luck!

ltt

There are rectangular section aluminium tubes begging to have a board stuffed in them! You could make an aluminium U sections for the ends, and have the battery end one held in by screws.

I'm suprised we don't hear more avbout pop rivets here, they are cheap & easy for turning scrap metal into something useful.

[inverseroom]

There are rectangular section aluminium tubes begging to have a board stuffed in them! You could make an aluminium U sections for the ends, and have the battery end one held in by screws.

Not only that, you could make wooden end caps, like on old synths.  I thought of this while adding oak caps to an old Korg synth module--it was really fun and easy and looked cool.

[Paul Marossy]

On those recycled transceiver box enclosures, they were just cut with a hacksaw, no special tools were required. I used a little JB Weld to fill in some unwanted holes. There were machine screws and little L-brackets that I was able to re-use to fasten all the parts together. The main thing was cutting one of the U-shaped pieces into two parts tro create a bottom and a top to the enclosure and cutting down the other piece to set the overall height of the enclosure.

And, yes, that is my usual full face decal using Rayven self-adhesive film. You can get it in a matte finish, glossy, etc. I have used this method on every box that I have built thus far. It works OK.  

[mojotron]

And, yes, that is my usual full face decal using Rayven self-adhesive film. You can get it in a matte finish, glossy, etc. I have used this method on every box that I have built thus far. It works OK.  

They look awesome.  

Do you apply the film over a base coat, then clear coat over that, and bake as ussual?

Also, can you paint/clearcoat the Rayven film - like you would enamel or laqure over primer....?

[cab42]

Hi

Hair Force One did a tutorial on how to bend boxes;

http://partouze.chez.tiscali.fr/stomp/electro-moronix.htm

Have tried but failed (but that was before I found the above link). I then found out that my local electronics store has folded Alu boxes (made in italy) very cheap.

Regards

Carsten

[Paul Marossy]

They look awesome.  

Do you apply the film over a base coat, then clear coat over that, and bake as ussual?

Also, can you paint/clearcoat the Rayven film - like you would enamel or laqure over primer....?

Thanks, I'm glad that you like them. Yes, you can paint over it and lacquer it. Since it's printed with either a copier or LaserJet, it's pretty hard to do anything real bad to it.  

[crawler486]

mine i made from angular aluminum sheets usually used in making door frames to keep insects out of the house.