Etched enclosures

[davent]

For an etch tray a piece of plastic eave trough with a couple end caps.

[bloxstompboxes]

19in of deadastro etch. We expect something special
No pressure................

Thank god you clarified the 19in part with the word etch. We don't want a pic of that kind of special. lol.

[hymenoptera]

btw, what is it with XLR sockets...no screws/bolts come with them it seems..?..

Over here we just use 4-40 nuts and screws. I stocked up on 3/8" Stainless 4-40 flat head screws and the nuts and washers for them awhile back. I use a #29 drill to make my screw holes in the chassis, and of course I have the Greenlee punches to knock out nice round holes for each connector.

Good luck!

[vigilante397]

Thank god you clarified the 19in part with the word etch. We don't want a pic of that kind of special. lol.

Just wanted to make sure you know that someone not only caught but appreciated that remark

[Perrow]

Thank god you clarified the 19in part with the word etch. We don't want a pic of that kind of special. lol.

That would've been one mean sausage 

[Perrow]

... and no pressure d'Astro, but we expect to see the completed build on page 100 

[deadastronaut]

You guys.....

perrow, no chance....waiting on rack delivery, ...

then i,ll be waiting on my PITA son in law to get his act together and come up
with HIS final design....

god help me...


as for the XLR, i,ll pop rivet the mutha...

[deadastronaut]

For an etch tray a piece of plastic eave trough with a couple end caps.

cheers dave, i would do this if i were doing a few racks for sure...good idea man.

i'll knock up a cardboard one for now though....

[greaser_au]

Over here we just use 4-40 nuts and screws. I stocked up on 3/8" Stainless 4-40 flat head screws and the nuts and washers for them awhile back. I use a #29 drill to make my screw holes in the chassis, and of course I have the Greenlee punches to knock out nice round holes for each connector.

Unfortunately, it seems from my research, UN[C|F] screws and (the majority of) wire-size drills are deep-strata archaeology everywhere but the USA    Even Cisco supply M3 jack screws as an alternative with their serial cable sets.

In the UK, 4-40 should be available from RS or Farnell(Element14) at a premium, or a specialty fastener supplier. Depending on the XLR, drilling 3mm for M3x10 countersunk screws would be a suitable readily available option  - or 6BA (similar diameter to 4-40) for UK archaeologists (strewth... even Maplin no longer keep BA sizes).

david

[davent]

Needed some 2-56's hardware to mount seven pin tube sockets, the screws were easy to source and reasonable, best i could do for nuts was a 100 piece pack from Digikey, better then lifetime supply.
dave

[amptramp]

@advent

You can get all kinds of arcane nuts and bolts from Brafasco or Fastenal in Canada.  No need to go to internet suppliers.  I got a set of screws for the adjusters on a Goya guitar from Fastenal.  They had a minimum order of $30 but you can pad it with other things they supply - I got a big jug of hand cleaner that I still use.

[garcho]

btw, what is it with XLR sockets...no screws/bolts come with them it seems..?..

I don't get it, every XLR i've ever used has two screws kitty corner, what type are you using?

EDIT: just realized you mean screws that come with the socket when you purchase them, duh. easy to find in the States, not that you care...

those rack panels bend more easily than you'd think, careful! excited to see this someday D'Astro, happy to hear of more people messing with rack units.

[hymenoptera]

Unfortunately, it seems from my research, UN[C|F] screws and (the majority of) wire-size drills are deep-strata archaeology everywhere but the USA    Even Cisco supply M3 jack screws as an alternative with their serial cable sets.

In the UK, 4-40 should be available from RS or Farnell(Element14) at a premium, or a specialty fastener supplier. Depending on the XLR, drilling 3mm for M3x10 countersunk screws would be a suitable readily available option  - or 6BA (similar diameter to 4-40) for UK archaeologists (strewth... even Maplin no longer keep BA sizes).

david

It looks like M3 is the standard accepted size outside the US for panel-mount XLR connectors. Thanks for the reminder 

[deadastronaut]

yay got the rack today, 

came in a massive card box to use as the etch tray..

[mmlee]

I can confirm m3 is the right size. We use rivets in the studio.

[deadastronaut]

@marcus, cool, i read that most use rivets with XLR's , i just got my rivet gun,

so what size rivets do you use?...i have 4 sizes, 

2.4mm.    3.2mm.  4mm. 4.8mm.

[hymenoptera]

@marcus, cool, i read that most use rivets with XLR's , i just got my rivet gun,

so what size rivets do you use?...i have 4 sizes, 

2.4mm.    3.2mm.  4mm. 4.8mm.

With pop rivets it's easy. You want to stick the thick end into the holes you want to join to test fit them and make sure they fit snug. If they're too big you'll never get them in. Too small and they won't expand enough grab anything. Ideally they should just fit snug, very little wiggle room, maybe even require a little push to get them in if it's soft material like aluminum. Steel should have a hair of wiggle room. Do this and then you know you'll get a good joint.

Test fit your drill bit (by hand) in the XLR connector first so that you know that both holes, the existing ones in the connectors, and the new ones you'll be drilling, are going to be the the same size. Choosing the right drill bit for any given rivet size is important.

First time using a pop riveter I recommend snapping a few test rivets into something, some scrap sheet metal or whatever, to get the hang of it. Once you pop a few and get a feel for it you'll be good to go. It's a lot easier than you'd think. Drill thru both piece of scrap, insert a rivet skinny side all the way into the gun, then thick end all the way into the holes, and start squeezing. If one squeeze doesn't *pop* the shaft off, reseat it all the way down and squeeze again. I have the cheapie one with the extended head for XLRs and it takes two squeezes every time.

[peterg]

I re-etched my Clarinot enclosure since I wasn't satisfied with my first attempt:

[garcho]

^ love this, bravo!

[deadastronaut]

rack etch done, xlr rivets done...fitted, sorted, ...pheww..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sausages&client=opera&hs=xdx&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI7Z6SycvRyAIVxusUCh1Kvgie&biw=1536&bih=777&dpr=1.25

pics soon..