Raco 4" x 4" x 1.5" enclosures less expensive than you think

[iccaros]

Thanks TG for bumping, I have used Break out boxes for amps, but until I saw the paint, I could not think of a way to use them for pedals.. Has a quality that screams I did this, its cool live with it..

Funny how that is, I have boxes that I made look real nice on my board and it's my junction box utility stuff that folks wanna talk about.

I think it would be better to get them to talk about my playing (in a good way) but since that is a pipe dream, might as well have them talk about my pedals..

[LucifersTrip]

I've always thought that they looked as appealing as the back of my bag, but I think I'm warming up to the idea.  It would be cool to have a whole pedal board of them.  As was mentioned before "try finding THIS at Guitar Center!..."

I have no idea why builders put "pretty" pictures on vintage fuzz clones, when many of the greatest ones looked like this:



..haha

[tubegeek]

Looking forward to pics of your build, curious to see how it turned out. Welcome!

Well, here are two pics of the painted/filled enclosure so far. I filled the unused holes, leveled the knockouts with hammering (and some JB Weld for filler) and painted it with white Appliance Epoxy spray paint.

This is about as far as I'm gonna take it, trying to figure out the best way to label it neatly without a ton of work.....

[deadastronaut]

looking good...

[DougH]

Looks GREAT!

[davent]

Only outlet box i've done, just too tough  to drill, but for it also used the white epoxy appliance paint for primer then acrylics for the final paint job,  and like tubegeek JB Weld to smooth out the various holes. The paint's held up really well, the epoxy made a great primer.



dave

[DougH]

Only outlet box i've done, just too tough  to drill, but for it also used the white epoxy appliance paint for primer then acrylics for the final paint job,  and like tubegeek JB Weld to smooth out the various holes. The paint's held up really well, the epoxy made a great primer.


dave

Not so "Ezee" huh? 

Looks really great!

[ashcat_lt]

Are you folks using hand drills?!?  I've only made a few of these (2 in the 4x4s and 2 in the single gang switch boxes) but I've never had trouble drilling.  A center punch and some decent torque and it cuts like butter.  A few burrs to clean up after, but...  What am I missing?

[tubegeek]

Davent:

Any tips on coating over the epoxy? Did you sand it matte at all before painting acrylics over it?

I really like the finish you got on the EZEE box.

[LucifersTrip]

I should've mentioned this earlier, but Garvin (thanx marmora) makes numerous no-knockout boxes. Yes, they're more expensive, but there's some cool shapes & sizes:

http://www.garvinindustries.com/search.aspx?SearchText=blnk

This is my first Rangemaster:


built into this:
http://www.garvinindustries.com/Electrical-Junction-Boxes/Handy-Utility-Boxes/1-7-8-Deep/G19281-BLNK

one more note: Garvin regularly has specials. I bought a load when they had a 50% off sale.

[davent]

Davent:

Any tips on coating over the epoxy? Did you sand it matte at all before painting acrylics over it?

I really like the finish you got on the EZEE box.

Thanks guys, old pedal, has held up great still looks like it was just painted. Would have taken the sheen off of the epoxy coat with fine wet sandpaper, then airbrushed on a coat of Autoair Clear basecoat. Way back in the picture thread i tried to describe the rest of the paint job...

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.msg554440#msg554440

[tubegeek]

I made lettering by toner transfer - I'm not sure I like how they turned out, I may try it again depending on how ambitious I get.

[DougH]

I should've mentioned this earlier, but Garvin (thanx marmora) makes numerous no-knockout boxes. Yes, they're more expensive, but there's some cool shapes & sizes:

http://www.garvinindustries.com/search.aspx?SearchText=blnk

This is my first Rangemaster:


built into this:
http://www.garvinindustries.com/Electrical-Junction-Boxes/Handy-Utility-Boxes/1-7-8-Deep/G19281-BLNK

one more note: Garvin regularly has specials. I bought a load when they had a 50% off sale.

That's a great looking box. But for me the price point of those boxes is a little over half of what you can get die cast aluminum boxes for. For me, it's worth the difference to go aluminum at that point and enjoy the ease of drilling, light weight etc. The attraction of the "ugly" Raco boxes is that they're dirt cheap (and plentiful at any home improvement chain store).

Edit: Ahhh, just saw your note about the 50% off sale. Yup, that's a nice find.