Very often the enclosure can be the most expensive component in a project - I've been known to strip out a commercially produced device and salvage the box it was in.Where you guys get the boxes or "electronic enclosures" for your projects? Looking for metal and not plastic and the only thing I found was on ebay small boxes made of plastic.
Just a small detail on nomenclature. What you linked to in post #14 is probably called a finger brake or a box and pan brake. A press break is a different animal. Here's a cheap example: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...i_sku=145531&gclid=COjx3tmOusQCFXQQ7Aod82EAUgJust bought the press brake, and a $15 piece of sheet metal. I will post up a pic of the in-house ade console enclosure when complete
Haha, this is the electronics forum, not the sheet metal fabrication forum. I'm supposed to be able to call it whatever I decide it should be called and nobody who knows better should be around to correct me. Yes, you are correct. The one I linked to is the one I ordered.Just a small detail on nomenclature. What you linked to in post #14 is probably called a finger brake or a box and pan brake. A press break is a different animal.
I don't think it should be too hard. I've used the finger type brake before, maybe 4 or 5 times. I never had to scrap my work. Seemed pretty simple. And the enclosure will be simple as well. I'm not doing any hinged doors or spot welding or intricate corners/radii. I'm just going to take 24"X48" piece of sheet, cut it down to 16" wide, and put 6 bends in it like this:I am anxious to see how your project works out. The one time I did something big, like a console, I had it done at a sheet metal shop. They have all the tables and experience for set back and so forth, and the parts fit well.
John
Sorry I'm late, but here's the result of my endeavor to build my own console. I ended up building my own spot welder in the process. The actual bending and welding of the metal was not that bad. I used 22ga and 20ga sheet steel. I found that working with sheet metal is quite gratifying. I also found that owning a press brake does not enable you to do anything more than what you can do with a hammer and a straight-edged table. All it does is make things faster. I could have done this without the brake no problem; actually I DID have to do a good portion without the press brake because once you put a bend in the metal a certain way, you can't get it back into the brake to make another. The brake makes your bend lines perfect though, hard to make perfect lines without it. If you're going to get a press brake, don't get a little one like I got. Get one larger than the maximum dimension of the pieces you intend to work with.I am anxious to see how your project works out. The one time I did something big, like a console, I had it done at a sheet metal shop. They have all the tables and experience for set back and so forth, and the parts fit well.
John
I know the problem. It is things like this that make my projects take a lot longer than I had planned...I ended up building my own spot welder in the process.
It is things like this that make my projects never reach fruition! I start a simple TASK (won't even call it a project at this point) and a week later find myself neck deep in 3 or 4 parallel projects that all depend on each other being finished to become finished themselves. Then life knocks on my door and I must put out a fire. Then a month later I encounter a need, followed by a task, which leads me back to the workbench where my various works in progress are still languishing. I'm seriously "in the middle" of no less than a dozen projects, some of them going on 5 or 6 years now.I know the problem. It is things like this that make my projects take a lot longer than I had planned...
Thanks. I'm definitely not a sheet metal fabricator!Strantor - VERY impressive work. What is your day job?
ak