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MIDIBox 64 : Building a case

From the original by Tor Arne

Case basics

Now the front panel is done. What we need now is a case for all the electronics that are not mounted to the panel. This is for example the PCB and the MIDI plug sockets. Of course the case have to match the panel in some way. Again consider how you're going to use your box. If you'll be playing live with it I should probably be in metal to compensate for rough use. If not, wood or plastic is great. If your panel is 19 like mine, remember that the case width has to be smaller than 19 (about 4cm smaller) to fit into a rack!

My case

I made my case out of wood, simply because I was sick of working my ass of shaping that damn panel :)

I used 6mm x-wood (thin pieces of wood compressed) for all the sides and the floor in the box. NOTE! If you want your panel in an angle like on the picture, side A is the one that has to be 5U (or your panel height), NOT side C! Remember your sin, cos and tan folks? :) And I mention it again, side E must be about 45cm to fit into a rack. You should measure this on your rack to be sure!

I used a piano-hinge to connect the case and the panel. That way I can open the box an show people what's inside without having to loosen any screws or anything. The MIDI sockets, power plug, on/off button and the fuse is cut holes for in the back panel. Either in the wood or in a small metal panel mounted to the wood (cut room for the metal panel in the back wooden panel). You can leave your case in wooden colors if you got cool wood, but I had pen marks all over so I painted it with the same color as the panel.

I have to admit that I had some problems getting the panel to fit onto the dimensions of the case and the rack, but with a file everything can be adjusted!

home/skills/constructing_enclosures.txt · Last modified: 2008/12/20 01:09 by stryd_one