Seeking an enclosure...

P

Peter Percival

Guest
Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

+---
| \
| \
| \
| |
+-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top. Where may I find such things? Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.

--
"He who will not reason is a bigot;
he who cannot is a fool;
he who dares not is a slave."
- Sir William Drummond
 
Tom Gardner wrote:
On 21/07/19 18:52, Peter Percival wrote:
Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

  +---
  |    \
  |     \
  |      \
  |       |
  +-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and
range-selecting knob on top.  Where may I find such things?  Steel,
aluminium, ABS will do.

The usual places have them, e.g. Farnell or RS.

They also have tolerable search facilities to help you
find them. It really isn't that difficult, particularly
since you already know the correct term: enclosure.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I think the other magic word is "sloped".

--
"He who will not reason is a bigot;
he who cannot is a fool;
he who dares not is a slave."
- Sir William Drummond
 
On 21/07/19 18:52, Peter Percival wrote:
Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

 +---
 |    \
 |     \
 |      \
 |       |
 +-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting knob on
top.  Where may I find such things?  Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.
Click to expand...

The usual places have them, e.g. Farnell or RS.

They also have tolerable search facilities to help you
find them. It really isn't that difficult, particularly
since you already know the correct term: enclosure.
 
On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:52:23 +0100, Peter Percival
<peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:

Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

+---
| \
| \
| \
| |
+-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top. Where may I find such things? Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.
Click to expand...

So will plywood.
 
default wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:52:23 +0100, Peter Percival
peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:

Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

+---
| \
| \
| \
| |
+-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top. Where may I find such things? Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.

So will plywood.
Click to expand...

The choice of materials is non-trivial. If I'm to mount a meter on it,
I need to be able to put a, say, 40mm hole through it. Punches such as
this
https://www.rapidonline.com/q-max-qma40m-sheet-metal-hole-punch-40mm-86-5326
are limited in the thickness of what they will cut. That particular one
will cut up to 16 gauge mild steel, and I've been looking at die cast
aluminium...

--
"He who will not reason is a bigot;
he who cannot is a fool;
he who dares not is a slave."
- Sir William Drummond
 
On 22/07/19 00:40, Peter Percival wrote:
default wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:52:23 +0100, Peter Percival
peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:

Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

  +---
  |    \
  |     \
  |      \
  |       |
  +-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top.  Where may I find such things?  Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.

So will plywood.

The choice of materials is non-trivial.  If I'm to mount a meter on it, I need
to be able to put a, say, 40mm hole through it.  Punches such as this
https://www.rapidonline.com/q-max-qma40m-sheet-metal-hole-punch-40mm-86-5326 are
limited in the thickness of what they will cut.  That particular one will cut up
to 16 gauge mild steel, and I've been looking at die cast aluminium...
Click to expand...

If you have patience, you could use a jeweller's fretsaw
to cut an arbitrary shape.
 
On 07/21/2019 01:52 PM, Peter Percival wrote:
Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

 +---
 |    \
 |     \
 |      \
 |       |
 +-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top.  Where may I find such things?  Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.
Click to expand...

Something like this?

https://www.hawkusa.com/manufacturers/hamnd/series-scem
 
On Mon, 22 Jul 2019 00:40:49 +0100, Peter Percival
<peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:

default wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:52:23 +0100, Peter Percival
peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:

Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

+---
| \
| \
| \
| |
+-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and range-selecting
knob on top. Where may I find such things? Steel, aluminium, ABS will do.

So will plywood.

The choice of materials is non-trivial. If I'm to mount a meter on it,
I need to be able to put a, say, 40mm hole through it. Punches such as
this
https://www.rapidonline.com/q-max-qma40m-sheet-metal-hole-punch-40mm-86-5326
are limited in the thickness of what they will cut. That particular one
will cut up to 16 gauge mild steel, and I've been looking at die cast
aluminium...
Click to expand...

I've built three sloping panel enclosures from wood. One has an
aluminum front panel held in place by a saw kerf cut into the 3/4"
side panels. (slides in and out)

For aluminum, a hole saw will do a halfway decent job if you clamp it
down well. For plastics and metal a "nibbling tool" makes easy work
of square holes. Those conical stepped bits that go from 1/4" to one
inch are wonderful for nice precise clean holes in plastic. Another
nice tool for plastic is the so-called "multi-tool" with an
oscillating blade. I can work a plastic enclosure within 1/8" of the
edges without destroying it using the multi-tool.

Wood is a good alternative and doesn't require special ordering
enclosures. You can make any shape and size you may want (and your
skill allows). I recently made a small windowed square enclosure from
some scrap walnut and red acrylic plastic. The digital display and
red leds show up with nice contrast. I beveled the corners, epoxied
the box together and oiled the wood and had it finished with about
four hours of work, and no cost.

Another handy, if limited use, tool is a "Whitney-Jenson" or
"Whitney-Roper" https://tinyurl.com/y66wtzak hand metal punch.
It is faster than drilling and leaves a burr-free hole with no
distortion in thin sheet metal. You can punch metal as thin as
aluminum cans with no distortion and mild steel, (even spring steel it
if isn't too thick) I'm in the habit of using pennies for small
washers - it's often cheaper than a small pack of washers (and lots
cheaper if I have to drive to a store)

I don't know if you can kill one of these punches, mine has lasted me
~40 years, and I've yet to break a punch or die. It won't punch
quarters or nickels, but pennies no problem (copper or zinc ones) and
can punch dimes too. If it will fit in between the jaws, and the
throat depth is enough, it is way better and faster than an electric
drill. The punches all have pointed centers to grip the work and you
can use a center punch to get accurate placement.
 
Paul Babiak wrote:
On 07/21/2019 01:52 PM, Peter Percival wrote:
Seeking an enclosure that looks like this from the side:

  +---
  |    \
  |     \
  |      \
  |       |
  +-------+

Think of a meter case, terminals on top, meter face and
range-selecting knob on top.  Where may I find such things?  Steel,
aluminium, ABS will do.


Something like this?

https://www.hawkusa.com/manufacturers/hamnd/series-scem
Click to expand...

Something just like that! Thank you.

--
"He who will not reason is a bigot;
he who cannot is a fool;
he who dares not is a slave."
- Sir William Drummond
 
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