This is a great video. Combining two hobbies like this is just awesome. Yes it would be easier to buy a box but then you can say that about most hobbies. Buy the electronics, buy a painting, buy vegetables etc, its so much easier then producing your own!. Thank you for sharing this.
Thanks Todd. I picked up a few tricks that I'll have to keep in mind. One question... at 19:30 what would have been bad about sucking the aluminum up into the spiral bit?
RimstarOrg House of Hacks At 19:30 I say that because the drill bit flutes will grab the metal sheet and pull it up bending it and possibly cutting your fingers as House of Hacks stated.
You are so helpful and AWESOME! I laughed out loud for real during the sections you fast forwarded. The second time with the music cracked up. Made my day.
Nice work! The rivets on the top offend me a bit, aesthetically, though. I think I'd have epoxied the angle bracket inside instead for a cleaner look on top. Also how did your box turn out from a weight distribution .perspective. Looks very light and not likely to anchor itself in place against the tug of the cables going in the back. I can foresee that being quite frustrating. All that being said though, nice work! Thanks for sharing.
Instead of riveting angle metal could you have just left tabs that you folded over to fasten the box together? Would a 6 ft finger break have been cleaner than a vice?
Just in case you check these comments...... I use a small rubber band after I'm done with my electronic digital caliper. Close the caliper, loop band around one end then twist it and loop over the other end... Stops all the movement on the slide. It just takes a little movement to turn on the device, but the rubber band doesn't let it move but also doesn't hurt it.
Beautiful job! Air nibblers... hadn't heard of those... hmmm... another reason to get an air compressor. :-) Always though calipers were a luxury until I picked up some. Now probably my most used measuring tool.
House of Hacks So true about calipers. For think metal an air nibbler makes short work of modes. They produce tiny half moon shaped razor sharp clippings so I have to use the nibbler outside or over a trash. Sometimes I will go out in my garage without shoes and WOW your feet will find every one of those clippings HA.
You do not need air compressor. You can get electricly powered nibler. Actually they are probably more common. Air nibblers are probably used in car rapair shops, but electric ones, and battery ones, are more used outside. Very useful to cuting corrugated sheets for roofing for example. There are some cheap ones even (~60-100$). Or expensive (like Fein or Trumf, ~700$). Or even drill attachements that converts your standard drill into nibbler, also cheap (~30-40$).
It's nice work and a good tutorial for when you really need a custom box. I have built a couple before, even simpler than this one, and they are very time consuming. A good quality aluminum box can be ordered online for $5-20 depending on size. Making one from scratch is rarely worth it for me unless I just can't find a size that will work for the application. Even with reasonably decent tools and experience, it takes a long time to build an enclosure from scratch, and at least for me, my time is more important.
Todd, I noticed here and in your bench upgrade video that your electronics bench is in the same room as your woodworking tools. any issue with dust and the equipment? I ask because I'm considering putting my electronics bench in the garage which I primarily use for woodworking today.
It was interesting to see how you made the enclosure step by step. Very nice job Todd. Now you will have to get some Binford tools so we can call you Tim, I mean Todd the tool man, lol. Nice job on that though.
RadioHamGuy Thanks Larry! I like the nickname "Todd the Tool Man"! I should get a T-shirt made up. HA. The Binford tools always reminded me of the Tool Crib of the North commercials when I lived in ND.
George Gardinier You can get them on sell at Harbor Freight but they are quite cheap. I have links to better ones in my Amazon store which you can link to from ToddFun. They are super handy and I use it a lot. There are times I think a cutting torch or plasma torch would be faster but the cuts are so much cleaner and straight with the saw.
Nice box, appreciate the time you put into making it, and the end product looks really good. On a purely utilitarian note, I had couple thoughts. On the bottom 'C' portion that holds the electronics, if you had extended the overall length a little bit, and added an additional folded lip on the two ends, one above the display, and one above the rear connections, both bent inwards, it would have eliminated the need for six rivets, four screws, and 6 inches of angled aluminum. If you required the extra rigidity at those points, the option to screw through the top and through the folded lip would still be there and would result in a box equally strong with less cost, but I doubt that additional rigidity would be necessary for this particular box, and would leave you with a perfectly smooth exterior. Second thought was those rubber feet, since the rivets are permanent, and you already seemed apt to cut cavities in the feet for the nylon bolt, why not cut the cavities large enough for the head of the rivets and put the feet in the corners? Also, what kind of paint did you use, it looks like a very nice surface!
Amra All sound like great ideas. I have a 3D printer now so from hear on I will just CAD and print my projects boxes, but I'm sure I have tons to learn with 3D printing projects boxes too. I used cheap semi-gloss paint, nothing expensive. I don't even remember if it was name brand paint or not, most likely not.
Then it must be your skill in the application, because that surface looks very good. Gives me some good ideas for making my own boxes, so thanks for the inspiration! :)
depending on the size of the project box you need, DIY can end up being a lot cheaper than buying a ready built project box. for instance for the diy fireworks firing system I'm going to build I would need such a large enclosure made out of aluminium that it would cost nearly $50-$60 to buy one. (250mm x 200-250mm x 100mm) buying some aluminium plate, angle stock, thread sealant and a instant gasket compound to make a water and weather proof box would cost me around $30 at the most. thanks for the video showing some neat tricks for DIY project boxes.
Great video--beautiful work. I also make my own--but use galvanized sheet metal as its much cheaper--and use a small spot welder and punch in leiu of drilling. I started by making my own transformer mounts for a bunch of really nice small power transformers with no brackets. There is a great deal of satisfaction in this work---and I really appreciate your vide0!
Great idea. I could get a spot welder from harbor freight and that would save a tone of time next time. I did that for a tool box in High School like 35 years ago. Ha.
Great video:-) Maybe I am wrong but for me it looked like your drill holes was not perfectly round, if so try to put a peace of clothe between the drill bit and the metal it should make the holes almost perfect.
@Todd Harrison @6:05 NEVER use titanium drills on aluminium! Never ever. Use HSS steel or cobald coated steel drills instead. It does matter, because if you use titanium drills on aluminium, the aluminium will bond together with the titanium to an alloy that is very strong and hard to drill in again. You don't want have that.
There is many ways to do boxes. It can be done with corner profiles, or without. With two C sections or other shapes. Many options. However, for your C shape, I would suggest you to read or watch some movies about bending metal, especially about bend radius, bend allowence, things like K-factor, setback, etc. It will allow to make a much more precise box dimensions, that it actually fits together well. It is not complex, but you cannot just transfer box dimensions to the sheet as is, and bend it. The resulting box will be bigger in width and depth and heigh. And because you are making two pieces, they will not fit together properly. They will be loose. Using corner profiles helps to hide it, but it isn't great. Not a big of a deal, but I think the sides protruding on left and right from the bottom are not nice. Fortunately you can easily trim them in your case.
You can bend aluminium just fine. You need to just use bigger bend radius for the material. For the same thickness aluminium should be bend with higher radius just for safety.
To REALLY finish it off, rub down with 800grit carborundum paper then make a solution of caustic soda In warm water. Then dip each part in for two or three minutes. Was in fresh water and rub with a soft cloth to removed the black oxide. The result looks like Titanium and won't pick up fingerprints.
Also, wear heavy rubber gloves and a full face mask / goggles and do this OUTSIDE as the solution gets VERY hot and can spit. You don't want this on your face or hands as hot caustic soda will eat through skin like a hot knife through butter. Also, DO NOT breath the fumes. I did once and it felt like my lungs were on fire for two hours. I was coughing so hard I was seeing stars. Be safe and thanks for a great UA-cam channel.
Great video! And I like the rivets. Soooo much work though. You have to have 5+ hours into that case. No? I hope someday, that low volume cases will be like the PCB as they are now-a-days. At least "here's our case catalog, we'll modify it for free if you order 3" kind of thing. You send us a cad drawing of what holes you want, and we'll CNC it for you. Wouldn't that be nice?
GeorgeGraves Thanks George. The job was more like 6 hours and yes, it was too much work. I'm thinking once my 3D printer comes I will be able to CAD up a box, send it to the printer and faster than paint can dry I will have a project box without the 6 hours of labor. Even better than sending it off to be made. Line it with tinfoil if you need it shielded. At least that is my hopes.
cryptnotic GeorgeGraves cryptnotic is right. Can't tell the costs but it is a servers where you can send in your CAD file and get a project box. I will add the link to the show notes and at Todd fun for this posting so others can find this service easy. www.protocase.com/products/index.php?e=Custom
-Uses vernier caliper but then measures in inches- Seriously, the metric system is far superior to old imperial system. So the US insist on using an inferior old British System. Great video though!!
I love the metric system however when you're raised only being exposed to imperial units then one has no clear mental idea what size or distance one is referencing or trying to analyze. The USA just needs to force the change at some point. That said the hydraulic industry still uses imperial units for connections and some other stuff throughout the world, even you your country, so fully changing to metric would require a world effort still.
Darn, I hate it when I screw that up. My father was from the south and my mother was from the north so I spend a lot of years in elementary school in speech class. I was't a success story sorry to say. HA.
The range of royalty free music in this vid is on point. Not to mention the depth of knowledge.
For me this was the first video I’ve seen in building an aluminum box enclosure. Thank you for sharing!
This is a great video. Combining two hobbies like this is just awesome. Yes it would be easier to buy a box but then you can say that about most hobbies. Buy the electronics, buy a painting, buy vegetables etc, its so much easier then producing your own!. Thank you for sharing this.
Well said and I must agree. Thanks Chris.
That's beautiful, plus you have the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself.
cool box. love it. I love taking the covers of an amplifier off and making a custom plexi glass top to feature the inside guts.
Thanks Todd. I picked up a few tricks that I'll have to keep in mind. One question... at 19:30 what would have been bad about sucking the aluminum up into the spiral bit?
I think he was talking about the flutes grabbing the sheet and pulling it up. Dangerous for fingers and can deform the metal.
RimstarOrg House of Hacks At 19:30 I say that because the drill bit flutes will grab the metal sheet and pull it up bending it and possibly cutting your fingers as House of Hacks stated.
***** House of Hacks Thanks guys. That's not a problem I've ever run into, but at least I now know the solution for when I do.
Totally worth the time. It looks so much better than the standard gray plastic project boxes :)
Nice work!
Beautiful project box. Seems like making the box would be just as fun as making the internals.
You are so helpful and AWESOME! I laughed out loud for real during the sections you fast forwarded. The second time with the music cracked up. Made my day.
Glad you enjoyed!
Nice work with simple tools.
Thanks 👍
Excellent work. Really enjoyed your thoroughness
The scroll saw makes sense. Are there special blades for cutting steel or aluminum? I have been struggling with square holes for years.
They are for metal.
Nice build ... Got some ideas for my project box
Buy a box where the fun in that . Your way is much better.
Nice work! The rivets on the top offend me a bit, aesthetically, though. I think I'd have epoxied the angle bracket inside instead for a cleaner look on top. Also how did your box turn out from a weight distribution .perspective. Looks very light and not likely to anchor itself in place against the tug of the cables going in the back. I can foresee that being quite frustrating. All that being said though, nice work! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. It seemed to have enough weight as it never had any problems.
Great job Tood, I love building things too.
Ver64 It's great fun but tons of work. Thanks for the comment.
good efforts, the way you have given is applicable to every kind of project box making thanks
It's my pleasure, thanks
I have no idea how I got here, but I am glad to be here. Just what I am looking for.
Instead of riveting angle metal could you have just left tabs that you folded over to fasten the box together? Would a 6 ft finger break have been cleaner than a vice?
Just in case you check these comments...... I use a small rubber band after I'm done with my electronic digital caliper. Close the caliper, loop band around one end then twist it and loop over the other end... Stops all the movement on the slide. It just takes a little movement to turn on the device, but the rubber band doesn't let it move but also doesn't hurt it.
Excellent job. Well done. I love those kinds of vids, i learned something today from Todd.
antraciet And thank you for the comment + sharing. The video took over 6 hours of editing. Not sure I'm a fan of such videos now. :)
Pretty good?? that is better than you can buy anywhere else. Brilliant, thank you for posting.
Malc Tulloch So much work but you are right, it makes for a perfect fit every time. Thanks.
Beautiful job!
Air nibblers... hadn't heard of those... hmmm... another reason to get an air compressor. :-)
Always though calipers were a luxury until I picked up some. Now probably my most used measuring tool.
House of Hacks So true about calipers. For think metal an air nibbler makes short work of modes. They produce tiny half moon shaped razor sharp clippings so I have to use the nibbler outside or over a trash. Sometimes I will go out in my garage without shoes and WOW your feet will find every one of those clippings HA.
*****
haha. Yeah, I have a manual nibbler and know about feet finding those clippings.
You do not need air compressor. You can get electricly powered nibler. Actually they are probably more common. Air nibblers are probably used in car rapair shops, but electric ones, and battery ones, are more used outside. Very useful to cuting corrugated sheets for roofing for example. There are some cheap ones even (~60-100$). Or expensive (like Fein or Trumf, ~700$). Or even drill attachements that converts your standard drill into nibbler, also cheap (~30-40$).
3D printed housings are cool and all, but nothing like the nice tactile feeling of a metal casing
Where do you get the long nylon bolts and nuts you used to tie down the circuit board? I'm having trouble finding them.
It's nice work and a good tutorial for when you really need a custom box. I have built a couple before, even simpler than this one, and they are very time consuming. A good quality aluminum box can be ordered online for $5-20 depending on size. Making one from scratch is rarely worth it for me unless I just can't find a size that will work for the application. Even with reasonably decent tools and experience, it takes a long time to build an enclosure from scratch, and at least for me, my time is more important.
Try filming all the shots as you build and doing all the edits to put it into content. That's when it gets crazy long. ;)
Todd, I noticed here and in your bench upgrade video that your electronics bench is in the same room as your woodworking tools. any issue with dust and the equipment? I ask because I'm considering putting my electronics bench in the garage which I primarily use for woodworking today.
Not too bad but yes I sometimes make quite a mess so I will drape a tarp over my gear when doing lots of metal grinding, chipping or sanding.
That box looks professional sir
Thanks very much!
It was interesting to see how you made the enclosure step by step. Very nice job Todd. Now you will have to get some Binford tools so we can call you Tim, I mean Todd the tool man, lol. Nice job on that though.
RadioHamGuy Thanks Larry! I like the nickname "Todd the Tool Man"! I should get a T-shirt made up. HA. The Binford tools always reminded me of the Tool Crib of the North commercials when I lived in ND.
Excellent. Three thumbs-up for you 👍👍👍
7:50 Noooooo, calipers with a stop watch... xD How cool! Great video!
Great stuff. excellent work. Love it.
AWESOME!!! i loved it. and your incloser is made same as an ATX power supply's incloser is made. 👍👍👍
Nice looking box Todd. After it is painted it looks like a bought one!
abbtech It turned out nice, Thanks. I still think a purchased box would look better but maybe I'm just being to self critical.
excellent, never would have thought of that saw
George Gardinier You can get them on sell at Harbor Freight but they are quite cheap. I have links to better ones in my Amazon store which you can link to from ToddFun. They are super handy and I use it a lot. There are times I think a cutting torch or plasma torch would be faster but the cuts are so much cleaner and straight with the saw.
Nice box, appreciate the time you put into making it, and the end product looks really good. On a purely utilitarian note, I had couple thoughts. On the bottom 'C' portion that holds the electronics, if you had extended the overall length a little bit, and added an additional folded lip on the two ends, one above the display, and one above the rear connections, both bent inwards, it would have eliminated the need for six rivets, four screws, and 6 inches of angled aluminum.
If you required the extra rigidity at those points, the option to screw through the top and through the folded lip would still be there and would result in a box equally strong with less cost, but I doubt that additional rigidity would be necessary for this particular box, and would leave you with a perfectly smooth exterior.
Second thought was those rubber feet, since the rivets are permanent, and you already seemed apt to cut cavities in the feet for the nylon bolt, why not cut the cavities large enough for the head of the rivets and put the feet in the corners?
Also, what kind of paint did you use, it looks like a very nice surface!
Amra All sound like great ideas. I have a 3D printer now so from hear on I will just CAD and print my projects boxes, but I'm sure I have tons to learn with 3D printing projects boxes too. I used cheap semi-gloss paint, nothing expensive. I don't even remember if it was name brand paint or not, most likely not.
Then it must be your skill in the application, because that surface looks very good.
Gives me some good ideas for making my own boxes, so thanks for the inspiration! :)
This video is phenomenal!
depending on the size of the project box you need, DIY can end up being a lot cheaper than buying a ready built project box.
for instance for the diy fireworks firing system I'm going to build I would need such a large enclosure made out of aluminium that it would cost nearly $50-$60 to buy one. (250mm x 200-250mm x 100mm)
buying some aluminium plate, angle stock, thread sealant and a instant gasket compound to make a water and weather proof box would cost me around $30 at the most.
thanks for the video showing some neat tricks for DIY project boxes.
Sure thing Rick. Thanks.
Great video--beautiful work. I also make my own--but use galvanized sheet metal as its much cheaper--and use a small spot welder and punch in leiu of drilling. I started by making my own transformer mounts for a bunch of really nice small power transformers with no brackets. There is a great deal of satisfaction in this work---and I really appreciate your vide0!
Great idea. I could get a spot welder from harbor freight and that would save a tone of time next time. I did that for a tool box in High School like 35 years ago. Ha.
Great video:-)
Maybe I am wrong but for me it looked like your drill holes was not perfectly round, if so try to put a peace of clothe between the drill bit and the metal it should make the holes almost perfect.
Thanks for the tip :)
@Todd Harrison
@6:05
NEVER use titanium drills on aluminium! Never ever. Use HSS steel or cobald coated steel drills instead.
It does matter, because if you use titanium drills on aluminium, the aluminium will bond together with the titanium to an alloy that is very strong and hard to drill in again. You don't want have that.
Good to know. Thanks.
There is many ways to do boxes. It can be done with corner profiles, or without. With two C sections or other shapes. Many options. However, for your C shape, I would suggest you to read or watch some movies about bending metal, especially about bend radius, bend allowence, things like K-factor, setback, etc. It will allow to make a much more precise box dimensions, that it actually fits together well. It is not complex, but you cannot just transfer box dimensions to the sheet as is, and bend it. The resulting box will be bigger in width and depth and heigh. And because you are making two pieces, they will not fit together properly. They will be loose. Using corner profiles helps to hide it, but it isn't great. Not a big of a deal, but I think the sides protruding on left and right from the bottom are not nice. Fortunately you can easily trim them in your case.
All good points. Thanks. I know of such bending concerns but really didn't think too much about it with such thin metal.
Nice work worth every second .no fun these days with 3d printing
Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful build 👌👏👏😀
WOW... It looks awesome!
Thanks! It was a lot of work but was a perfect fit.
At 18:50 that saw was mighty close to your fingers mate, you have got more balls than me, but one day, I may have more fingers than you LOL.
Awesome that Todd, very nice indeed.
***** Thanks John!
Nice work!
Thanks Antonio!
Is that an aluminium or steel? Engineer at my company told me not to bend aluminium because it will break.
Mine was steel. You can bend thin aluminium if you're careful. I would think if I aluminum of the same thickness it would have bent just fine.
You can bend aluminium just fine. You need to just use bigger bend radius for the material. For the same thickness aluminium should be bend with higher radius just for safety.
@@ToddFun I use 2mm aluminium for making radio chassis that folds ok without splitting nice project
Superb tutorial!
Thanks Colin!
Nice build
Brilliant work, thanks.
28:18 I didn't know you could sing!
To REALLY finish it off, rub down with 800grit carborundum paper then make a solution of caustic soda In warm water. Then dip each part in for two or three minutes. Was in fresh water and rub with a soft cloth to removed the black oxide. The result looks like Titanium and won't pick up fingerprints.
Nice to know. Thanks for the tip!
Also, wear heavy rubber gloves and a full face mask / goggles and do this OUTSIDE as the solution gets VERY hot and can spit. You don't want this on your face or hands as hot caustic soda will eat through skin like a hot knife through butter.
Also, DO NOT breath the fumes. I did once and it felt like my lungs were on fire for two hours. I was coughing so hard I was seeing stars.
Be safe and thanks for a great UA-cam channel.
Very cool video!
GSR600Relaxed Thanks!
I noticed that you didn’t leave any “folding allowance “
That's because I don't know what I'm doing ;) really. Guess I would have if the material was thicker or if the tolerances had to be spot on.
Hi, very useful video,I love homebrewing and this video is very helpfull, I think...
Thaks Todd.
Witek TAA Ham Glad to help a little. Thanks for joining in on my project.
Wow man good stuff looks insane 👍
Thanks!
Great job. Thumbs Up!
"That was amazing."
Fantastic! Nicely done. I want to build an enclosure now!
Good. Let me know how it turns out.
Good job!
Thanks
very nice
Great video! And I like the rivets. Soooo much work though. You have to have 5+ hours into that case. No?
I hope someday, that low volume cases will be like the PCB as they are now-a-days. At least "here's our case catalog, we'll modify it for free if you order 3" kind of thing. You send us a cad drawing of what holes you want, and we'll CNC it for you. Wouldn't that be nice?
GeorgeGraves Thanks George. The job was more like 6 hours and yes, it was too much work. I'm thinking once my 3D printer comes I will be able to CAD up a box, send it to the printer and faster than paint can dry I will have a project box without the 6 hours of labor. Even better than sending it off to be made. Line it with tinfoil if you need it shielded. At least that is my hopes.
The custom or semi-custom case thing exists. Protocase is one example.
cryptnotic GeorgeGraves cryptnotic is right. Can't tell the costs but it is a servers where you can send in your CAD file and get a project box. I will add the link to the show notes and at Todd fun for this posting so others can find this service easy. www.protocase.com/products/index.php?e=Custom
thanks
Sure thing. Glad to help.
Bravo!
very interesting, thanks
you are awesome guy, :D subbed.
Great! Thanks
Modular design had not really hit the enclosure market yet.,,
The type of box you are talking about is called "Clamshell"
Ok, Thanks.
everything is fuzed together now
Well, if you don't have the gear to fuse aluminum then rivets are just the trick and very cost effective.
Where's the "how to obtain all tools from scratch vid?" . Nice case tho
HA! true. I'll have to stop short of creating a new universe to create the tools in... :)
@@ToddFun very nice tutorial none the less
goooood master
-Uses vernier caliper but then measures in inches-
Seriously, the metric system is far superior to old imperial system.
So the US insist on using an inferior old British System.
Great video though!!
I love the metric system however when you're raised only being exposed to imperial units then one has no clear mental idea what size or distance one is referencing or trying to analyze. The USA just needs to force the change at some point. That said the hydraulic industry still uses imperial units for connections and some other stuff throughout the world, even you your country, so fully changing to metric would require a world effort still.
Haha fair point!! I use both as well . Great video by the way and thanks for replying!!
I really like your videos Todd thanks 73's K4TEP Tim
rivets are obselete
Ha! Funny.
There's no such thing as "heigth": "Height" ends with an "ht", not a "th" like width and length. Thanks mom (an english teacher)...
Darn, I hate it when I screw that up. My father was from the south and my mother was from the north so I spend a lot of years in elementary school in speech class. I was't a success story sorry to say. HA.
do you know wtf means scratch?
27:56 whats that tool called?
pop rivet gun