Hammond Box measurement

[Cqwet Dbdfte]

Hammond ships these extrusion boxes with small selftapping screws, which are not that strong, ok for stationary use, and they will leave some metal fragments behind. The paint on those boxes also make threading a chore.
Better to use a #6 spiral flute tap, and then use longer SS screws.
Front and rear panels can be ~1.5 mm aluminum PCB, Use any standard solder mask color, even black, and leave text and symbols unmasked, and/or silk screened.
Alternatively use aluminum side out, and put SMT circuits on the inside of the front/back panel. Or even sandwich two together, precision is tops, and it looks great.
Takachi makes better extruded boxes, a little bigger,, with better end panels.

 

[pvision]

The joggle in the original panel helps to stiffen it. A flat sheet will tend to flex - you'll have to suck it & see

 

[ruffrecords]

>> Here is a close-up view of the HAMMOND 1455 extrusion enclosure in, from what I understand that you are going to be doing, an -- INVERTED -- manner (or, "upside-down"), where the "BOTTOM" becomes the "TOP", so you can create hole-cutouts for your connectors, pots, LEDs and such. This view is also including a newly-created 152.40mm X 120.00mm X 1.50mm panel so you can see exactly how these two items are going to fit together. In addition, this view is also showing the enclosure and the panel as being "coincident" with one another, because again.....the enclosure is now being used "upside-down" and the panel will be resting upon the enclosure due to gravity. NOTE: The "Time & Space Continuum" has not been factored into these CAD-images:

Many thanks Midnight. You are correct, I do plan to use the enclosure upside down. As you know, I am really looking for an enclosure that has removable flat top and rear panels (see this thread: https://groupdiy.com/threads/the-perennial-project-enclosure-problem.88429/ ) and this is the nearest I have found but I am forced to use its bottom panel for the top.

Cheers

Ian

 

[MidnightArrakis]

>> Here is your "new" sheet-metal TOP-PANEL piece. The flange that you see is necessary so the panel doesn't bend or flex whenever any pushbuttons are pressed or if any pressure is exerted upon any control pot-knobs. However, the flange may possibly be done away with should a PCB be mounted underneath the panel and fastened to the TOP-PANEL using standoffs (pillars). In this scenario, the PCB would be acting as a "stiffener" in conjunction with the TOP-PANEL sheet-metal:



And.....here is the TOP-PANEL inserted within the 1455T aluminum extrusion enclosure:




>> The -- notch -- shown dimensioned as "1.52" is a "bend-relief" and is necessary to relieve the stress upon the metal when it is bent to form the flange. Otherwise, the sheet-metal could possibly bend or warp in an unsightly manner as the flange is made.


/

 

[ruffrecords]

>> Here is your "new" sheet-metal TOP-PANEL piece. The flange that you see is necessary so the panel doesn't bend or flex whenever any pushbuttons are pressed or if any pressure is exerted upon any control pot-knobs. However, the flange may possibly be done away with should a PCB be mounted underneath the panel and fastened to the TOP-PANEL using standoffs (pillars). In this scenario, the PCB would be acting as a "stiffener" in conjunction with the TOP-PANEL sheet-metal:

Thank you Midnight. The panel will be aluminium so I am not sure whether the flange bend is possible. Presumably this is required because the panel is only 1.5mm thick. Anyway, I would prefer to make is a plain flat sheet because it is both simpler and cheaper.. There will be one or maybe two PCBs beneath the panel so perhaps the flange will not be necessary.

Presumably it would be possible to make the panel out of ,say, 2.5mm aluminium and mill the left and right edges down to 1.5mm where the fit into the extrusion?

Cheers

Ian

 

[MidnightArrakis]

[The panel will be aluminium so I am not sure whether the flange bend is possible] -- HMMMMmmmmmm.....I've only been putting flanges on aluminum sheet-metal designs for over 40-years!!! So.....maybe you're right!!!

Then, again.....while what you see here are "tabs", they
can also be considered as being "mini-flanges" as well:


Then.....this is also a flange:


As is this:


>> THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!! A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H!!!..........

[I would prefer to make is a plain flat sheet because it is both simpler and cheaper] -- I would consult with your local sheet-metal vendor about this. To create a sheet-metal flange, the metal-plate is simply placed into a -- press-brake -- and the metal is bent. But, milling a sheet-metal plate down a few thousandths to a specified depth and width, is going to require some type of setup on a milling machine or maybe even a jig and it will more than likely probably take longer to do than the few seconds it takes to create a flange on a press-brake. And, of course.....TIME = MONEY!!!.....

[There will be one or maybe two PCBs beneath the panel so perhaps the flange will not be necessary] -- It would prove to be more than useful to know what it is that you are planning on doing and/or -- attempting -- on doing within this aluminum extruded enclosure. Then, ideas/recommendations/suggestions can be formed and communicated with you in order to assist you with achieving a better end result of your initial idea.

Just sayin'.....

/

 

[ruffrecords]

[The panel will be aluminium so I am not sure whether the flange bend is possible] -- HMMMMmmmmmm.....I've only been putting flanges on aluminum sheet-metal designs for over 40-years!!! So.....maybe you're right!!! to do this with aluminium.

Clearly it is possible. Thanks for clarifying that

>> THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!! A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H!!!..........

Indeed they are. I have seen lots in steel. I was just unsure about aluminium. Now I am sure.

[I would prefer to make is a plain flat sheet because it is both simpler and cheaper] -- I would consult with your local sheet-metal vendor about this. To create a sheet-metal flange, the metal-plate is simply placed into a -- press-brake -- and the metal is bent. But, milling a sheet-metal plate down a few thousandths to a specified depth and width, is going to require some type of setup on a milling machine or maybe even a jig and it will more than likely probably take longer to do than the few seconds it takes to create a flange on a press-brake. And, of course.....TIME = MONEY!!!.....

If all I needed to do was add a flange then I would agree with you. However, this is a front panel that needs holes for controls and quite a bit of printing as well. I have these made by the likes of Frank Rollen or Schaeffer. They use CNC machines for this so milling both edges is just one more operation which means I can get the whole thing done in one process. As you say, time = money.

[There will be one or maybe two PCBs beneath the panel so perhaps the flange will not be necessary] -- It would prove to be more than useful to know what it is that you are planning on doing and/or -- attempting -- on doing within this aluminum extruded enclosure. Then, ideas/recommendations/suggestions can be formed and communicated with you in order to assist you with achieving a better end result of your initial idea.

Just sayin'.....

/

I am hoping that this enclosure can be used for lots of projects. In all cases the front panel will have some pots and some toggle switches attached to one or more PCBs. So I am looking for a general rather than a specific solution.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

This is an end view of the Hammond 1455T1201 enclosure:

View attachment 138005
As you can see it is an extrusion with a slide in section at the bottom that I have circled in red. What I want to do is use the slide in part as the top but replace it with a plain sheet of aluminium which I can have drilled and engraved for the controls and legend I need. What I cannot do is work out the correct width a and thickness for the replacement aluminium panel. I have attached the 2D drawing provided by Hammond but I am not sure if that is sufficient to work out what I need. On the attached drawing is an email from where you can request a 3D CAD file of the enclosure which presumably is sufficient to answer the question. However, my 3D CAD skills are close to zero so can someone look at this for me?

Cheers

Ian

That looks similar to an extrusion package I designed to use at Peavey back in the 80s for accessory and small products. The top, front, and back was a bent piece of flat steel punched to take all the pots and switches. The extrusion could be cut to length to accommodate multiple sizes of packages.

The HB1 headphone amp is just one of the many SKUs that used this package.

JR