Michael Black wrote in
xample.org:

For larger boxes, computer power supplies offer up nice boxes. Cover any
side with the wrong holes with circuit board

You do like some rough-and-ready boxes! Normally I hate them, but one
very nice exception is old rack units. There are things so cheap on eBay (and
audio junk wherever it might be had) that is valued far lower than the box
it's in is worth. In this case a blank panel bought on eBay can make an
awesome case. One of my computers is based in one. ITX, 1.2GHz, should be fan
cooleed, but I made it totally silent, rack only 18cm front to back, 1U. All
kinds of very high quality work can be based on old rack units, whose
original innards may well be chosen for some otherwise expensive, rare and
exotic spares too.

On Sun, 19 Oct 2014, gareth wrote:

"Michael Black" wrote in message
xample.org...
I've seen people build up modules in old IF transformer, though now that
source has mostly dried up.

As have the capacitors from the defunct rig that provided them? :-)


Well I was thinking of the time when there'd be endless IF transformers at
the hamfests and the like, I remember buying a bunch of them for nothing
much in the seventies.

But now that you mention it, you could take those metal-cased eletrolytics
that have dried up, and build modules in them. I know I have a bunch of
thsoe around, and chances are good they aren't in good shape now.

Michael

"Michael Black" wrote in message
xample.org...

But now that you mention it, you could take those metal-cased eletrolytics
that have dried up, and build modules in them. I know I have a bunch of
thsoe around, and chances are good they aren't in good shape now.

And you'll even have the capacitor clips to hold them down? :-)

On Sun, 19 Oct 2014 02:47:46 -0500, Lostgallifreyan wrote:

Brian Reay wrote in news:1207878279435369714.592439no.sp-
:


As far as aluminium's finish goes, why not just leave it bare? Not so
pretty,

You can make it look better by using a fine wire brush on it; most easily
done with a wire wheel in a grinder. Just make sure all the scratches
run the same direction. You can keep it from leaving blackness on your
fingers by spraying it with clear plastic afterwards.

--
Jim Mueller

To get my real email address, replace wrongname with dadoheadman.
Then replace nospam with fastmail. Lastly, replace com with us.

Jim Mueller wrote in
eb.com:

You can make it look better by using a fine wire brush on it; most easily
done with a wire wheel in a grinder.

I didn't think of that.. I've done something like it with small laser cases
built in extruded 1 inch square tube though, using emery paper glued to a
flat MDF board. It's a very nice finish, but it's not a method for large
parts, too much work. I used to get numbness from gripping sharp edges under
high pressure, and that never entirely healed. It was worth it at the time,
but no-one could make a lot of them that way unless they wanted permanent
injury. I did try one wire brush at the time, but for whatever reason it
failed, I couldn't get consisteny the way I could with the emery board. That
brush was only good for derusting steel before painting with hammerite. Maybe
a larger and faster one, used lightly, might have worked better, but not on
small parts I think (would have damaged the fine edges).