Standard for aluminum extruded project boxes?

[iampoor]

Hi

Coming from the world of guitar effects, a few "standard" enclosure sizes exist. 1590A, 125B, 6500, 1290L, etc. The majority of guitar pedal enclosures available are "clones" of Hammond enclosures.

I have been looking at aluminum "project boxes" on Ebay an am wondering if a similar system or if "standard" enclosure sizes exist.

Examples:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Extruded-Aluminum-Box-Black-Enclosure-Electronic-Project-Case-PCB-DIY-50-25-25mm-/321803082516?hash=item4aecf55b14
http://www.ebay.com/itm/35x76x100mm-Aluminum-Project-Box-Enclosure-Case-Electronic-DIY-Instrument-Case-/121654694181?hash=item1c532f5125
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-enclosure-box-Power-battery-shell-Chassis-shell-desktop-DIY-64-38-100mm-/281526862207?hash=item418c4f017f
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silver-Aluminum-Project-Box-Enclosure-Case-Electronic-DIY-203x144x68mm-US-Stock-/111599975005?hash=item19fbe07a5d

I am not looking at any of these enclosures in particular, I have just noticed MANY different models available with no "standardized" reference (well...nothing obvious to me  ). Is there a standard? I have quite a few projects I would like to build into these types of enclosures, and wouldnt want to have the supply run out once the Ebay seller dries up!

Thanks!

[ivaylo]

Don't think those Chinese ones follow any standard. Some companies have been doing some enclosures forever, so they became de facto "standard" - http://www.hammondmfg.com/scpg.htm . Then there are things like the DIN standard cards which dictate enclosure sizes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocard_(printed_circuit_board)

[iampoor]

Don't think those Chinese ones follow any standard. Some companies have been doing some enclosures forever, so they became de facto "standard" - http://www.hammondmfg.com/scpg.htm . Then there are things like the DIN standard cards which dictate enclosure sizes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocard_(printed_circuit_board)

Thanks for the links. Yes Hammond enclosures seem to be copied pretty heavily

I was hoping they might confrorm to something like the 1455 standard, but yeah, it appears to be pretty random!

[ez24]

Interesting.  Any info on cutting the holes and openings?

[iampoor]

For cutting holes and openings there are some options:
(a) The vendor (at least ones like Hammond) may offer some customization services if applicable.
(b) There are services that make custom cut front panels and such.  If I recall the name correctly protopanel is the name of one common one.  Obviously if you want plastic instead of metal panels cut then 3D printing services could also be used.
(c) If you're trying to put holes in the flat end plates of the extruded enclosure you could just ignore the vendor supplied end plate blank and have a PCB made to the same peripheral shape and with appropriate internal holes / slots and use that as your end plate.  And/or you could use the PCB as a cutting template for machining the enclosure's metal plate.
(d) you could use CAD tools to design a 2D drawing of the panel to be machined along with tooling guide lines / points for the machining operations.  Print that onto something like semi adhesive label stock or whatever and then apply it to the surface to be machined and conduct your machnining by the guide.

Not sure if its the same for all of their enclosures, but Hammond minimum is 25pcs IIRC.

Front Panel Express is another great company that does front panels. I love them!