Hi Mike,

take a look at Bopla's (www.bopla.de, they seem to have an online shop, too) 
ALUBOS series. These are aluminium profiles where you slide the PCB in an close 
the case with a front and a backside lid. For production you would still need 
someone to mill the needed openings in these lids, but for the prototype you 
could go along with making these openings by hand (drilling holes and remove the 
remainder with a file or rasp).

HTH,
Jens

Mike V. wrote:

> Thanks Lewin, Jay, and Alan for your input.
> 
> We definitely have to design our own metal enclosures for the motor
> driver project we're doing, especially since it has to fit in a very
> thin but long cavity. so we've already looked into Lewin's metal
> extrusion method.
> 
> As for the hub-like box...
> I particularly like Jay's way of "gutting" some hubs. The prototype
> can't get any prettier than that. In the long run, I do have to think
> of whether i go plastic vs. metal. They'll both look pretty if i get
> anodized black metal, or even black plastic.
> 
> For you guys interested in sources for enclosures, i found
> www.tekoenclosures.com after browsing thru EEPN.com
> 
> I'll be looking at the URLs that you guys recommended too. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> valemike@yahoo.com (Mike V.) wrote in message news:<8188616d.0403241336.4743fd61@posting.google.com>...
> 
>>I want to make a board that has:
>>1. ethernet socket
>>2. two rs232 ports
>>3. one rs485 ports
>>
>>And put an enclosure around it. Do you guys know of any enclosure
>>companies that sell plastic enclosures that look like your small
>>typical Netgear or Linksys hubs, which i can just get the holes cut
>>out? I need that "cool" look, rather than just going to Digikey and
>>getting a simple plastic rectangular box. (Nor can i afford to put
>>$25K down just to get custom plastic molds :-(
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Mike

On 26 Mar 2004 16:01:04 -0800, the renowned valemike@yahoo.com (Mike
V.) wrote:

>Yeah, $15 per 100 seems typical for a chassis that size; probably gets
>down to $10 for thousands.
>
>I have found plastic boxes that go for around $5-$10 each. I just
>wonder what is the typical cost to cut 3-4 holes for the RS232 sockets
>and ethernet for. I guess it's a few hundred for initial tooling, and
>who knows what the per-100 quantities' labor costs for cutting.

The box makers have CNC equipment that makes the per-part costs fairly
reasonable, provided you consider the box cost reasonable to begin
with. I believe some also design the molds so that a plate can be
replaced for cutouts at a tooling cost that is quite reasonable
compared to a whole mold (or even just a set of inserts). But the per-
part price is still probably 10:1-20:1 over what a dedicated injection
mold would yield in moderate volume. 

Best regards, 
Spehro Pefhany
-- 
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

On 26 Mar 2004 16:01:04 -0800, valemike@yahoo.com (Mike V.) wrote:

>Yeah, $15 per 100 seems typical for a chassis that size; probably gets
>down to $10 for thousands.
>
>I have found plastic boxes that go for around $5-$10 each. I just
>wonder what is the typical cost to cut 3-4 holes for the RS232 sockets
>and ethernet for. I guess it's a few hundred for initial tooling, and
>who knows what the per-100 quantities' labor costs for cutting.
>

Mike, 
ouch!. that's expensive...
go to home depot in the electrical section and purchase those blue plastic
switch housings for 88 cents. they make excellent cases for small projects.
heck, I've used old empty tuna fish cans too.




Remove "HeadFromButt", before replying by email.

If you can use he shops 'regular' dies instead of 'custom' ones, the price
will be cheaper.
It's not common for a fab shop to have a DB-37 die for example.
In my case we had a rectangular window punched that was really 4 punches in
a row. That saved us having to buy the tooling for a 'one punch' die.
Also consider using an open slot for the RJ stuff if the RJ are PCB mtg.
Will make it easier to assemble the case and again may be easier to fab.
Anything that makes it easier for them makes it cheaper for you!
hth
j

On 24 Mar 2004 13:36:06 -0800, valemike@yahoo.com (Mike V.) wrote:

>I want to make a board that has:
>1. ethernet socket
>2. two rs232 ports
>3. one rs485 ports
>
>And put an enclosure around it. Do you guys know of any enclosure
>companies that sell plastic enclosures that look like your small
>typical Netgear or Linksys hubs, which i can just get the holes cut
>out? I need that "cool" look, rather than just going to Digikey and
>getting a simple plastic rectangular box. (Nor can i afford to put
>$25K down just to get custom plastic molds :-(
>
>Thanks,
>Mike

Check out the variety of enclosures at
http://www.hammondmfg.com/

Regards
David

Yeah, $15 per 100 seems typical for a chassis that size; probably gets
down to $10 for thousands.

I have found plastic boxes that go for around $5-$10 each. I just
wonder what is the typical cost to cut 3-4 holes for the RS232 sockets
and ethernet for. I guess it's a few hundred for initial tooling, and
who knows what the per-100 quantities' labor costs for cutting.




"j.b. miller" <invalidjbmiller@cogeco.ca> wrote in message news:<5sV8c.9165$R37.6332@read1.cgocable.net>...
> Mike I forgot to add that I had a custom metal shop makeup my energy control
> boxes.
> Roughly 5 by 8 by 2 inches,bottom was 50thou Cold Rolled Steel, top was
> 60thou Stainless Steel. Minimal holes and slots.Each was about $15 in per
> 100 order. That was 20 years ago. If you go metal, talk to the fab shop
> about size and shape. Mine was really liked as it left very little
> scrap.With today's cadcam it's probably a bit easier than the pencil and
> paper route I took.
> I still have a case or two of the boxes as I'm now retired thes past 5
> years.
> hth
> jay

Mike I forgot to add that I had a custom metal shop makeup my energy control
boxes.
Roughly 5 by 8 by 2 inches,bottom was 50thou Cold Rolled Steel, top was
60thou Stainless Steel. Minimal holes and slots.Each was about $15 in per
100 order. That was 20 years ago. If you go metal, talk to the fab shop
about size and shape. Mine was really liked as it left very little
scrap.With today's cadcam it's probably a bit easier than the pencil and
paper route I took.
I still have a case or two of the boxes as I'm now retired thes past 5
years.
hth
jay

Thanks Lewin, Jay, and Alan for your input.

We definitely have to design our own metal enclosures for the motor
driver project we're doing, especially since it has to fit in a very
thin but long cavity. so we've already looked into Lewin's metal
extrusion method.

As for the hub-like box...
I particularly like Jay's way of "gutting" some hubs. The prototype
can't get any prettier than that. In the long run, I do have to think
of whether i go plastic vs. metal. They'll both look pretty if i get
anodized black metal, or even black plastic.

For you guys interested in sources for enclosures, i found
www.tekoenclosures.com after browsing thru EEPN.com

I'll be looking at the URLs that you guys recommended too. 






valemike@yahoo.com (Mike V.) wrote in message news:<8188616d.0403241336.4743fd61@posting.google.com>...
> I want to make a board that has:
> 1. ethernet socket
> 2. two rs232 ports
> 3. one rs485 ports
> 
> And put an enclosure around it. Do you guys know of any enclosure
> companies that sell plastic enclosures that look like your small
> typical Netgear or Linksys hubs, which i can just get the holes cut
> out? I need that "cool" look, rather than just going to Digikey and
> getting a simple plastic rectangular box. (Nor can i afford to put
> $25K down just to get custom plastic molds :-(
> 
> Thanks,
> Mike

valemike@yahoo.com (Mike V.) wrote in message news:<8188616d.0403241336.4743fd61@posting.google.com>...
> I want to make a board that has:
> 1. ethernet socket
> 2. two rs232 ports
> 3. one rs485 ports
> 
> And put an enclosure around it. Do you guys know of any enclosure
> companies that sell plastic enclosures that look like your small
> typical Netgear or Linksys hubs, which i can just get the holes cut
> out? I need that "cool" look, rather than just going to Digikey and
> getting a simple plastic rectangular box. (Nor can i afford to put
> $25K down just to get custom plastic molds :-(

Does it have to be plastic?  Are you making 1 or 100?

I have had a good experience with http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/
You download a program to design your own front panel.

And http://www.lansing-enclosures.com/ has some really beautiful
extruded aluminum enclosures.

Alan Nishioka
alann@accom.com

> Why not just buy a hub and gut it, putting your suff inside ?
> I've done this several times for R+D prototypes to show clients what their

This is fine for prototypes, but it is an earthly hell to do this for
production. Consumer electronics, including computer peripherals, are
revised every few months.