UK, Cambridge: Looking for someone skilled in design of sheet metal enclosures

[danieljfarrell]

Hello,

I have two PCBs and some large chassis mountable components that I want to put inside a professional looking enclosure that is easy to manufacture from 2mm Aluminium sheet metal. Think audio amplifier type of design with a front and back panels with controls.

I have sourced components and the PCBs are complete. I find myself wasting a lot of time in Fusion 360 trying to do this, so it's time to out-source this part!

I can share with you my current progress on CAD. It has all components and just needs the sheet metal to be designed around it.

I prefer meeting up in person to explain everything, so looking for someone near Cambridge UK. Will consider remote if that does not seem to gain any traction.

Cheers,

[jc101]

The last time I needed something like this, I sent a 3D Step model of the PCB to a company, and they designed a folded Aluminium sheet case around it, including all the cutouts, etc. Their website is a little odd, but they did a great job. They are EMKO in CZ, https://www.emko.cz/en, and I still use them many years later.

You could also try asking Mackays on East Road. They have a metals workshop and used to do custom design stuff.  https://www.mackay.co.uk

Depending on what you are looking for, I might be able to help knock something up in Fusion360.

Is this a one-off type of thing?

I'm in Cambridge.

[Sniper1]

Does it need to be Folded metal ?
I would look for extruded aluminium since they are sort of standard and then you only need to deal with the front and back panels ( and potentially need to extend a bit PCB edges ).

[danieljfarrell]

I forgot to mention the size, and you are totally right this would be a really good option where I can just screw on the the front and back panels. The problem is the enclosure is large-ish: approx. 350mm (width) x 120mm (height) x 200cm (depth). I just could not find an enclosure I liked that was large enough. I really like the look of this enclosure but it would need to be much larger. Also this went to some made-in-china.com site so I felt it was a dead end.

[danieljfarrell]

The last time I needed something like this, I sent a 3D Step model of the PCB to a company, and they designed a folded Aluminium sheet case around it, including all the cutouts, etc. Their website is a little odd, but they did a great job. They are EMKO in CZ, https://www.emko.cz/en, and I still use them many years later.

Yes a service like this would be great. I would even do that in the UK but it is so hard to find companies that do this sort of thing.

I will message you what I'm working on so you can take a look.

[jc101]

approx. 350mm (width) x 120mm (height) x 200cm (depth)

Really hope that isn't 200cm deep...

[Muffins]

Hey if you are still interested I could take a look at this.

I do a lot of mechanical design with Solidworks so I could produce all the engineering drawings you'd need to make it. I have previously done some electrical boxes too.

Let me know if I can help