This spring I came to the conclusion that I needed to expand my Eurorack case. I had decided to buy one, but then again I don’t need to expand it that much, and so naturally I am going to yak shave by building a case…

Desirerata

  • 104 HP width x 6U.
  • Path of least resistance is to use Tip-top rails from B&H. Uses M4 screws to secure into sides. Notes on various types of rails and dimensioning
  • 1 HP = 0.2 inches, so 104 HP = 20.8 inches width. This makes it easy (not too wasteful) to use 24” pieces of acrylic for the long direction. If the height is not too tall, the sides can be made from a single 12”x12” piece of acrylic

Design

  • Handy website: Eurorack case planner and great idea to build it first in cardboard to see if it all works
  • 6 U flat? Essentially just a box?
  • Or angled case 10-15 degree for first piece, additional 10-15 degree angle for second?.
  • Or could just have both 6Us in the same plane, but have it angled (maybe a little kick stand?)
  • Think about a carrying handle? Vents?
  • 3d printed corner bumpers?
  • rubber feet cushions (could etch placement marks for these) – could also print the feet in TPU and glue them on.
  • Use tip top bracket drawing to extract dimensions
  • Could be a box with oversized edges this would support the rack above surface. Cut notches rathen than dovetail
  • Briefly considered (but rejected): 3d-print the end-plates with crevices to situate laser cut flat panels. Disadvantage: This will have a dimension of 11.2” inches in length, so its out of bounds of my Mk3+; maybe its OK if you have a large format printer.
    • Maybe not so terrible if you build in some joints.
  • Still considering: Laser cut/folded/riveted aluminum from SendCutSend.

Materials

  • 3mm Smoky acrylic; use laser cutter at FCLC. Will look cool to see the LEDs and wiring inside, no?
  • DONT USE 3MM! I found someone who made a cool case like this and he says that 3mm was too fragile. So upgrade to the thicker stock material.
  • Order from Makerkraft and they’ll even deliver to FCFL
  • Need to design holes for mounting the power supply, switches and power input

Power

  • Use my existing Erica MKI power supply; it’s good for 1.25 A on +12V and -12 V (I haven’t built out the 5V supply yet, but also don’t need it for anything yet.) Documentation says it is good for 4x of the complete MKI kits, and by my arithmetic this should be fine to support the existing system an ES-9 (which is about 1/3 of the total), and the drum modules (which should be less than the other complete MKI kit)
  • Need to figure out mounting: a few screws in the corner, maybe run then through the case with some standoffs
  • Need a flying bus cable as we are running low on sockets. Pretty easy to make our own so as to chain a few nearby modules together with a minimum of excess cabling.