[taskerc]

Hi All,

I am in the process of bulidng the Cornet 2 and I cheaped out and went with the Hammond case.  The bottom (top?) plate is OK to work with, but the case itself is a bit of a PITA.  From pictures, I can see that the Lansing case has removeable bits (sides, front etc), but with the Hammond, it is a single all-joined-together piece and the Cornet 2 PCB does not fit in.

So I am now considering some more metal removal work that will get rid of the offending overhang that "should" allow the PCB to slide right in.  But since Metalwork is not my strong suit (and patience might even be less), I am wondering if someone has/had a better idea and managed to get the Cornet 2 PCB in a Hammond case without extra metal removal.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

BTW: I am VERY impressed with the quality of the PCB - I didn' know what to expect, but it certainly exceeded my expectations in all ways - thanks Jim!

taskerc

[Theo]

Hi All,

I am in the process of bulidng the Cornet 2 and I cheaped out and went with the Hammond case.  The bottom (top?) plate is OK to work with, but the case itself is a bit of a PITA.  From pictures, I can see that the Lansing case has removeable bits (sides, front etc), but with the Hammond, it is a single all-joined-together piece and the Cornet 2 PCB does not fit in.

So I am now considering some more metal removal work that will get rid of the offending overhang that "should" allow the PCB to slide right in.  But since Metalwork is not my strong suit (and patience might even be less), I am wondering if someone has/had a better idea and managed to get the Cornet 2 PCB in a Hammond case without extra metal removal.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

BTW: I am VERY impressed with the quality of the PCB - I didn' know what to expect, but it certainly exceeded my expectations in all ways - thanks Jim!

taskerc

I built mine in a Hammond case as well.  It's a bit of pain but can make do with some work.

Did you drill the holes on the bottom cover plate or the top shell?

I drilled the top shell.  You'll have to bend the lip of one of the short end up, gingerly slide the PCB in and mount it.  Before you slide in the PCB, make sure that the standoffs are mounted on the shell first, not on the PCB first; otherwise you wouldn't be able to secure the PCB to the top shell.  After mounted the board and tested the circuit, mount the RCA jacks and power plug, then bend the lip back in place.  Unfortunately, if you need to dismount the PCB in the future, you'll have to bend the lip again.  It's definitely not friendly to work with when you wish to upgrade the parts in the future.

I hope you'd bought the 12x8x3 case instead of the 12x8x2.  With the 12x8x2, you must make sure that the tall caps are installed as flush to the PCB as possible, or you will not have enough clearance to mount the bottom plate.

[taskerc]

Hi Theo,

Thanks for your response.

I drilled the bottom plate 

I had been considering removing the tab on one end, but maybe the bend is the way to go.  I was nearly at the 3 inch case but my Darkvoice 336i headphone amp (which will be its neighbour) is in a 2 inch case as well so I thought they would be nicer at the same height.

Since I have drilled the plate, I "may" just buy the 3 inch case, if it really is a slide in affair .....

taskerc

[klamka]

I built mine in 2" alu Hammond chassis -never again ! It is flimsy . I had to file the sides of bottom mounting strips and cut the square out of PCB for IEC connector. Standard cheap RCA won't fit (the integrated ones on the purchase list ) every time you're going to take the pCB out you'll need to unsolder and remove  RCA's (and ground plug too ) also front mono switch . Since you didn't drill the top part , use chassis for other (point to point project ) and buy the expensive one. It'll only save you time and money. Regards, L

[alpa6]

I recently made a cornet2 with the hammond case.I feel there should be at a minimum on this websight a sticky on how to do it properly.What i did is lay the pcb board on top and use a marker to trace around it.I then cut it with a cut off wheel.I then used a dremel tool to cut off the jaged edges.I cut the sides.I also cut off the front lip too.The pcb will still not go in now because i had installed the mono switch.I had to cut this off the board and remove the solder.The rca's are a crap shoot on how to line these up i got it slightly wrong.After i added the holes with a set drill i then had to enlarge them with my dremel too.The result looked unprofessional.So i got my cutoff wheel and my step drill out and made some simple covers.I then painted it hammertone gold(MY wife wanted silver).I think it turned out very nice.I was a pain it the rear to do.Some directions or suggestions would of saved me alot of time and greif.Btw i think this product is class a amazing.Worth the effort for sure.Thanks jim!

[taskerc]

Thanks all for the input.  I put off the decision by starting to assemble the components on the board.  Then, with that done, I "reviewed" the situation in terms of how I would get the board in the case, fully loaded.  Had to cut one end tab off - no biggie but even then, just like it was said, it was not easy.  So, I have now ordered the Lansing case, and some punches to avoid the pain I encountered in the hole cutting process.   Since I am NOT a metal worker of any quality, this was not so much fun, but mostly my own fault since I cheaped out on the recommended case.

On the bright side, if the punches work out well on the new case, maybe I can hep out some future Cornet2 brothers and sisters .....

Who knows.

Thanks again everyone - I agree - this project has me really excited about the final outcome - now I just have to avoid being impatient ....

taskerc

[klamka]

Good decision !!! As for the Hammond chassis you can build octal cornet and compare for us 
Regards, L

[taskerc]

Actually, I think I will salvage the the case and use it for the motor mounting plate for my DIY RCM   This case now has bad Cornet karma .....

taskerc

[Big Jim]

What in the world is so difficult about the Hammond case? I put my board in, didn't like the green LED, pulled it out, flopped the LED for red and put the board back in.

I had no problems whatsoever. There must be something that you're doing inherently wrong. Wish I could be there to help you. It's really not that hard. I know, I'm not that good with tools etc. 

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

[taskerc]

Hi Big Jim,

I know it sounds strange, but I think I should have purchased the 3" hammond case - the 2" case does not provide enough wiggle room and the base footprint of the PCB of the Cornet2 is bigger than the case opening on ALL dimensions.  I recieved my new Lansing case yesterday and now I understand - this case is beautiful and is the perfect size - and the fact that it disassembles on all sides, even better.  And it is a very nice looking case - I got mine in black.  I will post pictures of the project once I am finished.
taskerc