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Hammond Enclosure for SEQ


Altitude

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So Hammond carries an enclosure that is a very good fit for the SEQ

http://www.hammondmfg.com/pdf/1456RH3.pdf

I ordered one from mouser (~$45) and had FPE do the CNC stuff ($99)

The results:

hamseq1.jpg

hamseq2.jpg

The down side is that it is considerably thinner than the original plan calls for (1/16"/ 1.6mm) so blind holes are not an option. Orginally, I was planning on getting a lexan label made by maverick which would have windows instead of holes for the LCD and LEDS but with black hardware, I am thinking about silk screening. The label is not too expensive in quantity (~$30 @ 50pcs) though..

But here is the best part, I had hammond quote the whole enclosure with all the holes (front and back since they punch it before folding it) and with a black base (mine is blue) for ~$100 total. Their minimum order is 25 pcs and their is a flat $450 setup fee since they do not have the tooling for some of the holes (25 pcs @ 86.50 +$450 = $104 ea)

If there is enough interest, I am open to running a bulk on these. Lead time from hammond is 5 weeks

Edited by Altitude
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It's a good fit, but it would be nice to figure out something to do with the flat area above the displays. LED matrix perhaps?

I'm thinking drink holder, Goose neck lamp, and maybe one of those little bird thingys that bob back and forth like they are drinking water

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For everything that there're doing, the price point seems more than reasonable. I'm game if you can get enough people on board.

I can also see some nice wood or aluminum end caps on this in the future...

Yeah, I did wood sides on my MB808 which is a very similar case (different size) and they look sharp. Ponoko has some walnut vernier stock that might work well for this and be really cheap to get made.

I would be interested in a case, particularly if you can arrange for silk screening as well. Do you have a photo of your entire case pieced together?

I'm still on the fence about screening vs a label. The label would cover up all the screw holes that would be visible if it were screened.

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Sorry, i meant on future cases, not yours ;)

Those spacers could be glued on the inside of the panel->less screws...

Been there, done that, wont do it again. There has to be at least several standoffs screwed to the panel for it to hold reliably. For a board as long and large as this, the through hole/blind hole mounts that are on there are what is needed and the instructions add epoxied standoffs as additional support.

Edited by Altitude
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If I'm not mistaken I have that exact same case. I was planning on getting FPE to machine it when the other case option came up so I was planning on getting in on that instead since I like the form factor better.

My plan on the flat part on top was to put gate and CV outs, and/or maybe an audio in/out to sequence an SSM filter module.

Are you not a fan of engraving, or was it just too expensive?

At any rate I'm interested (path of least resistance!). Keep us posted and let me know if you need help running anything.

Oh, one more thing- how did you set the height of your LEDs consistently w/out a case?

Thx,

C

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If I'm not mistaken I have that exact same case. I was planning on getting FPE to machine it when the other case option came up so I was planning on getting in on that instead since I like the form factor better.

My plan on the flat part on top was to put gate and CV outs, and/or maybe an audio in/out to sequence an SSM filter module.

Are you not a fan of engraving, or was it just too expensive?

At any rate I'm interested (path of least resistance!). Keep us posted and let me know if you need help running anything.

Oh, one more thing- how did you set the height of your LEDs consistently w/out a case?

Thx,

C

I considered engraving but again, I wanted something that would hide the screw holes. I did my MB808 like this and it worked out well so I figured I would do the same here. For the LEDS, I just waited till I had the case to do it..

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That's a great idea to have Hammond do it since they can do all the machining before the panel is folded.

Another good thing is there is plenty of space for an on-board power supply (including center-tapped transformer for doing +/- supplies), 4xIIC MIDI modules, AOUT_NG, etc.

What would you have Hammond do for the rear? The design I was working on a while back included a DB-25 "expansion port" like on the MB-6582 for future expansion. When I get home I'll see if I can dig out any of my drawings I started a while back on my plans for this case. To fit as much as possible on the rear panel I found some panel-mount USB extender cables, and I was going to use panel-mount MIDI jacks as well.

I'm sort of torn on the LEDs. I want to solder it all up and try out the SEQ with the AOUT_NG and an SSM filter module to (1) see if I can get it all working and (2) see if I like it before doing custom machining / whatever with a front panel.

Did you use standard 10mm spacers? The LEDs in your pic look a little low to me but it might just be the pic. I suppose I can probably just measure my MB-6582 LED height and shoot for the same height (plus/minus any delta for the difference in panel thickness) and then use spacers to get the LED height consistent.

Also, can you post a pic of your MB-808? Curious how it came out re: your above comments.

Sorry for all the questions!

Thx,

C

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I had to go up spacer wise since board is half as thick as the FPE made panel in the original design. I had 10mm spacers there originally but added 1.5mm worth of washers since the button caps were sticking out a lot. You could probably go to 12mm with no issues (I like the buttons sitting low). I am still thinking about what I want to do about the back. Personally, I am not crazy about how it was done on the other case where the core32 was bolted to the bottom panel with standoffs and with the way this case is made, it may be a bit cumbersome. Ideally, I would like just to use L brackets and just mounting to to the panel but I have not really worked out a good way to do that yet with the core (the SD card is easy to do with a standard bracket as well as my 4x I2C board). I would like to do it like TK's case though with the core on one side, DB25/SDCARD/ETH in the middle and the other 4 ports and BLM on the other side.

The panel mounted midi jacks is one thing I am considering along with a panel mounted USB port as well which would solve the board mounting issue.

As far as the LEDS go, I had no problem just hitting both leads and adjusting the height after I had soldered them in initially when I was trying to decide if I wanted them flush with the top of the panel or sticking out but that probably wont work for the 3 prong ones.. You could always just put standoffs on the board and flip it upside down, lay it on something flat, and solder them in like that, no guarantee that they will be perpendicular to the board, but the height should be the same that way

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Here's what I was thinking on a rear panel design (see image). It doesn't have an ETH port, but that could obviously be added. I don't like having the MIDI ports split into two groups as on the other case, hence the need for panel mount MIDI jacks. Panel mount for everything gives more flexibility for layout as well. I agree the other case requires some strange use of spacers and such, so again, panel mount to the rescue. I couldn't find a panel-mount SD card, but I think some small L-brackets would do the trick, along with some spacers on the rear (IIRC that was discussed in the thread for the other case).

It has an IEC power plug + fuse so I could generate the +/- required for the AOUT_NG. I have samples of the parts that I measured for doing this layout and can supply part numbers if anyone is interested. I also have an SVG of the attached image if anyone wants it.

My idea for the top flat part (see image) was to do 8 trigger and CV outs, and have stereo audio in/out through an SSM filter. The necessary filter CV signals (2 x cutoff and resonance) would be shared with 4 of the CV outs and controlled via the filter enable/bypass switch (would need relays or a many pole switch to make this work I think). I've not tried it, but it seems the MB-SEQ should be able to sequence the filter which might be fun. And besides, that space just *begs* for something!

All your discussion on this case has gotten me back thinking about building my MB-SEQ...

Thx,

C

post-6425-021342600 1306384120_thumb.png

post-6425-055081200 1306384130_thumb.png

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