Paia doesn't have rack chassis anymore?

[Davo]

I was on the Paia website at http://www.paia.com/ intending to order some rack chassis for some MBFM tinkering when I found that they don't seem to be selling them anymore. >:(  If you go here: http://www.paia.com/products.asp?cat=24, you're told that nothing is in that category.  Rackmount cases I find from other manufacturers are serious overkill and much more expensive than the ones Paia offered.  True, you have to mark and drill these yourself, but DIY is the essence of what Paia's stuff has been for all these years.

I'm sure that there are some people who have used Paia rack chassis before.  Can you think of an alternative source for them?

[DragonMaster]

It's not Paia, but Middle Atlantic Products seems to make stuff that isn't too expensive.

[Davo]

Unfortunately those are racks, not rackmount project boxes.

[DragonMaster]

Both :

http://www.middleatlantic.com/rackac/chassis/chassis.htm#2

[ultra]

i bought a middle atlantic case from sweetwater and i didn't like it at all.  the front panel was actually all one piece with the top and back, so it made it very difficult to drill.  also, the case was all steel which made it even harder to drill.

ultra

[Davo]

I got a reply from Scott Lee of Paia and this is what he had to say:

We have had to take these off the product list.  The metalwork is now

out-sourced and the sales of these didn't justify us keeping them.  I

have seen rack-chassis enclosures at Sescom, linked below:

http://www.sescom.com/

I've also been told by other midiboxers that Par-Metal at http://www.par-metal.com/ is also an excellent source of rackmount cases.  This change may be for the better because Paia's chassis required a lot of fiddling around to get a passable result.  In particular, they cannot be supported only by the rack handles.  You need to drill the front panel at one or two points in the bottom middle to provide rigidity. 

[ultra]

hopefully i finish my seq or box-o-trix soon enough so you can see how nice they are.  i really like how the panel mounts to the chassis using screws that come from the back and thread into the handles.  no screws on the front panel at all that way.  of course, it sucks if you didn't want the handles.

[nebula]

i really like how the panel mounts to the chassis using screws that come from the back and thread into the handles.  no screws on the front panel at all that way.  of course, it sucks if you didn't want the handles.

If you don't want the handles, couldn't you just reverse them (handles to rear, screws on front)?

[ultra]

their handles are wide, i'm pretty sure that wouldn't work.