I’m building a high intensity light box, running an 10" x 10" array of LEDs on a printed circuit board. Now that it is all together, I need to build an enclosure for it. Something plastic, rigid, and strong. It won’t need to withstand a lot of heat, as the whole thing will only consume 10 watts or so, and I’ll put a fan in for the power supply.
My first thought was to use something like PVC that is easy to work with, and is essentially welded together when you glue it. I am having trouble sourcing solid PVC sheets, though.
What materials are typically used for building prototype enclosures, and where am I best to get the supplies? I live in a medium sized town, about an hour outside of Toronto, and I’m hoping to get the supplies locally.
There are companies that specialize in such enclosures – We used to order from them a lot back when I worked at a place that made scientific instruments. There ought to be one, or at least a rep, in Toronto. Most such boxes, however, aren’t purely plastic – they’ll generally have some, or even mostly, metal construction. (You can get electronics boxes at electronics supply stores, and I think you can still get them at Radio Shack, although they’re tailing off the supply for hobbyists. But again, it’s likely to be a metal-plastic mix, and I don’t think they stock them that big.)
I’ll almost guarantee you have a plastics distributor in your area, from whom you can buy sheets of material that you can assemble into a box. Probabvly in different colors, too. Look up Plastics in your yellow pages or online. PVC sounds OK, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use plexiglas or polyethylene, either.
You’d have to be dedicated to build your own box. There’ll be an enclosure on the market that would be exactly what you want. Farnell has lots of enclosures.
As for the material, there are lots to choose from. ABS and polycarbonate are pretty impact resistant, polystyrene is easy to cut. All sorts of polywhatever plastics are available.
Some enclosures can be bought with a transparent lid, if that’s any help.
Fair enough. For a custom-build, we used to use Perspex (acrylic) and Tensol cement. Perspex can also be drilled and tapped with some degree of success.
I agree with Fridgemagnet. Acrylic sheet is pretty easy to get, and it solvent welds very nicely. Most acrylics are prone to fracture, though. If you’re looking for a plastic material that is a lot more shock resistant, look for polycarbonate. Easily worked with standard wood- and metal-working tools, it can be cut, bent, holes can be threaded, etc… Polycarb also solvent welds very nicely. What’s the trade-off? Polycarb typically has a lower UV-resistance, which means that over time (if exposed to enough UV light) its color can fade or yellow. This can be prevented by painting the finished box with a good spray paint designed for plastics.
A glass company or picture frame company will carry acrylic sheet, and a good one will carry polycarbonate as well - polycarb is very popular for outdoor advertising signage. Start there for local sources.
My main source for all sorts of raw materials is the infamous McMaster-Carr. Check them out on the internet - just google “McMaster”. Their catalog is a wealth of technical information. You can review their products and determine for yourself what will suit your project best. Even if you don’t/can’t purchase from them, they are a great reference resource. Best of luck!
McMaster-Carr is awesome, and you should definitely check them first. If you don’t have any luck, move on to Grainger. The link goes to their “enclosures” search but you can hunt for anything.