So I’m trying to build a mIdi controller, but I’m sort feeling like the enclosure I’m about to use just isn’t cutting it already and I haven’t even installed things into it yet. It’s a small jewelry box I got from the dollar store, it’s made of balsa, so to give you a taste of what I mean…It’s popsicle stick wood, really bendy and just thick enough to make it into a box, I’m worried that it will start to split and crack the moment I start to install some arcade buttons in it.
Any suggestions as to what I can use for an enclosure that’s a bit more sturdy that doesn’t look too awkward like the electronics boxes on amazon? I’m also open to ways that I can reinforce the wood with a coating like maybe epoxy? (I’ve never used the stuff but somehow thinking it may be a good idea)
Hope y’all are doing well and taking care of each other!
I’ve used bamboo storage boxes, I think they are designed for kitchen use. They are pretty cheap and IMO look pretty good. The only catch is making a top for them, I use scrap aluminium.
These do make superb preamps for piezo and elec mice. I have one in a Tupperware box but the cigar box is a lovely touch. Have you used the cigar box for anything else?
Cool Canjo diddly Bo and cbg.
If there’s a piezo in either then all you need is something like, say, a microphonie type module? And you have a new sound aspect to your modular.
I have sketched a cigar box module to pop in as a moveable multi and slots in like a book on a bookcase. Yet to find a box that fits.
I think my biggest barrier is like, space to do things like woodworking/metal work. I have very few tools and it’s really just me in the backyard with a drill in more cases, so fabricating something from the ground up doesn’t feel within reach.
I live in a large metropolitan area, and we’re in lockdown, few things are open so not many ways of workshops around, Not even sure the local DIY spaces are even in operation at the moment.
Update: New box got torn up really bad. I think I may just wait until reading week to go to my parent’s place and use some hole saws for the new one I just ordered. This one looks terrible,though
Years ago while in a shared flat I was building a special patch bay for MIDI and PC nonsense. I sold it about a year later. No one knew the plate for the patch bay was once the control panel door from our boiler.
