Does anyone know any great distributors in continental Europe for metal plates? I live in denmark, and there are only very expensive options for me, if i want to buy local stuff
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I use Alupanel ones (rather than straight up aluminium) which I get from www.simplyplastics.com cut to size for a couple of quid a go. Basically two thin layers of sturdy aluminium with a core of plastic between them. Lovely precise cuts with a nice painted finish and they do ship them to mainland europe.
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I use door kick plates from the DIY Superstore.
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since “new” aluminum is kinda pricey, and recycled aluminum is pennies on the dollar (at least here in the US) I usually source my aluminum from metal recyclers, and its super cheap. I don’t know for you folks over in europe. but worth looking into to save a few bucks…
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I got some material which sign makers use. It’s a sandwich of plastic between thin aluminium. I just got them to cut me offcuts they had. Found asking at smaller places run by mum and dad’s is usually more likely to get a helpful response. Big places have polices! It’s conductive for pots mounting if you scratch the paint away on the back. Not as rigid as aluminium but fine for the 200mm Kosmo LMNC sizes when screwed down. I got over a meter wide total of panels like this for $10 (Australian). Good luck.
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I’ve considered using that signboard stuff, which they call aluminium composite. Maybe I’ll have another look.
My brother works at a sign company, so he can get free pieces of aluminum from their scrap pile, and cut them to size for me.
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I’m loving the ingenuity of the folks from this thread.
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So i’ve decided to source my panels by using an angle grinder on larger metal parts found in my local bulk waste. Also a great way to find free components
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Here’s a couple of pics of what I’ve done. Top is a 16 step sequencer bassed on Baby8/10. Underneath is audio to trigger, 555 clock.; Envelope generator; LMNC simple oscillator and Ataripunk; Kassotronics Reverse Avalanche oscillator. The back shot shows how I sandpaper through the paint to make it conduct like regular aluminum would.
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just this morning i was looking into a 555 based 16 step seq, but i wasnt able to get far. I would love to see your implementation in more detail if you wouldn’t mind!
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my panels are , steel from a scrap pool heater case. thick alum. from scrapped theater lighting circuit breaker boxes , thin alum. from the bottom panel of a old parted out muti chan.mixer . to be continued …
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I’m going to try and use old cigar boxes a bit.
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Decided to bite the bullet and order some precut front panel blanks. With coupon code I was actually surprised how affordable they were.
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1/8"? Thicker than I’m used to for panels.
were did you order them from ? . do they sell 1/16th " thick panels ?
yeah that is a bit thick . the 3.5 mm jacks wouldn’t work , at least the ones I have been using .
I want em beefy 
thick as u can go and still use the 9mm pots. I don’t like how the bigger pcbs panels flex when u pull a cable. And yeah they have any gauge and would probably be even cheaper.
Outfit is called onlinemetals. Which is apparently part of ThryssenKrupp
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For Germany I found this eBay seller, where the standard Kosmo 100 by 200 mm is only one euro a piece:
I don’t know what f they do international shipping or if that shipping then makes it expensive again…
But I got some for future projects 
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