My first modules , including the 8step sequencer are made from steel sheet metal Home Depot, absolute tanks, and has a better texture to paint than aluminum. Also I have an angle grinder handy but no table saw at home
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they do make carbide tip blades that will cut non ferrous metals . the trick when using table saw is you have to have zero clearance insert around the blade . or you can drop down a thin piece of sheet stock [ 1/4" ] on running blade turn off saw,lower blade a little and tape front back of board . i use my miter box saw to cut alum. panels it works fine .
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Really? In the US? I never found such a thing on eBay.
For a single piece of 8" by 8" 6061 (-0" +1/8") Midwest Steel wants $8.20 plus $9.63 shipping to where I am. For five pieces, $17.00 ($3.40 each) plus the same $9.63. They’ll cut to other Imperial sizes with the same sloppy tolerances.
Built out a middle school in Seattle a couple years ago by the end of it I was choppin anything and everything 
Awful noise but it cuts clean
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if either you and/or @d42kn355 have some panels, I’d be happy to take them off your hands. Just name a price + shipping costs.
@heckseven I’ll be pulling some out of my rack as soon as this new JLC order comes in - I can give em to ya at a discount since I am currently sold out of all of my panels!!
I have pretty much all of the sizes - just not listed up on the reverb page since theyre in my rack lol.
(cept 1 Braids Conversion, which is available on my reverb if you want to convert a eurorack braids module to KOSMO format 
)
I’ll be making a new run soon! I recovered some of my DXF and gerbers for the originals!
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little context to that last part - had a total hard drive failure on my last laptop about a month ago lol.
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I appreciate that. As you can imagine, (like with ordering parts for this stuff) I’m in no particular rush. I still have a few LMNC panels to put together (and a case) before I start in on stripboard projects. No need for a discount, though appreciated.
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yeah thanks now you got me looking at getting a braids [ more $ ] , they look like nice units .
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Has anyone tried Alumacomp? Looks like it is an aluminum sandwich with polyeythlene in the middle, they sell it as a stable canvas substitute for paint. Only downside is that it’s 4 mm thick compared with 1-1.2 mm for most aluminum panels or 2 mm for the PCBs I have. On the upside they are cheap at around $3.67 for an 8" x 8" which you could trim to two 100 x 200 mm panels (easily with a sharp knife and snap like PCB I would think).
Edit, tried to screw down a pot poking through two stacked PCBs (which aren’t even 2 mm thick) and it only works if you take off the washer on the bottom. I think 4 mm is just too thick to work.
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I think it usually gets used for signage and (formerly anyway) trade show displays. It sort of splits the difference between metal durability/look and Sintra weight. I think 4mil is the thinnest I ever saw, and IIRC it is conductive but the two aluminum sides are electrically insulated from each other.
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I have some 2 mm styrene sheet around here somewhere for model making, that would probably do in a pinch for a front panel but would not be super durable and obviously non conductive. On the upside you could do really cool modeling stuff on it like cutting out and gluing on raised lettering or collars around jack sockets.
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Alumacomp does indeed seem to be marketed primarily as an art supply material, not for signs. But there are what look to be other similar materials marketed for signage. @JonGreen mentioned Alupanel above, and there are others: Alucobond, Dibond, e-panel. Alupanel and Dibond come in thicknesses down to 2mm.
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I’ve had some luck with OnlineMetals.com but looks like the price has gone up. I picked up some aluminum sheets in February of this year cut to size for exactly $3 a pop.
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If 0.05" (1.3 mm) works for you, go for it, but I’ve used 0.063" (1.6 mm).
From Midwest Steel:
(I’ve used 6061, don’t know about 1100 and Midwest doesn’t offer it. They force cut sizes to be multiples of 1/16" but given the cut tolerances I doubt that matters.)
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hey, that’s not so bad! thanks for the heads up. i just ordered 10 sheets.
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I just moved this very useful topic into the FAQ category!
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I just had a quick look and the .063 inch 6061 aluminum is currently $1.11 for the same size piece. For the .050 thickness, it’s $1.88. Seems like aluminum prices are unstable in these strange times.
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It’s your American import tariffs. Aluminium prices are not bad in other countries.
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