Hi,
i am building my first diy case,
84hp 4u, and have some questions.
Particularpy i wonder why i didnt see so often that people just use the side of a rail for sliding nuts to mount a case.
i found a custom manufracturer for cheap aluminium u profiles that can be customized exactly so they basicly just need some holes drilled on the edges to be mounted to the side of the rails.
in theory that would be quite practical. just cut lasercut sidepanels, mount the rails, mount the u profile - maybe with some additional angle to also mount it to the sidepanels - but thats it and sounds super easy in theory.
am i missing something why i don't see tha so often?

attaching screenshots.. the aluminium u profile can be for example 2 or 3 mm

EDITED Mar 5th, 09:19

I had the same idea for my travelcase, Works perfect if you get the measuring precise.

@Niemandsland

Dang! looks really good, thanks for posting this. i love how you just used sidespace. looks like 6hp vertial mounted rails on the side?! thats awesome
how did you cut the inlets on the back so precice?

The old fashon way. iron saw and file.

hej all,
im new here and wanted to give an update on this diy case build using custom aluminium U-profile.
So overall for doing it the first time it was medium difficulty for someone with rusty metal and wood crafting skills :)
materials where really afordable, overall maybe 80-90 euros, less if you have the building basics.
+ about 1/2 to 1 day of your time
+
Prototyping of the sidepanels was done with hard cardboard, which was super helpful to get it right...

for84 hp, 4u i needed the following materials

Custom aluminium U-Profile from online service - about 38 euro
rails- about 35 euro
cheap birkwood sidepanel ( with cutting service)
M5 and M3 screws. drillheads for aluminium and wood
beewax, wood color and
a drill

One issue that came up.is that it is easy to drill into the aluminium,
but really hard to match the sliding nuts with the screw holes
since it is completly covered by the case.
what helped was to use a torch and look through the hole
while pushing the nut carefully. but even then it is possible to have trouble fitting it!

EDITED Mar 15th, 15:22

hahaha I know what you mean! The best way to do it is stick something small (screwdriver) in the hole, angle the case until the nut slides against the screwdriver. put the case horizontal and then give gentle puchs against the case untill the slidingnut is alined with the hole.

your case looks realy nice!

Thank you!
Yes i think it turned out good enough for a first attempt.
With the white finish i am still a bit sceptical, now it has this retro console look somehow..
I actually wanted to try the white finish to see what kind of colors can overpaint it nicely.
Would love some black macro pattern on top of it or an entirely new paint job..
i will experiemt around a bit and probably build a simmilar 7u case as well.