Pics of my Kat5 rack enclosure

[Paul Gale <groups2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.siliconpixel.com/gallery/main.php/HomeAutomation/kat5enclosure/

I've recently finished my custom enclosure for my 9 sets of Kat5 A/V over
Cat5 distribution units. I've had the Kat5 units for quite a few years and
they've always (up until now) been loose in one of my racks and a bit of a
pain with scart leads etc everywhere. This project was meant to tidy it all
up and provide easy connect/disconnect of cables allowing re-patching etc.

I bought the aluminium rack enclosure from RS, not the cheapest option but
as it's all quality Aluminium, it was slightly easier to work than a
cheaper steel enclosure. All other parts were mainly from CPC and a couple
from RS. The PSU I've had lying around for something like 18 years!

I milled all cutouts and holes using my Syil CNC X2 desktop milling
machine:

http://www.syilamerica.com/product_X2.asp

Initial drawings and cutout placement was done in Sketchup Pro and then
imported into a CNC milling application called visualCAM/visualMill.
Toolpaths generated and output to the milling machine control software,
Mach3. I'm still very much learning how to effectively use the mill and get
a good balance between speed and finish - after breaking a couple of end
mills, have moved on a bit more and got a bit more confident :)

If I was doing it again, I'd probably use the mill to engrave the labelling
into the panel. The Rhino clear labelling isn't bad (although the pics make
it look a little worse than it is "in the flesh") but engraved
could look good if done properly. However, as my mill has limited X/Y
travel, I had to reposition the panels twice each before milling and
generate the subsequent CNC code - a bit of a faf!

I'm pretty pleased with the end result though and the enclosure has tidied
up the rack considerably :)

Paul.





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