Crash course in enclosure making (sheet metal stuff inside)

[Breadbored]

Some thoughts about material thicknesses... I use 1.5mm aluminium sheet (1/16") almost for every box. Very rarely 2mm. For most enclosures I make, 1.5mm is stiff enough. Theres's some "issues" with 2mm thick aluminium. It's really hard to bend wide elements (20cm wide and wider). Working with 30 cm wide element .... it's like a visit to a gym . It's not easy to make any corrections - unbend a piece a little bit for example. What else.. oh. Bend radius is bigger, no tight corners (matter of aesthetics).
I'm not a fan of sheet metal when it comes to drilling, especially with step drill bits. So it's easier (at least for me) to drill thinner aluminum elements.
But.. bending aluminium is really easy compared to stainless steel.

And here's the simple illustration showing some limitations of the bending brakes. Know your machine and keep all the limitations in mind when designing a box.

Sometimes aluminium sheet is tempered, try heating it with a torch and let it cool before bending and it might be easier

[amptramp]

There are a number of different alloys used for aluminum sheet.  I have some 2024-T4 aluminum sheets that I got from the estate of a woman who etched her own serving trays.  (Some hobbies are weirder than ours.)  This is a copper-aluminum alloy and it was the first of the high-strength alloys but it had one flaw for typical aircraft work: it corroded easily because the microscopic nodules of aluminum and copper had a large electromotive potential between them.  If you intend to etch the surface, this works in your favour.

The other common alloy is 6061-T6, a silicon-aluminum alloy that is more corrosion-resistant but is also more difficult to etch.

2024 is aluminum with the following percentages of other elements:

copper 4.4%
manganese 0.6%
magnesium 1.5%

6061 is aluminum with the following percentages of other elements:

silicon 0.6%
copper 0.28%
magnesium 1.0%
chromium 0.2%

The heat treatment numbers are:

T4 solution heat treated
T6 solution heat treated and artificially aged

[Phend]

And, Don't forget your safety glasses.
You maybe able to play your guitar blind but you may not be able to find yer stomp box.

[anotherjim]

While looking for examples of folding bars, I came across this...
https://technologystudent.com/equip_flsh/foldingbars1.html

[temol]

I've never heard about folding bars. Interesting...  thanks for posting this.

For a simple bends this seems to be ok.

Or a small hydraulic press with 3d printed dies.
Here's the example but with a large machines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-fTY5L5uu0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsxFXTKaXdI

[temol]

This video can be helpful while designing the enclosure