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Is there a source for 8" drive enclosures?

Bob-O-Rama

Bob-O-Rama

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Suppose I have, say, a pile of 8" drives I want to put into case(s) - is there some source for cases ( with / without a PSU )? New would be great, but even something like a bombed out aluminum case Mac or server chassis that's wide enough that I could hollow out. Any ideas?

-- Bob
 
The mental image of a cheese grater G5 with a pair of 8" drives hacked into the front delights me.

I'm sure there's no crimes committed if there's any of the dead G5's left. Those used to be EVERYWHERE about 6-7 years ago.
 
Bob-O-Rama said:
Suppose I have, say, a pile of 8" drives I want to put into case(s) - is there some source for cases ( with / without a PSU )? New would be great, but even something like a bombed out aluminum case Mac or server chassis that's wide enough that I could hollow out. Any ideas?

-- Bob
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Hacking up an existing PC case would still require a fair bit of metalwork.
Two 8" drives positioned horizontally fit exactly inside the width of a standard server rack shelf. A standard fully enclosed 4U rack cabinet (widely available, and cheap) with one shelf would do. The cabinet provides plenty of room to mount a couple of inexpensive switching power supplies, to provide the 5V and 24V required.
 
If you know of someone with a sheet-metal brake, an enclosure for a vertical 8" drive is pretty simple. Basically a bottom "L"-shaped piece to which the drive and PSU are mounted and an upper "U" shaped piece to cover everything up. The bottom piece can be fabricated with "lips" on either side that can be drilled and tapped for screws and provide some rigidity.

I've made 8" and 5.25" drive enclosures from 3/8" acrylic as well.
 
NeXT said:
The mental image of a cheese grater G5 with a pair of 8" drives hacked into the front delights me.
Click to expand...

I don't *think* it would be wide enough for a pair of full-heights? I don't have a G5 nearby to check; it definitely wouldn't fit in a Mac Pro. I guess the G5s were a little squat-er, but not that much? *checking*... nope. It is closer than I would have guessed, though, only about an inch and a half short. Could just fit three half-heights, maybe?

If the G5s are built like my Mac Pro I feel like you'd need some serious metalworking tools to make it happen... which if you do be sure to record it because, you're right, there would be something delightful about the whole thing. I mean, the finished product would be good, but it's the carnage getting there that makes it worthwhile.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Where are you shopping for 4U rack enclosures that you call them cheap?
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No-name low end ones cost under $100 at Amazon and eBay, which is perfectly adequate for this purpose. Used 8" drive enclosures without drives already installed in them come up on eBay infrequently, and typically sell for well over $100.
But agreed that is a long way from "free" if you repurpose an old PC/Mac enclosure.
 
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I've got a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) box that should fit a single drive. Look around at junk and see if anything can be repurposed. I like to use old UPS innards for the generous transformer that can serve as a step-down unit.
 
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Takachi in Japan will make any sized enclosure you want as a custom product on mail order. They made some for me to fit some IBM 5155 computer VDU's into. They will also cut out rectangular holes in the front and or rear panels, and they are perfectionists. Probably their would already one in stock that suited. Look into the geometry of their UC series enclosures.

They send them via Japan post, so USPS picks them up at your end.

Their enclosures are wonderful. The ones I used have a tough just off white coat and are very solid extruded aluminium:

www.worldphaco.com/uploads/THE_AMBER_COMPUTER_VDU_PROJECT.pdf

I also used some of their off the shelf sizes for some dual 5.25" drives:

www.worldphaco.com/uploads/EXTERNAL_DUAL_5.pdf

They also sell other nice things such as feet for their enclosures.
 
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How much were your enclosures that you made? Which ones did you select (they seem to have 1000 of them on their website).
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Do you have to cad these things yourself or can you just describe what you want and they'll make it?
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Yes.

In the case of the enclosures I wanted for the VDU's that they didn't have a standard UC series size for, one dimension was off. I just asked them to alter that one dimension and they did. It was all "No worries"For rectangular holes I just gave them a .jpg image, they converted it to CAD.

I think they have a great metal-working department, not just CNC, they can fold metals, use computer controlled punches as well as CNC routing, and they put amazingly scratch resistant and beautiful coatings on the metalwork. Even when you receive something it is properly packed and boxed like somebody with a degree in Origami did it. Every hole, screw, cabinet edge etc lines up perfectly. It is beyond obsessive and compulsive, but in mechanical engineering that is not a disorder, its an admirable asset.

For many years, and at least back in the 1990's I admired it when somebody made beautiful enclosures. I once would have said it was Elma in Switzerland who made the World's best and they certainly did make some beautiful enclosures that I used for a number of projects throughout my life. Then after a visit to Japan in the 1990's I discovered Takachi enclosures, ever since then I was totally hooked. The precision of the engineering and the uncompromising attention to detail really "rang my bells". For practically any project now, I use Takachi enclosures.
 
So if I were to contact them asking for an 8U 19" rack enclosure capable of holding 3 EATX motherboard with 24 5.25" drive bays, they'd probably tell me to bugger off?
 
Hugo Holden said:
The Japanese don't tell people to bugger off, that is an Australian or American thing.
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Well, it's all a matter of how well you understand Japanese. The uninitiated, using a dictionary, might translate, 多分ちょっと難しいですね (tabun chotto muzukashii desu ne) as, "Perhaps it's a little bit difficult." But (always depending on context, of course), it might be better translated for certain groups of English speakers as, "No f*cking way that will happen."
 
cjs said:
Well, it's all a matter of how well you understand Japanese. The uninitiated, using a dictionary, might translate, 多分ちょっと難しいですね (tabun chotto muzukashii desu ne) as, "Perhaps it's a little bit difficult." But (always depending on context, of course), it might be better translated for certain groups of English speakers as, "No f*cking way that will happen."
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Exactly what I meant to imply, they are far more diplomatic. But, reverting to blunt talking, they also do a much better job on their enclosures than Hammond and to summarize it, in only three words; Takachi defecates Hammond.
 
Bob-O-Rama said:
Suppose I have, say, a pile of 8" drives I want to put into case(s) - is there some source for cases ( with / without a PSU )? New would be great, but even something like a bombed out aluminum case Mac or server chassis that's wide enough that I could hollow out. Any ideas?

-- Bob
Click to expand...
You may want to take a look at the Tandy Model II triple 8" enclosure. It comes with a PSU. Someone may have the case just laying out after the drives were robbed.
 
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