Members Not Serial Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 what is the best way to create holes in steel boxes to mount xlr panels? i have what i beleive to be E series switchcraft panel mount xlr's. what i would like to accomplish is to change out some TRS returns in a snake box and replace them with xlr returns. there is enough room as the snake box could have been originally ordered with the xlr's instead of the TRS, however the holes are only large enough for TRS jacks. i did this to an entirely different snake which when i removed the TRS returns they had an appropriate sized hole for the XLR returns. on the snake i would like to do this to now the returns are of a different nature - not the plastic rectangles that house TRS (and can be swapped to xlr easily) but instead simply a pass through hole for a different style jack, the type where the shaft is threaded and a nut over the shaft holds the jack in place. i do not know the appropriate term for these jacks. i have been in this snake before, the first time was to replace the returns (irony). they were originally unbalanced TS jacks connected to normal balanced cable (2 and 3 connected to tip). they now function as balanced returns. of course, perhaps the easier thing to do is simply use TRS-XLR cheaters on the box end and simply swap out the fan end to XLR's. that would definately be doable for me at this time. i would like some advice on how to create the holes though. i went to switchcraft's website and apparently the holes i need are 0.945" i did drill a hole in this box before. i have a drill press. it was a small hole, and i was suprised at how tough this snake box is. its an older medusa and its' general robustness continues to impress me. i have seen those ratchet style hole makers.......is that a viable option over traditional drills? my objection to using the TRS-XLR cheaters is that i highly suspect these return paths will be used in reverse to allow for more condensor mics. something about the idea of phantom power running through TRS jacks scares the hell out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 Greenlee chassis punch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 Yes, for a D series male, a 3/4" chassis punch, but when you drill for the mounting screws, be very accurate or the jacks will be crooked and look like hell. I'm not sure about E series as our shop is tooled only for D's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Not Serial Posted February 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 yeah, thats the one i see at the rental house. i am unsure if they are E series. they could easily not be. i will do more checking, the jacks are the typical panel mount you would find in a non-entry level snake (not the cheepy rapcos). in fact the medusa has these exact jacks mounted from the factory. i just went back to the switchcraft website and looked at the D series. i think they are D series. markertek has the greenlee punch for $40. man things can move fast on this forum. thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members milesdf Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 yeah the 3/4" greenlee chassis punch is pretty awesome. just shoot one end through your trs hole and crank it down with a wrench. i think they run like 35$ from mcmaster carr though, pretty pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 I recommend a step bit for casual DIY projects of this nature. Example: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members milesdf Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 forgot that i have some pics of this. the first one is a rack panel being punched, the second one is me punching a trs hole out into a 3/4" hole. All for female ewi panel mount jacks of course. edit: if you can find the step bit that will go to 3/4" for cheaper it is probablly about the same, its gonna be slightly harder to use with a hand drill, with a press you should be good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Not Serial Posted February 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 that looks very similar to what i want to do. it would be inefficient for me to disassemble the snake like that though, but there looks to be plenty of room to use the chassis punch from the top side of the snake. $40 is a no brainer. i'll probably end up using it enough to pay for itself easily. or..... (like the 5/8"27 tap and die set i just had to have and searched for for 4 months, found two suppliers on this continent, payed through the nose and have used ONCE. dammit) i did make something cool with it though. i will seriously consider the step bit idea. why do you prefer it W M? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 10, 2007 Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 Measure the diameter of the jack first before buying the punch. I believe the 3/4" punch is the same as the 1/2" conduit fitting punch which may be a lot cheaper and more available. Measure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Not Serial Posted February 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2007 i will definately measure before i buy anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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