Sources for powder coated enclosures?

R

RICHB555

Active member
Sorry for the rant but currently feeling a little frustrated about shopping for powder coated enclosures. I love Tayda’s quality and selection but tired of painted over fastener threads and long wait times. Then there’s the tariff expense tacked onto shipping making it nearly cost prohibitive. Stompboxparts has a quick turnaround but such a limited selection (from what’s still in stock at any given time) and they’re more than double in price than Tayda. Such lovely folks at Love my Switches but I just got the March limited run enclosure drop and the quality is not great for the money. Beautiful pattern and smooth top but drips on the side and pits on back plate. Again, really limited selection there too. I know we’re all feeling these pains from time to time, but is anyone sourcing reasonably priced enclosures (say maybe in the under $10 range) from any other sources? I really just want to be able to get somewhat affordable, decent quality powder coats quicker from somewhere while Tayda is taking nearly a month doing whatever it is they need to do to get enclosures out.
 
Honestly your not going to find a cheaper source than Tayda for boxes..... Stomp box parts has some great ones and so does love my switches but your paying a premium to have them stateside and for them to personally coat them. I've recently bought a beginner setup from eastwood but have yet to actually use it.. bought the powder coat gun nib and 2 lbs of a few different colors for $75 off marketplace.
 
One option is Aliexpress, but tbh from what I've looked at the prices aren't as good as Tayda, the selections is horrible, and the tariffs will still be there of course if you're in the US.
 
The tariffs are why I haven’t ordered from tayda in a while, but all that aside, the issue of blocked threads is easily solved by getting an appropriate sized thread tap (or even just a self-tapping screw) and clearing out the threads. Takes like a minute to do and eliminates the problem
 
You can also get colors from digikey and mouser. They usually have most of hammond’s official colors. Black, cobalt blue, green, light gray, orange, purple, red, yellow. But not every enclosure has those options. For instance, it looks like they only have black for 1590N.

www.hammfg.com

Diecast Aluminum Enclosures (1590 Series)

Hammond's 1590 series of die-cast aluminum enclosures have a longstanding reputation for quality and ease of use. Casted from high quality alloys, these enclosures are tough enough to withstand every day abuse, but easy to machine for connectors, switches, and other components. The 1590 series...
www.hammfg.com www.hammfg.com
 
Bricksnbeatles said:
The tariffs are why I haven’t ordered from tayda in a while, but all that aside, the issue of blocked threads is easily solved by getting an appropriate sized thread tap (or even just a self-tapping screw) and clearing out the threads. Takes like a minute to do and eliminates the problem
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Going to try a thread tap - thanks. Checked the size for a Tayda 125B and it’s 6/32.
 
I think you'll be hard pressed to find a very wide selection of high quality <$10 powder coated enclosures with a quick turnaround anywhere. We overcome a handful of challenges to offer them, I'm sure LMS or other USA based parts suppliers run into their own unique challenges.

-Stocking bare enclosures is one thing. I can stock a few thousand of those at any time, "easy". We powder coat seven enclosure sizes in 11 colors. With the bare +11 colors, that's 84 SKU's of enclosures we have maintain stock of, a lot more to juggle than 7 SKUs. We try to maintain 1-4 months of stock at a time per color, but we do run out of stock frequently as demand changes frequently. We choose to only sell what we have on hand (versus pay-and-wait) so we aren't sitting on anyone's money while you wait to get an enclosure to get colored.
-Then I need a place to store all of our stock. Every new color requires another shelf. At the moment we are maxed out space for enclosures in our small warehouse so offering more colors poses a real estate problem.
-Cusack (our powder coater) will do batches as low as 50pcs. However, they are much better set up and prefer batches of 100pcs+ because fixed setup/teardown time takes the same amount of time whether it's one enclosure vs 100pcs. So we opt for larger batches to optimize efficiently. Their lead time is somewhere between 2-6 weeks. So that must also get factored in with the stock we have on hand.
-The powder coating process is expensive. It's a lot of equipment! Enclosures need to be cleaned, powdered, then baked. Powder spray guns and their lines need cleaning every time a color change happens. Plus there's a lot of equipment including a large oven a person can walk into that needs frequent maintenance. On top of that, the people powder coating need to be paid! We're doing this in Michigan! Powder coating is an art, too. It takes time for the artist to learn the connection between equipment and the powder. Powder itself is relatively cheap, but the whole process it's quite expensive.

All and all, I sympathize with you and all the DIYers out there. I wish we could offer 100 colors for $10, that would be sweet! At our scale with the logistical challenges presented, we cannot.
 
StompBoxParts said:
I think you'll be hard pressed to find a very wide selection of high quality <$10 powder coated enclosures with a quick turnaround anywhere. We overcome a handful of challenges to offer them, I'm sure LMS or other USA based parts suppliers run into their own unique challenges.

-Stocking bare enclosures is one thing. I can stock a few thousand of those at any time, "easy". We powder coat seven enclosure sizes in 11 colors. With the bare +11 colors, that's 84 SKU's of enclosures we have maintain stock of, a lot more to juggle than 7 SKUs. We try to maintain 1-4 months of stock at a time per color, but we do run out of stock frequently as demand changes frequently. We choose to only sell what we have on hand (versus pay-and-wait) so we aren't sitting on anyone's money while you wait to get an enclosure to get colored.
-Then I need a place to store all of our stock. Every new color requires another shelf. At the moment we are maxed out space for enclosures in our small warehouse so offering more colors poses a real estate problem.
-Cusack (our powder coater) will do batches as low as 50pcs. However, they are much better set up and prefer batches of 100pcs+ because fixed setup/teardown time takes the same amount of time whether it's one enclosure vs 100pcs. So we opt for larger batches to optimize efficiently. Their lead time is somewhere between 2-6 weeks. So that must also get factored in with the stock we have on hand.
-The powder coating process is expensive. It's a lot of equipment! Enclosures need to be cleaned, powdered, then baked. Powder spray guns and their lines need cleaning every time a color change happens. Plus there's a lot of equipment including a large oven a person can walk into that needs frequent maintenance. On top of that, the people powder coating need to be paid! We're doing this in Michigan! Powder coating is an art, too. It takes time for the artist to learn the connection between equipment and the powder. Powder itself is relatively cheap, but the whole process it's quite expensive.

All and all, I sympathize with you and all the DIYers out there. I wish we could offer 100 colors for $10, that would be sweet! At our scale with the logistical challenges presented, we cannot.
Click to expand...
I will say your black powder coated enclosures are my go to for my fiber laser, the powder coat is top notch. Tayda uses some sort of epoxy or other paint on their enclosures and it doesn't do as well as actual powder coating in terms of using a fiber laser.
 
StompBoxParts said:
I think you'll be hard pressed to find a very wide selection of high quality <$10 powder coated enclosures with a quick turnaround anywhere. We overcome a handful of challenges to offer them, I'm sure LMS or other USA based parts suppliers run into their own unique challenges.

-Stocking bare enclosures is one thing. I can stock a few thousand of those at any time, "easy". We powder coat seven enclosure sizes in 11 colors. With the bare +11 colors, that's 84 SKU's of enclosures we have maintain stock of, a lot more to juggle than 7 SKUs. We try to maintain 1-4 months of stock at a time per color, but we do run out of stock frequently as demand changes frequently. We choose to only sell what we have on hand (versus pay-and-wait) so we aren't sitting on anyone's money while you wait to get an enclosure to get colored.
-Then I need a place to store all of our stock. Every new color requires another shelf. At the moment we are maxed out space for enclosures in our small warehouse so offering more colors poses a real estate problem.
-Cusack (our powder coater) will do batches as low as 50pcs. However, they are much better set up and prefer batches of 100pcs+ because fixed setup/teardown time takes the same amount of time whether it's one enclosure vs 100pcs. So we opt for larger batches to optimize efficiently. Their lead time is somewhere between 2-6 weeks. So that must also get factored in with the stock we have on hand.
-The powder coating process is expensive. It's a lot of equipment! Enclosures need to be cleaned, powdered, then baked. Powder spray guns and their lines need cleaning every time a color change happens. Plus there's a lot of equipment including a large oven a person can walk into that needs frequent maintenance. On top of that, the people powder coating need to be paid! We're doing this in Michigan! Powder coating is an art, too. It takes time for the artist to learn the connection between equipment and the powder. Powder itself is relatively cheap, but the whole process it's quite expensive.

All and all, I sympathize with you and all the DIYers out there. I wish we could offer 100 colors for $10, that would be sweet! At our scale with the logistical challenges presented, we cannot.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your informative post. Certainly much here for thought. I am a fan of several of your enclosures, especially Aqua Vein, Purple Fury Metallic and my very favorite, Alexandrite.
 
StompBoxParts said:
I think you'll be hard pressed to find a very wide selection of high quality <$10 powder coated enclosures with a quick turnaround anywhere. We overcome a handful of challenges to offer them, I'm sure LMS or other USA based parts suppliers run into their own unique challenges.

-Stocking bare enclosures is one thing. I can stock a few thousand of those at any time, "easy". We powder coat seven enclosure sizes in 11 colors. With the bare +11 colors, that's 84 SKU's of enclosures we have maintain stock of, a lot more to juggle than 7 SKUs. We try to maintain 1-4 months of stock at a time per color, but we do run out of stock frequently as demand changes frequently. We choose to only sell what we have on hand (versus pay-and-wait) so we aren't sitting on anyone's money while you wait to get an enclosure to get colored.
-Then I need a place to store all of our stock. Every new color requires another shelf. At the moment we are maxed out space for enclosures in our small warehouse so offering more colors poses a real estate problem.
-Cusack (our powder coater) will do batches as low as 50pcs. However, they are much better set up and prefer batches of 100pcs+ because fixed setup/teardown time takes the same amount of time whether it's one enclosure vs 100pcs. So we opt for larger batches to optimize efficiently. Their lead time is somewhere between 2-6 weeks. So that must also get factored in with the stock we have on hand.
-The powder coating process is expensive. It's a lot of equipment! Enclosures need to be cleaned, powdered, then baked. Powder spray guns and their lines need cleaning every time a color change happens. Plus there's a lot of equipment including a large oven a person can walk into that needs frequent maintenance. On top of that, the people powder coating need to be paid! We're doing this in Michigan! Powder coating is an art, too. It takes time for the artist to learn the connection between equipment and the powder. Powder itself is relatively cheap, but the whole process it's quite expensive.

All and all, I sympathize with you and all the DIYers out there. I wish we could offer 100 colors for $10, that would be sweet! At our scale with the logistical challenges presented, we cannot.
Click to expand...
Your enclosures are the best, in terms of quality, price, and lead time. I try to use the bare PRO series for all my pedals.

Can you go into detail on the cleaning process of the enclosures during the prep process? It's something I'd like to refine with my workflow.

Also, I've purchased some of your powdercoated enclosures during the winter when it's difficult for me to paint. I've wanted to apply labels and a clear coat over top to ensure durability. The powdercoat leaves a surface that is somewhat like wax on a car - it causes the water based paint pens I use to condense on the surface. One enclosure I tried sanding with 400, but it left the surface a bit too matte. Would you recommend anything in particular to remove some of the waxy quality of the coating?
 
I’ve been getting mine from stompboxparts with no complaints. A good drill template, self tapping screw and unibit and I can have it drilled in 15 minutes. I always use a smaller bit to drill through the tap before moving on to the uni-bit though. I do wish they had more colors to choose from but he’s already discussed that. That being said, and this is just my opinion, but there are a few colors that could be replaced with different colors once stock is depleted…there’s a few I wouldn’t think are that popular. For all i know they could be the most popular colors though. 😂😂 I’m just glad @StompBoxParts offer what they do and have no problem with the price for the quality! Plus you’re supporting an actual American business!
 
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