Case question

[Fishbonker]

I'm just getting ready to cut the holes in my pelican 1120 case. In other words, I'm at the point of no return. At this point the case is still usable as a "case". If I cut it, and mess it up,then it is usable as a door stop. This is why I could never be a wood worker like Moose. I see a nice square piece of oak and think what a shame it is to cut it up, especialy when the cuts need to be straight and everything has to fit together, be level, square and plumb. At least with metal if you cut the piece a little short you can just fill it in with weld, or a bolt, grind it and paint it.

I'm actually writing this to kill time to avoid cuting the case. I measured, marked, remeaseured, remakred and measured and marked the case again to try to be sure the camera lens and the flash are gonna be in the holes I cut. I won't even go into the machination I've been doing trying to figure out how to mount the board in the case. Did I mention I hate cutting holes in stuff? I thought about just using the marine goop to glue a bracket in the case to mount the board to, but once its glued, its permanant. I won't bore you with how my battery is just kinda free floating in the case. Well, it isn't exactly free floating, it is held inplace by the camera. You see, when I measured the camera, the battery and the case there was a 1/4 inch or so to spare. I forgot to allow for the jacks that have to go in the side of the camera. Luckily all I had to do was trim out the little ridges on the sides of the case. Great friction fit, but it ain't right to trust friction to keep stuff from moving around.

I have to run to town to buy the arbor for the hole saw bit I bought. I thought I had the right sized arbor here, but I don't. Or maybe my subconsious isn't alowing me to find it so I can delay cutting the case.

OK, I've waisted enough of your time and mine with my aversion. I do have a question though, for those of you using a Pelican case with a pressure equalizing valve, do you do anything to the valve or just leave it as is? I'm worried about moisture getting into my case through the valve.


The 'Bonker

 

[ironwood]

[ QUOTE ]
it ain't right to trust friction to keep stuff from moving around.

The 'Bonker

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw this part of your time waiting and thought it could start some tasteless replies.

Just leave the pressure valve alone.

 

[Iowabowtech]

Kind of a fun read. Reminds me of my own apprehension when permanently maming things. You've already measured multiple times so you're as ready as you'll ever be. It's time to throw caution to the wind and make yourself a camera. I have drilled through the valve on the side to use it for a u-bolt thru hole but if you don't need that particular space, forget about it. I'm thinking leakage is a non issue there but if it makes you feel better, dab some goop on the valve from inside the case. They don't even need to be there for the kinds of setups we make. People drill them out to make room for pipethrough setups all the time.

 

[Liv4Rut]

This is what I did to make it go QUICK. I bought a piece of plexiglass and made a template. I cut it so it fits perfectly inside of the case. Then I measured out all the holes for the board, u-bolts, camera lense, flash etc and drew them on the plexiglass. Then I made small holes with a drill for pilot holes. Now all I have to do is lay the plexiglass in the case, take a drill with a small bit and drill out all my holes. Then all I have to do is change drill bits, take out the plexi-glass and drill the rest. This way you only have to measure out each case once, otherwise you are bound and determined to mess one up, just a bit

Plus you can drill out cases 200 times faster having the template. As far as the battery goes, all I did was cut out a slot on the backside of the foam the camera sits on, that way I can just slide the battery in behind that and it sits there perfectly. Goodluck Bonker!!!