marty wrote:Penn Elcom have large metal grilles on there website, 4ft x 4ft
Thanks, Marty! I'll check them out.
Beware of freight.
Absolutely. I bought $85 worth of 48x48 expanded grille, and Penn charged me $105 for shipping.
It is much cheaper/faster for me to trailer the 250+ mile round trip between Sacramento and Fremont to the McNichols warehouse and buy grille from them.
My biggest worry is that when I'm dead and gone, my wife will sell my toys for what I said I paid for them.
bgavin wrote:
Absolutely. I bought $85 worth of 48x48 expanded grille, and Penn charged me $105 for shipping.
It is much cheaper/faster for me to trailer the 250+ mile round trip between Sacramento and Fremont to the McNichols warehouse and buy grille from them.
OK, as Bill said, "improvise". Well it's not EXACTLY improvising but I went ahead and ordered the grill set from Parts Express. I had some other stuff to order from them anyway and I didn't feel like dealing with custom stuff right now. I'll just do it as a two-piece. I have some ideas, but I'll get a better handle on them once I have the grills in hand. I'll post some pictures once it's done.
bgavin wrote:
Absolutely. I bought $85 worth of 48x48 expanded grille, and Penn charged me $105 for shipping.
It is much cheaper/faster for me to trailer the 250+ mile round trip between Sacramento and Fremont to the McNichols warehouse and buy grille from them.
OK, as Bill said, "improvise". Well it's not EXACTLY improvising but I went ahead and ordered the grill set from Parts Express. I had some other stuff to order from them anyway and I didn't feel like dealing with custom stuff right now. I'll just do it as a two-piece. I have some ideas, but I'll get a better handle on them once I have the grills in hand. I'll post some pictures once it's done.
I got the pre-formed PE grills and cut to fit, took me several hours to do one grill. It was very difficult to cut with aviation shears, ended up using a dremel. The paint will chip off where you make the new bends. You really need some right-angle steel stock to clamp where you will make the bends, I did it using scrap wood but it kept slipping. It was hard to size correctly where the bend is.
Mark Coward wrote:
It was very difficult to cut with aviation shears, ended up using a dremel.
I like using a cut off disc in an 4 1/2" grinder. I use masking tape to locate my line, and then cut down the edge of the tape for reference. It's very quick, easy, and safe. (Remember to use eye protection though. ) I then use a flapper style sanding disc on a grinder to remove any burrs.
Best to cut with a 4' shear and bend with a sheet metal bender. Look in McMaster Carr and you can find economy benders for around 50.00 to 120.00 for something that will bend 16 ga. steel up to 30" wide. I picked up my shear at an industrial wholesale outlet that goes around and buys equipment from places facing liquidation.
Ever since I replaced sex with food I cant even get into my own pants!
gerryc wrote:Thanks all for the suggestions guys. Sounds like there's no simple answer but maybe get something custom made. Probably not too cheap though. Darn, the PE stuff looks perfect except for the last 8 inches. I'll take another look at Lowes and HD, Bill, except that I think the stuff they had was for decorative purposes and was pretty thin. Maybe I'll try getting a bit creative with two pieces and not try to hide that fact. Lots of commercial cabinets have had split grilles that I remember (like my old Acoustic 2 x 15). Might look cool. Hmm...
Just to reiterate, I researched the same thing, contacted Penn Elcom and other vendors, the pricing for custom grills was beyond my budget. This Ebay seller was recommended by another forumite, said the quality was very good and the sizing was spot on. I will be purchasing some of his grills for my next project. You can contact him through Ebay for custom size quotes.
Dane at SPKR-PARTS-2007 on ebay sold me 4 precut DSR280 and 2 Wedgehorn 10 flat grills today for $16.00 ea and a very reasonable $15.00 shipping charge. I chose flat for I am also backing them with 3/8 reticulated foam. I ordered, payed via Paypal, he cut and shipped them same day. Thanks to the posts here, I was finally able to find a decent price for grills for my cabinets. Might have to try the shrinky-dinks next for logos on the grills, too!
for what its worth, I can get full 4x8 sheets of aluminum grill for next to nothing at a local recycle plant(scrap yard). They have it most all the time. Some pieces are bad but can always find good ones. So if there are places like this in your area could be a good place to look.
At the hardware store I came across expanded metal used as rain gutter leaf deflectors. About 6 inches wide, 24 inches long, they'd work well as grilles to go over melded arrays, only cost a few dollars.
) I then use a flapper style sanding disc on a grinder to remove any burrs. I'll take another look at Lowes and HD, Bill, except that I think the stuff they had was for decorative purposes and was pretty thin. Maybe I'll try getting a bit creative with two pieces and not try to hide that fact. Lots of commercial cabinets have had split grilles that I remember (like my old Acoustic 2 x 15). Might look cool. Hmm...
