Re: Chauvet SlimPar Pro RGBA Review
A question came up on the other forum about cases, and I tried (and failed) to post a picture describing the ones I made for my LEDs, and since I was planning to write about what I made anyway, here it goes.
My most important design goal was maximum density of lights. I first thought of building trays for EWI quarter pack road cases, but the dimensions didn't quite work out, and since much of my storage is off the ground and I don't own a forklift, I have to be careful how many unliftable cases I have. I settled on an 8-pack design with an accessory pocket.
I do van-level gigs where I'm the logistics, setup, teardown, etc., so I don't need ultra-heavy ultra-foamed cases. I settled on 1/2 Baltic with marine carpet padding - pretty much just wanting to keep the wood of the case from scratching the lights.
I built the outer shell first and used Festool Dominos and brads and glue to join the parts. The inner separation ribs I built separately and used a couple jigs to keep the position and spacing uniform.
I got the hardware from Parts Express. I made templates for the handles and latches on my Bridgeport and then used a router to cut the holes in the boxes.
Each box used around 48 sq. ft of carpet - I was really surprised, and didn't buy enough the first time around. I used a putty knife and carpet glue to hold the carpet on, with a couple staples in strategic hidden corners to hold the carpet while the glue was curing.
Total material cost was around $300 total for the wood, Parts Express hardware, carpet, and a gallon of Duratex, of which I used about 1/3 for the two cases I built like this.
This was my first use of Duratex, and while it sure goes on easy, I already have to touch up a little bit of it where something else in the gear pile rubbed over a small drywall mud fill I did. It's unfortunate that wood fillers are incompatible with Duratex, as drywall mud doesn't have much structural strength.
Overall I'm reasonably happy with how the cases turned out. I like the form factor - it works out to around 24" X 20" X 12", and that includes a 5" accessory pocket that's large enough for the power cables, 5' DMX jumpers, safety cables, and the ring clamps I'm using. The case is fairly heavy - empty it's about 45lbs, filled with lights probably 110lbs.
A question came up on the other forum about cases, and I tried (and failed) to post a picture describing the ones I made for my LEDs, and since I was planning to write about what I made anyway, here it goes.
My most important design goal was maximum density of lights. I first thought of building trays for EWI quarter pack road cases, but the dimensions didn't quite work out, and since much of my storage is off the ground and I don't own a forklift, I have to be careful how many unliftable cases I have. I settled on an 8-pack design with an accessory pocket.
I do van-level gigs where I'm the logistics, setup, teardown, etc., so I don't need ultra-heavy ultra-foamed cases. I settled on 1/2 Baltic with marine carpet padding - pretty much just wanting to keep the wood of the case from scratching the lights.
I built the outer shell first and used Festool Dominos and brads and glue to join the parts. The inner separation ribs I built separately and used a couple jigs to keep the position and spacing uniform.
I got the hardware from Parts Express. I made templates for the handles and latches on my Bridgeport and then used a router to cut the holes in the boxes.
Each box used around 48 sq. ft of carpet - I was really surprised, and didn't buy enough the first time around. I used a putty knife and carpet glue to hold the carpet on, with a couple staples in strategic hidden corners to hold the carpet while the glue was curing.
Total material cost was around $300 total for the wood, Parts Express hardware, carpet, and a gallon of Duratex, of which I used about 1/3 for the two cases I built like this.
This was my first use of Duratex, and while it sure goes on easy, I already have to touch up a little bit of it where something else in the gear pile rubbed over a small drywall mud fill I did. It's unfortunate that wood fillers are incompatible with Duratex, as drywall mud doesn't have much structural strength.
Overall I'm reasonably happy with how the cases turned out. I like the form factor - it works out to around 24" X 20" X 12", and that includes a 5" accessory pocket that's large enough for the power cables, 5' DMX jumpers, safety cables, and the ring clamps I'm using. The case is fairly heavy - empty it's about 45lbs, filled with lights probably 110lbs.
