Need a rack? This is pretty neat.

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herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
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Penn Elcom, a road/flight case hardware manufacturer sells this interesting product:
http://www.pennelcomonline.com/us/P...and-Base--Assembly-Parts-R8230-TB/m-6260.aspx




Pretty much an erector set to build a professional looking rack, just add the threaded or square hole rails.
Which of course Penn Elcom makes:
Rack Rail SQ Hole Buy Now at PennElcomOnline.com
Rack Rail 10/32 Buy Now at PennElcomOnline.com

I'm pretty intrigued by this design. The only questions in my mind are the height and weight capacity of this set up with a few servers in it.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Hopefully you find this on track with this topic...

I was blown away by how sturdy and light weight these kits were, and also how well they went together!

I have 2 of these "Pro Kits" in square setup:
Pro Series Server Rack Kits
+ misc accessories
Rackmount Accessories | Server Rack Accessories

You can get top pieces, side pieces, braces, etc... I have mine loaded right now (22U iirc) with just the main frame and it's sturdy as can be! I got the top piece, and braces (1 set each) to test and just have never installed them. Now, I'll likely add some side pieces and a 3rd rack as I finish their perm. home and make sure air flow is how I want it.

I have a full size $$ rack and the only real difference of the 'rack part' itself is the $$ rack is adjustable where-as the "Pro Kit" is fixed, obviously the $$ rack has an external metal shell for protection/security, wire management, pdu, etc... so you can't really compare a full blown rack to a bare bones rack frame.

Anyway, I'm really happy with my StarCase.com rack and will be buying more!
 

herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
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Nice I like those too, especially the sized doors they sell.

...but I gotta say mine's (slightly) cheaper ;)

Actually the reason I might buy the Penn Elcom kit is I can see some easy mods.

For example drilling and tapping some angle iron to make my own horizontal cross members instead of using their rack rails, or putting a second set of rails towards the back for shallower but still 4 post gear.
 
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ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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Thanks for this, I am in cheap rack mode, the prices look really good. I'll have to pick all the parts (still trying to figure out what part would create a 30" depth) and hope the shipping is not exorbitant. If all goes well this could be mine soon.

I emailed them today to ask about the size offset of the bracket.
Given a 1U is 1.75" to get 30" I would want about 15U brackets between the front and back, but it all depends on just how offset the brackets are.

Also I can not tell if you need just the right angle brackets or the u shaped ones.

Example This: Penn Elcom 18U Full Hole RacK Strip with Squre Holes 2mm/0.08" R0863/2MM-18 | PennElcomOnline.com

vs This: Penn Elcom Full Hole Rack Strip 18U R0883-18 | PennElcomOnline.com

Infact I do not see what the 2nd design is for at all, in DIY you just need an anchor point and your forward facing holes to mount too.
 
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ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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I have had to go back and forth a bit with them to get more detailed measurements so I can determine what size rail to get.
Looks like 14U is going to be about right for a 29/30" depth. I am assuming adding about 3" to the rail on each side based on the measurements.

Posting the detailed schematics for others interested.

R8230-TB_Page_1.jpg

R8230-TB_Page_2.jpg
 

ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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Mine was delivered today.
Will try to do a build video or atleast log some details on it.

Total cost was about $160, a good amount cheaper than most any other 22U full size 4 post rack. Granted its plain as can be.
The cost was very much affected by the fact I got free shipping and it was tax free.

Could have shaved $30 off and not gotten casters, but I wanted those so that when I move I can wheel the whole thing out without taking it apart (half the reason I am getting a rack)

The rails are cheap only $6-$8 so I could easily change the size of the rack as needed without much additional cost, thats a cool feature.
 

herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
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A bit of a necro-post; but I realized despite building one of these racks I never posted any pictures.

I used 18U rack strips for the vertical members and 11U for the horizontal giving me a rack 32" tall by 25.5" deep. Instead of the Penn Elcom hardware kit for the rack I just used my own screws and nuts and I mounted the whole thing on fairly small plate casters.

I painted the top and bottom parts with industrial Rust-Oleum "Almond"



and the front panels of my server chassis "Deep Blue" because I'd like the end product to have sort of a 70's/80's minicomputer aesthetic.

I'm still a long way from what I've envisioned for my rack, but I'm pleased with this frame kit. I think it will suit my needs well as I continue my home server projects.
 

kse

New Member
Dec 14, 2019
24
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Does not look really stable.

I've build my rack with some extruded 30x30mm aluminum profiles and four "TRITON RAX-VL-X12-X1" 12he mounting rails.

i paid 24€ for the rails and 55€ for the 30x30 extrusion profiles ( 4 x 505mm ; 4 x 720mm ; 4 x 740mm)

So i have 800mm rack depth aud 720mm height.

This selfmade rack is both: rack and leg for my desk.
 
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SycoPath

Active Member
Oct 8, 2014
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Link at the top was dead, found the new link for the square hole rails and putting the link here for my future use and benefit to anyone else.

 

firworks

Member
May 7, 2021
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Got a little follow up for this that maybe will be useful to someone some day. Found this thread, thought it was an awesome idea and immediately started trying to piece together a kit. I sent a message to Penn Elcom's Twitter account just asking them if I was ordering the right parts and they told me that the kit is not recommended for larger racks. I think the depth was the problem. I was planning on 34U R0883 uprights and 20U R0863 for the cross members. Trying to get a 32U x ~35" depth.

1669101552815.png

You could obviously still go for it and it'd probably be fine but that's their view on it as the manufacturer. I was excited because it was only gonna be something like 280$ for a 32U deep rack which is pretty good. Back to wheeling and dealing on Facebook marketplace I go to find a rack...
 

CyklonDX

Well-Known Member
Nov 8, 2022
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yeah, i wouldn't recommend going with that either, i doubt it can support the weight when servers are in; especially if its pushed from one edge when half loaded. I could see it collapsing.
 

Asuka17377

New Member
Mar 15, 2023
23
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Here are pictures of my selfmade rack. cost about 80€
My words maybe let you unhappy:It's too short and doesn't take into account the switch cable at all.
You should add another 20cm to accommodate the cables, like I did this one, but my design is a bit complicated...can you imagine it has 300 bolts? I don't want to use hand tools to turn bolts for the rest of my life.