# Custom Rack-Mount Enclosures

https://kdisplay.com/products/chassis-cabinets/rack-mount-enclosures

K-Display, a Chicago sheet metal fabricator, builds 19-inch rack-mount enclosures, shelves, rack ears, and adapter brackets from customer drawings, with cutouts, vents, and slide mounts. They ship bare, powder coated, or with hardware and slides fitted.

## Overview
We build rack-mount enclosures, shelves, ears, and adapter brackets for 19-inch racks, on ears alone or on slides. Bodies are laser cut or punched and formed from carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, galvanized steel, or galvanneal, joined by welding in aluminum, carbon steel, or stainless steel or by fasteners, then powder coated, with captive screws, standoffs, ground studs, and handles installed. Delivery is bare, coated, or with slides fitted. We build the floor-standing cabinet that receives the box as server cabinets & rack frames, and the board guides and backplane rails inside the…

## Process
- Cut the body and front panel: We cut the ear holes, vents, and slide holes into the flat body and front panel, by laser or CNC punching.
- Form and join: We form the flanges and ears, then weld or fasten the body.
- Hardware, coat, and slides: We press in self-clinching standoffs, nuts, and studs, mask threads and ear faces, and powder coat. Captive screws with plastic or spring parts, handles, and slide members go on after the cure.

## Typical parts
- Rack-mount enclosures: Formed bodies and front panels in rack-unit heights, with ears or flanges drilled or slotted for the rack's fastener.
- Rack shelves: Fixed shelves on the front rails or on front and rear rails, and sliding shelves on slides, sized to the rack depth.
- Rack ears and brackets: Separate ears, rear support brackets, and adapter plates made to the rail hole pattern and fastener.

## Design considerations
- Rack units, ears, and fasteners: The ears fasten the box to the rail, and height in rack units, ear hole shape, and ear position (front, mid, or set back) set where the holes land. A hole that misses the rail hole, or is the wrong shape for the rack's thread or cage nut, leaves the ear unable to take the fastener.
- Depth and rear clearance: Doors and handles in front of the ears, and connectors, cable bend, rails, or a PDU behind the rear panel, all limit the depth of the box and the reach of its rear cutouts.
- Slides and side clearance: Slides carry the loaded weight and mount at the hole positions and side clearance on the slide maker's drawing. A slide hole that is off that drawing binds the slide's travel.
- Vents and airflow: Rack rails and slides often block side vents, so airflow direction decides where vent area and fan openings can go. A vent that sits behind a rail or slide passes no air.

## Related pages
- [CNC Punching](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/cutting-forming/cnc-punching)
- [Sheet Metal Forming & Bending](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/cutting-forming/forming)
- [Hardware Installation](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/hardware-installation)
- [Powder Coating](https://kdisplay.com/capabilities/finishing/powder-coating)
- [Panels & Covers](https://kdisplay.com/products/panels-covers)