Acrylic:
So there is no mystery that I love working with acrylic (plexy) when doing my projects. It looks slick, is very strong and most importantly it is easy to work with. For our project here we will use 2 – 12” square sheets of 1/8th” thick acrylic that we will use to mount the relays in easy to maintain modules.
Power Cord:
For this build we will be centralizing power distribution through this control box. So obviously we need a way to get power into the box. I stopped at our local home center and purchased a 10’ extension cord for 3.00 and just cut a 2 foot length off so I had some play inside the box.
Power Switch:
So this box will look rather plain overall when its finished. So I wanted at least a good looking illuminated apocalypse style switch to both indicate the box was on but also to turn on and off the driver circuit inside. If you want an extra step for safety you can use an additional relay in line with connected to the power switch to disconnect power to the entire box… but for my needs it just controls the driver circuit inside.
Cord Restraint:
So these little cord restraint clamps are invaluable! They cost 2.00 each and when this project is dropped, or kicked, or someone comes along and trips on the cable, or maybe you have it connected to your giant robot of doom and it walks off to follow your commands while still connected… whatever it may be someday the cord will get yanked and you don’t want the internals connected to it trying to come racing out the hole with the cord. So this little clamp I totally recommend getting at your local home center or electrical supply.
