I'm starting to think I made a mistake picking an aluminum enclosure for the power distribution box.

I was purchasing other parts on Amazon and my order total came to just shy of the free shipping mark. So I figured, "hey, I'll just add a cheap box / enclosure to stuff the pcb, connectors, and switches for the power distribution box!" So I added an aluminum box for free-ish.

The shipment arrives, and I realize that I don't have any metal working tools. Or experience. So I get a great idea: I'll just swap out the top with a piece of wood and drill whatever I need there. I don't have the time or patience to get all fancy with the Ponoko order, so I just throw 3 rectangles onto my design and figure I'll have three shots to get it right. So here we are.

I should mention that I don't have all that much experience working with wood either.

Anyways, I mark some holes using the aluminum lid as a guide, drill them out, and get passable results. There isn't really enough material on the edges to give me confidence that the lid will last, but it will do. I mark out a few spots for the switches and an opening to pass wires. All in all, it looks okay:

It's going to be a pain to wire, and I don't really have any place to put the connectors I need. I have no idea how the PCB will fit in. I could get away without a PCB, but half of the point of this project was for me to learn how to design / layout a simple one. In retrospect, I could have spent a bit more time laying out the Ponoko order to make a wood box, or at least a sandwich setup similar to what I'm doing for the LCD display. I could have even laser etched some labels. Version 2.0 I guess.

At least I have some switches to throw. Next up will be wiring them up so that they actually do something.