notbradsohner said:
do you make countersunk holes for mounting the devices? will it work without countersunk holes?
For phone jacks (1/4") I just bore 1/64" larger diameter than what I measure the threads of the jacks at, put the jacks through, then tighten the nuts.
XLR connectors I measure the barrel behind the connector (the large round part), add 1/64", then drill that out. Then I center punch the two mounting holes, drill them undersized, and tap them so I can use nice machine screws to hold them on. I find this looks better than mounting them behind the plate, though you can do that too. Deburr the hole with a deburring tool you can pick up at lowes, home depot, or ace hardware.
Midi jacks I always mount *behind* the panel, because they are ugly, and flimsy looking. So I mount them on the back of the panel, and drill the entry hole slightly oversized so the midi plug moulding can fit without getting stuck. Deburr that also with the same hand tool as above.
Thats generally what I do, though companies do make panels for this purpose. In my vocal booth, I made my own panel for several reasons. I'm going to mount it between studs on 16" centers, and didn't want to make a full box (Its going in the floor), and I'm installing 32 xlr/phone combo jacks, which I can use for microphones, inserts, guitars, midi, smpte, etc. Since everything will be XLR/Phone combo jacks, for odd purposes like Midi, I'll have to make a few XLR to Midi cables, but thats no big deal. Same for inserts, etc.