L-Bracket and drilling for rackmount

[viewable987]

Hello,

I'm new to Protocase Designer, and I'm trying to build rack-mount ears, for 1U L-shaped rails (first picture).

As you can see on the second picture, the face I'm trying to drill has a huge red zone. Does that mean that I should not drill there?

If yes, what I am doing wrong? What would you advise me to do in order to build a similar ear design, but with drills in the center of the face?

Thank you for your help.

[LucreciaMRamirez]

Hello,

I'm new to Protocase Designer, and I'm trying to build rack-mount ears, for 1U L-shaped rails (first picture).

As you can see on the second picture, the face I'm trying to drill has a huge red zone. Does that mean that I should not drill there?

If yes, what I am doing wrong? What would you advise me to do in order to build a similar ear design, but with drills in the center of the face?

Thank you for your help.

Thank you for sharing!

[richwristw]

Welcome! Yes, the red zone means that area isn’t drillable with the current design constraints (usually due to bend radius, tooling clearance, or proximity to a bend). On L-brackets this often happens when the hole is too close to the bend line.

To get holes centered on that face, you can try increasing the flange length, moving the holes farther away from the bend, or adjusting the bend radius/material thickness. Another option is to model the ear as a separate flat part and bend it afterward, if that fits your use case.

Hope that helps—Protocase Designer can be a bit picky with constraints at first, but it makes more sense once you get used to it.

[KapriceTolbert]

I really appreciate the discussions happening here about design and fabrication processes. It brings back memories of my first project building a custom enclosure for a sensitive piece of equipment. I realized how crucial it is to consider both functionality and aesthetics—something that’s often overlooked in the rush to get things done. The insights shared on this forum highlight the importance of collaboration and feedback, which can lead to truly innovative solutions in our projects. Keep sharing your experiences; they’re invaluable!