Chassis

Developing the top layout.

I was able to work on the chassis this weekend, thanks to my good friend Matt, who has a garage full of tools. I probably finished about 2/3 of the work, with a few more cuts needed on the back panel, lots of drilling on the top, then assembly, sanding and finishing.

There were no real shortfalls on the part of the tools. The designer and craftsman, however, left a bit to be desired. I did ok on the table saw, cutting the sides at 45 degree angles and a shallow slot on the top to hold the aluminum. On the back side, I used a bandsaw to cut out what should have been a pretty easy shape to allow an aluminum plate for the backside components. But I wasn't really precise with my cut and it was sort of B+ work there (to use a tube amp voltage joke).



Pretty good cuts on the table saw.

On the front, I changed my mind mid-stream and altered the size of the panel that will hold the power switch and volume control. I thought that my original design didn't leave enough wood for good support, though as I thought about it later, it would have been fine. I had some complicated plans to use a router, and instead just drilled it out and used a hand jigsaw to cut out the rectangle, and then used knife and chisel to get the edges and corner pretty close to accurate (again B+ work).



Chisel work. Ugh.

On the top, I used a hole saw to cut out the openings for the larger output and rectifier tubes. I didn't have the right size for the smaller driver tube, so I drilled this out with the biggest drill bit I had, then used a round file to widen the opening slightly.

Overall I only somewhat enjoyed this part of the project. It helps to have the right tools, but for my next amp (oh, yes, there will be more), I will spend way more time on the design phase to make sure I have a really solid plan and the best visual appearance.




Couldn't resist a bit of wiring.

Large holes done.