Metal

I managed to get some time to perform the bulk of the chassis work on the new amp.

Just a quick note on the new project. Ten days ago I posted about how much trouble the wood gave me because of warps and twists in my plank of Bloodwood. Well, today I can say that it was well worth the effort.

I keep referring to the new amplifier as the 6V6 “Curly Maple” Amplifier. But is it really?

The chassis has all its coats of oil finish and things started coming together today.

I managed to steal a little time over Easter to do a some work in the shop. The chassis for the new 6V6 “Curly Maple” Amplifier is coming along nicely.

After some delay I have managed to finish all the metal work for the Marblewood Upgrade Amplifier. Hereafter referred to as the 6V6 Curly Maple Amplifier.

I had an opportunity to spend some time on the Marblewood upgrade amplifier. The mechanicals for this project are all coming together nicely.

After getting some chores out of the way this weekend, I got an opportunity to do some chassis work. The project is proceeding well.

I took some time this afternoon to get the metal work completed (mostly) for the Source Selector Unit/Preamp. All the drilling is complete and everything is properly fit to the chassis. The only metal work left to do is four holes in the mounting brackets which need to be drilled and tapped. These four screws will hold the top plate in place and make swapping tubes easier.

Well, eleven days since my last post and the cedar fence is done, the garden is in, a toilet has been replaced, and a new batch of black cherry cider is in the fermenter. So I decided it was time to get back to the metal for the source selector unit.

I’ve been working on a whole bunch of different projects this last week. But I managed to carve out a little time to get all the chassis metal for the source selector unit cut to size, fit to the chassis, and marked for drilling.

I often get questions about how I design and construct my projects. One of the things I realized this morning, after receiving such a question, was that I really haven’t addressed my basic metal work and how I size all the aluminum parts I use for my chassis. So I thought I’d give a little insight into how I make these cuts and how I got to where I am today.

Before I perform the chassis glue up, I decided I wanted to get the two pieces of metal for the back drilled. This means I can make the pilot holes for the mounting screws in the inside of the back without having to work with a drill inside the glued up chassis. It’s a little thing but it makes the first assembly go that much smoother.

After my mistake with the finish, the top and front plates for the 6L6 SE-UL are now back to bare metal. Now begins the “Great Paint Hunt”.

I’ve been on vacation for the last couple of weeks but I’m back now and ready to get moving on the 6L6 SE-UL amplifier.