Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

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crgfrench
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

I think this guy is in the UK but might be worth a look:

https://reverb.com/item/2799126-custom- ... c-knockout
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

IAG in Texas might be worth a look
http://www.iagaudio.com/
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

A pedal builder recommended these guys
https://www.crmetal.com/
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

K Amp in Palestine Texas makes faceplates
(903)922-7734
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

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Good call, I've emailed the guy on reverb

Worst case I'll produce a simple CAD file for Tube-Town to produce

Cheers
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

I finally heard back from Seaside in Canada. They're not useful. He can only drill the big cutouts, nothing else.

Juicy said he's going to be doing the custom chassis work again eventually, but he needs to create new guidelines for design submission. We'll see how long that takes.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

It might be worth calling Hammond -- they offer custom chassis services.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by crgfrench »

Josh, one other idea for the chassis fab, try Estes, that's who Weber uses.
https://www.estesdm.com/
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by lavrgs »

A friend works at a machine shop with sheet metal capability and mentioned they were making chassis today. I will get some basic info on what those cost but was curiousabout what kind of pricing are you looking for?
I had them quote a single chassis and it was not gonna fly ...but higher volumes mean cheaper piece parts...

If you want me to investigate I would want an idea of the price target and how many chassis you want to buy/quote
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 10/13/20 8:41 am
Juicy said he's going to be doing the custom chassis work again eventually, but he needs to create new guidelines for design submission. We'll see how long that takes.
I just had these made by a shop in NH, I'm in awe of the corner welds.

Image

Image
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 1:04 am
JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 10/13/20 8:41 am
Juicy said he's going to be doing the custom chassis work again eventually, but he needs to create new guidelines for design submission. We'll see how long that takes.
I just had these made by a shop in NH, I'm in awe of the corner welds.
Hey Coolidge! Those look great. What shop? I'm in MA, NH isn't tooooo far away.

If anybody wants to learn about super clean amp builds, check out Coolidge's work. He's a master.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 8:47 am
coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 1:04 am
JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 10/13/20 8:41 am
Juicy said he's going to be doing the custom chassis work again eventually, but he needs to create new guidelines for design submission. We'll see how long that takes.
I just had these made by a shop in NH, I'm in awe of the corner welds.
Hey Coolidge! Those look great. What shop? I'm in MA, NH isn't tooooo far away.

If anybody wants to learn about super clean amp builds, check out Coolidge's work. He's a master.

Thanks,
Josh
I used https://www.prototek.com/ they have several facilities across the US and the sheet metal shop is in NH. They will do smaller batches and one offs. One tip, order enough to consume the entire 4x10 sheet without left over material. For the chassis I ordered, folded dimensions of 22x9x2.5 inches this was 9 chassis for $925.

244 BURNHAM INTERVALE RD
CONTOOCOOK, NH 03229
Phone 603-746-2001
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 10:40 am
I used https://www.prototek.com/ they have several facilities across the US and the sheet metal shop is in NH. They will do smaller batches and one offs. One tip, order enough to consume the entire 4x10 sheet without left over material. For the chassis I ordered, folded dimensions of 22x9x2.5 inches this was 9 chassis for $925.

244 BURNHAM INTERVALE RD
CONTOOCOOK, NH 03229
Phone 603-746-2001
That's a little pricey, but the quality is certainly there. I'll get a quote from them. Typically I spend around $40 to $60 for chassis of my designs. For that quality it is worth considering though.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 11:48 am
That's a little pricey, but the quality is certainly there. I'll get a quote from them. Typically I spend around $40 to $60 for chassis of my designs. For that quality it is worth considering though.

Thanks,
Josh
Some thoughts on this. 304 stainless steel and TIG welding increases the cost vs aluminum/carbon steel. Made in USA vs a China sweat shop. When I look at the welding and finishing after welding, grinding the welds down and blending them to the point the corner looks like it was cast that's some talent. I'd charge no less than $50 a chassis just for the corner welding and finishing if I were making them. There's a lot of holes in this chassis some with flat sides to keep components from turning.

Then I look at the overall finished chassis. Its perfect. After all that bending and welding it's still flat as a pancake. I put one on a granite countertop, it's dead flat no wobble at all. To me if anything they under priced them.

Of course quantity is king when it comes to pricing. A 40 count vs a 10 count is going to be less expensive. True also for the custom PCB boards. 10 cost nearly $100 per board set, 20 almost half the cost per board set.

Lastly, I chose stainless because I don't have to powder coat them which would have been an additional cost. First time I have gone with stainless, love it. The metal is so smooth (#4 brushed) flux spatter and solder bits wipe right off.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 1:13 pm
Some thoughts on this. 304 stainless steel and TIG welding increases the cost vs aluminum/carbon steel. Made in USA vs a China sweat shop. When I look at the welding and finishing after welding, grinding the welds down and blending them to the point the corner looks like it was cast that's some talent. I'd charge no less than $50 a chassis just for the corner welding and finishing if I were making them. There's a lot of holes in this chassis some with flat sides to keep components from turning.

Then I look at the overall finished chassis. Its perfect. After all that bending and welding it's still flat as a pancake. I put one on a granite countertop, it's dead flat no wobble at all. To me if anything they under priced them.

Of course quantity is king when it comes to pricing. A 40 count vs a 10 count is going to be less expensive. True also for the custom PCB boards. 10 cost nearly $100 per board set, 20 almost half the cost per board set.

Lastly, I chose stainless because I don't have to powder coat them which would have been an additional cost. First time I have gone with stainless, love it. The metal is so smooth (#4 brushed) flux spatter and solder bits wipe right off.
Like I said, the quality is definitely there. ;)

My chassis are also made in the USA, but they're aluminum. Nice and thick .09, welded corners, etc... Great stuff, but definitely not as nice as what you posted. The chassis you posted look like a work of art, and the flat perfection is also awesome. I'm curious to see what options they have for mounting style.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

I thought about going with press fit nuts vs the square/spring capture nuts used by Marshall but then thought I'm solving a problem that doesn't exist. And if ever there's a problem with the nut just pop a new one in and its good to go. The more I thought about going fancy with a press fit nut, the more it seemed like I was looking for trouble for no good reason.

Other general thoughts in no particular order,

1. Many shops wouldn't even give me the courtesy of responding to my RFQ. A simple no thanks would have been nice. It's not easy to find a job to take a smaller job like this.

2. The shop that made the first batch of 9 chassis did an 'okay' job. Prototek produced sharper/nicer bends. The first shop rushed the welding and it showed. I had to do a LOT more deburring on the batch from the first shop. I don't know if Prototek punched the chassis or laser cut it but far softer burrs and less of them.

3. If you have to have these shipped to you Prototek's packing was first class also. Each nicely wrapped in 1/8 inch foam like a Christmas present. Shipping 3,000 miles to my house on the west coast was, gulp, $175 for 2 large boxes.

4. On my next order I may have them cut out some socket hole covers for use when I'm building a 50 watt vs a 100 watt. Maybe some stiffening plates which I would add with these big transformers if shipping them freight to someone. Not really needed on amps for my own personal use. I would add an "L" shaped bracket for the voltage regulator, what a puny bend if you look at them leads they have. Definitely would rethink mounting for that next go around.

What would be ideal is if Mercury Magnetics would give me the bolt hole pattern for a number of common transformers and chokes so I could have a more universal chassis made. For laydown transformers I could have left some tabs for the big square opening holding it in place for use with stand up transformers. Just cut the tabs to remove the square for laydown.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 3:18 pm
I thought about going with press fit nuts vs the square/spring capture nuts used by Marshall but then thought I'm solving a problem that doesn't exist. And if ever there's a problem with the nut just pop a new one in and its good to go. The more I thought about going fancy with a press fit nut, the more it seemed like I was looking for trouble for no good reason.

Other general thoughts in no particular order,

1. Many shops wouldn't even give me the courtesy of responding to my RFQ. A simple no thanks would have been nice. It's not easy to find a job to take a smaller job like this.

2. The shop that made the first batch of 9 chassis did an 'okay' job. Prototek produced sharper/nicer bends. The first shop rushed the welding and it showed. I had to do a LOT more deburring on the batch from the first shop. I don't know if Prototek punched the chassis or laser cut it but far softer burrs and less of them.

3. If you have to have these shipped to you Prototek's packing was first class also. Each nicely wrapped in 1/8 inch foam like a Christmas present. Shipping 3,000 miles to my house on the west coast was, gulp, $175 for 2 large boxes.

4. On my next order I may have them cut out some socket hole covers for use when I'm building a 50 watt vs a 100 watt. Maybe some stiffening plates which I would add with these big transformers if shipping them freight to someone. Not really needed on amps for my own personal use. I would add an "L" shaped bracket for the voltage regulator, what a puny bend if you look at them leads they have. Definitely would rethink mounting for that next go around.

What would be ideal is if Mercury Magnetics would give me the bolt hole pattern for a number of common transformers and chokes so I could have a more universal chassis made. For laydown transformers I could have left some tabs for the big square opening holding it in place for use with stand up transformers. Just cut the tabs to remove the square for laydown.
I hear ALL of that. I've dealt with a lot of that with manufacturers also. Sometimes I've received replies saying they'll get back to me eventually, and of course they don't. What's the point of having an RFP/RFQ form if you're not going to respond?

I do like the idea of the cage nuts. I was thinking more about the lip going outward, but it would be fine like yours too. The cage nuts are great for exactly what you said; I had to drill out a rivet nut on a previous build because the nut was bad. Thankfully I have plenty of locking nuts in my stock stuff.

Dude, you gotta try the no clean solder I was telling you about...I'll send you some if you want. ;) You can still clean and do all that fun OCD stuff, but it's so much simpler without the fluxy mess.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 3:56 pm
Dude, you gotta try the no clean solder I was telling you about.
What's the brand and part # I'll order some and give it a try.
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by JMPGuitars »

coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 4:56 pm
JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 3:56 pm
Dude, you gotta try the no clean solder I was telling you about.
What's the brand and part # I'll order some and give it a try.
Kester 24-6337-8800

I usually get it on Amazon for about $25 or so a roll. I have more expensive solders including 4% silver solder, and I prefer that no clean stuff above them all.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Chassis and Panels for 18W Projects

Post by coolidgeamps »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 5:34 pm
coolidgeamps wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 4:56 pm
JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 11/24/20 3:56 pm
Dude, you gotta try the no clean solder I was telling you about.
What's the brand and part # I'll order some and give it a try.
Kester 24-6337-8800

I usually get it on Amazon for about $25 or so a roll. I have more expensive solders including 4% silver solder, and I prefer that no clean stuff above them all.

Thanks,
Josh
Thanks I added a pound to my Digikey order. I wonder what happened to the whole lead free craze, Digikey has 2,214 of these in stock :lol: On a related OCD note I want to try soldering in an argon inert gas at some point. I admit I'm jealous of big manufactures who do this and their solder joints look like chrome.
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