by AmadeusMozart » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:57 pm
Yeah, woodworking tools work fine on aluminium as long as you do not go too fast. I have actually ordered a tungsten tipped hole saw that's integrated with the centre drill bit (unlike the hole saws that are more or less sitting loose on a spindle).
I always use SS fasteners, nothing worse than rust etc. (actually on audiokarma.org are pictures of my 6L6-GC SE build, same name, about three years ago). And yes I always include the schematics, nothing worse than have to guess what parts and voltages are when you need to do a repair on someone else's work.
If you get an ordinary HSS spiral router bit, preferably 1/4" then you can happily use it in a router, once again go slowly and cut only a few mm at a time. Use beeswax as lubricant. Wear proper clothing, safety glasses and hearing protection - slivers fly everywhere so not a job to do in the lounge (wink).
I've used J B Weld to glue everything together and then afterwards drilled for 3mm countersink screws and used that to fasten afterwards. Then fill the countersink side up before putting the undercoat on.
Before ordering from the US (cost of freight is more than the cost of the actual item) I'm going to have one final attempt at getting something made in our country. Prefer to have some jarrah at the ends.
16 January - Had to bring some relatives to the big city (201 Km away) to catch a flight back overseas. After dropping them off I visited a sheet metal outlet and they managed to bend some 1/8" aluminium in a U-shape with some lips on the bottom. Had to come back two hours later to pick it up that was fine with me - did some shopping with the wife in a mall close by. It still needs a bottom plate and some wooden sides but at least it is the size I wanted and it is very sturdy. Needs painting but I am pleased, now I can move forwards without having to wait.
20 January - Got notification that the Hammond Power transformer has been shipped. Don't know what the break points (in weight and size) for charging shipping are but these were shipped without shipping costs so for the price of Edcors + freight I now have Hammond and a beefy one to boot. Chassis is slightly oversized for the budgy but that allows me to change to a different SE if I need to (hopefully not, have yet to hear a bad 6BQ5)
28 January - most holes have been cut and am waiting on a parcel with the RCA and speaker connectors from tubesandmore. Once that arrives I can drill those holes and clean the aluminium and paint. Only machine screws visible on the top will be those for the transformers and choke. Layout has been a pain because the power transformer is universal and has many voltages so had to find a place to leave those surplus wires. (plus it has a CT 5V for rectifier, three more wires to leave somewhere safely)