Stage 3
Construction
Here are some pictures:
Here is the chassis before drilling. I mapped out where I would put each item and made a few mistakes with the measurements and the marker, but that didn't matter as I would paint it after drilling anyway. I did notice that my RCA holes are drilled at 3/4-inch, the exact size of my jacks. Hmmm, could be a problem...
Although you can't see it, I messed up the paint job. I used general purpose black gloss spray paint, but in my eagerness to get the job done the paint ended up heavier in some spots than others. If and when I make my mono-block amps, I will spray several light coats, letting each dry before applying another coat of paint.
Update: July 23, 2002 - I've talked it over with TG and he thinks I should re-drill the RCA holes so that they don't ground the jacks to the chassis. This has delayed me as I need to find time to make it down to Home Depot or Sears to find a suitable 1/2-inch bit that does not require a pilot hole. Once I re-drill, I can start mounting the transformer, choke, cap, and start to solder the signal wires. I am still waiting on a shipment with resistors for the plates. I could not get my hands on Mills, so I will be using Vishay wire wound 5 watt resistors in parallel. According to JE Labs, wiring resistors in parallel produces a smoothing effect. I will provide an update on parts values later.
Update: July 30, 2002 - I've re-drilled the holes so that the RCA jacks don't touch ground. As you can see, I decided to use several solder lugs to hold down the parts. Only one of the center two lugs will be grounded to the chassis to form a semi-star ground. The battery holders were attached to the sides with velcro sticky tape, but the glue parted from the velcro so I ended up just pressing the boxes against the glue and got a better bond anyway so I left it as is. The signal wires go across the center in one bundle, except the main input wires which were too short to bundle with the rest. The silver wire is Kimber KCAG from my old preamp so I couldn't get a longer piece, that's why it goes straight through the center in mid-air. The big-ass Solen cap was also held down by velcro tape which parted from the glue. I took away the velcro and just pressed the cap against the sticky stuff and it seems to hold. The lug to the right of it holds down the cap somewhat.