Metal work

[Zee1usa]

QUOTE:

"If you plan to make two boxes in your lifetime, think hard about getting a drill press, the press I got at the depot for $90 is single speed, but fully awesome"


I got a drill press from Harbor Freight Tools for $39.00 on sale.
It is 5 speed. It is the exact same one made by "Delta" sold
at LOWES for $100.00
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44506

It is normally $ 59.00 , but it goes on sale often for $39.00
It works great! It is made by Central Machinery.
Also I got a Dremmel type tool for $15.00 Which is made by Chicago
Tools also available at Harbor Freight Tools.

I have a Irwin "Unibit" which drills holes in aluminum like it is butter.
You can find one cheap on ebay. They are about $32.00 at
Lowes. I have a larger Unibit I got off Ebay for $10.00


It would be cool to have META for frontpanels.
On the old TT forum there was a mention of people sending their
files to Par metal so we could order an engraved panel
from them which is a good idea. :idea:

 

[nathun]

Thinking about getting me a $39 drill press at harbor freight today, they've been on sale at my local harbor freight for a week or so.

 

[Scenaria]

this is how the bloo kit evolved...

the problem with doing metal work for a group is that everyone must conform to the needs of the project.

ie: everyone must agree on layouts, hole sizes for meters, power etc..

once I started working on this aspect I realized that even doing the metal work because it was being done to accomodate a certain meter no one would be able to get the meter as a 1-off... it was at this point I realized I would have to supply the meter.

then I realized the scales around the knobs were made for those specific knobs which led to the need to provide the knobs... it snow balled from there..

its a big undertaking and can get quite frustrating when one DIY'er prefers one meter verses another or one knob verses another... and so on.

also consider some prefer one color verses another, silk screen setups get rather costly after awhile too...

personally if I were to do it over again... I would use the money it cost for all of the setups and minimum to pick up a nice press, milling maching etc,.... this would give more flexability to do my own personal work at anytime anyday... plus I could experiment.

 

[NewYorkDave]

Zee1, Irwin makes a number of "Unibits"; which one do you use?
http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/productBrowse.jhtml?attributeId=IRWNUP000016&currentType=BM1000002

 

[ytrehalf]

[quote author="Jonathan Hayward"]and analysing early Bartok[/quote]

I'm partial to the string quartets, but I'll try anything with promise ....

 

[ytrehalf]

[quote author="soundguy"]Ive tried to work on some stuff where putting an IEC connector on the back was like going to war. I was able to get these deburring tools at home depot, sort of like a miniature sickel that you carve around the hole with and they work great but the idea of drilling with a bigger size bit is pretty genius, Ive never thought of that.

dave[/quote]

I found a bit at Home Depot made by Ryobi (I think) that is a 5/16" drill bit on the end and a rough bore for the rest of the bit. It works pretty good for IEC holes. It's a crude method--basically hogging out a hole, But I've been able to make the end result look presentable by dressing it with a dremel tool.

I've seen some good ideas in this thread. Keep 'em comming!

 

[Zee1usa]

[quote author="NewYorkDave"]Zee1, Irwin makes a number of "Unibits"; which one do you use?
http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/productBrowse.jhtml?attributeId=IRWNUP000016&currentType=BM1000002[/quote]


Irwin Unibit #4 1/16-7/8

it will do the smaller of the XLR holes, potentiometer holes, fuse holes
etc. it does 12 different hole sizes.

Green Lee also makes some nice stepper bits as well.

Here is a link for the Rotary Tool/Dremmel type tool I
purchased at Harbor Freight. It may have been $19.99
or $15.00 on sale I cant remember.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40457

 

[thermionic]

I'm kind of fortunate on the metal-work front as I have a pal a couple of hundred yards from where I live with a full workshop with a lathe and a monster tool collection. Jim (workshop owner) is now in his early '80s, and trained in the Army Engineers - needless to say he is a real professional and it staggers me how he is able to repair some mechanical kit (I guess that's a military thing - if a civilian can't repair something they buy another, if an army engineer can't fix it pronto they get their arse blown into a thousand pieces).

Mark,
What a cool link! Another old pal of mine worked at Philips and Rediffusion in the '50s and '60s (btw, he designed an in-car compressor in the early '60s, a clever dude). He also worked for VOX and LEAK (has some hilarious stories of the games he and Harold Leak played). I once asked him how he came to be a repair / mod engineer for studio-gear and why he left the world of hardware design - his explanation was that at the time he could never see digital systems take off, and put his faith in analogue computers as they didn't have fixed resolution. This decision proved a bad move in the long-term career-wise, although he did design some pretty radical analogue machines for the likes of Rediffusion (one was a tape-winding machine with logic and optical sensors that could wind several thousand cassettes in an hour). One day I'll try and get some pictures off of him to share with the forum, I've tried to get him to log-in here but he's terribly tied-up with his repair / mod business, maybe one day...

Cheers,
Justin

 

[Mark Burnley]

Well,

I'll have to come out the closet here and admit I love metalwork too! It's all about having the right tools and planning your layout. That punch-press is awesome!

My favourite metalworking tools are:

1. Steel rule
2. Steel scriber
3. "Automatic" centre punch (spring loaded type)
3. Bench sheet metal folder
4. Hand nibblers- two types, "inside" types where you drill an 8mm hole and then you can punch square and round holes, and the "straight" typw which cuts a small 2.5mm gap in a sheet of metal, and leaves the waste as a spiral. Great for cutting sheet steel/aluminium.
5. Q-Max (Greenlee) punches.
6. A good set of drill bits.
7. Drill press.
8. Steel set-square

That's about it....oh yes- 9. bags of patience!

Justin,

Wow, an ex-Leak employee! I collect old Leak amps- all the Stereo and Delta 30/70's etc. I'd love to hear some of the stories about H J Leak. Maybe we could take this to The Brewery! I've got some old analogue computer educational modules I fire up every now and again for...err...drum sounds :shock:

:thumb:

Mark

 

[nathun]

I mentioned eariler in this thread that I'm thinking about making some rackmount cases. What sizes (mostly depth) have you guys found to be the most useful in the projects worked on around here. I'm about to buy my sheet metal and I want to make sure that I get the most cases out of a sheet. 8", 10"? deeper? and thoughts would really help. Also, most of the projects seem to use 2u cases, should I stick with 2u or make some 1u's too? One last thing, how important are vent holes? Seems like that would be the hardest part as far as making them look good and even.
Thanks, Nathan

 

[owel]

I think it boils down to the price for me (and quality). If the savings are not substantial compared to Par-Metal chassis, it will be hard for me to switch suppliers.

Also, the ease of working with the chassis will be very important. i.e. removable front, back, side panels, etc... i.e. don't want to work on a permanent "U" shape chassis.

Vent holes at the top are important... for me at least.

If you can make 1u cases, even only 8" deep, for around $30-$40 that will be very attractive for me. But that's just one personal opinion.

 

[Scenaria]

you also have to consider the finish..

alot of readily available chassis come powder coated or baked...

hardware for assembly etc...

its going to be hard to come out with something as good as a retail chassis for a lower price..

personally its pretty tough to justify re-inventing the wheel unless its for an odd chassis... say perhaps one for a fairchild 670....

 

[Treelady]

Just to add that its crucial to wear eye protection when working with these types of projects.  Metal flakes are very small and would wreck all kinds of damage to an eye.

 

[zebra50]

Necrothreadomancy!!! Haven't seen this one for a long time!!!

Welcome to the forum, btw.

 

[shaggy]

Necrothreadomancy!!! Haven't seen this one for a long time!!!

Welcome to the forum, btw.

Nice thread revival! So... no more excuses, let's get this country back on it's feet like it was before we became a bunch of mewling Chinese import junk junkies! Is a panty-waist solderer-on-Mom's-kitchen-table all you want to be? No of course not! Get yourself a shed and a drill press, dividers and verniers and drill bits and countersinks, Unibits and Greenlee punches. Oh and a nice stack of 1950s Mechanix Illustrated mags on top of the beer fridge...  ;D

 

[Gold]

I've been getting into doing metalwork lately. It was very frustrating when I started. And it still is. I never imagined how hard it is to drill an accurate hole. It is fun though. I just got a radial arm drill press which allows me to do a large front panel without unclamping and moving the workpiece. I also got a cheap cross slide so I have a not so accurate mill.

 

[12volts]

Let me put you ALL right.
Firstly accurate drilling/milling requires accurate marking out.
To do this, forget rulers. You need a VERNIER HEIGHT GAUGE. They are available for about £50. (You can also pay a lot more)
This will scribe lines accurate to 0.0005" 0.01mm. Height gauges vary in size, but the one I have is just 12" 300mm range. That's
all you need to mark out 19" panels. All height gauges have dual imperial & metric scales.

Forget centre punches. You need an OPTICAL CENTRE PUNCH. Use this fantastic tool to centre punch as accurately as the marking out.

A DRILL PRESS is essential, it doesn't have to be expensive, it's there to ensure drill rigidity.

Finally, make sure all drills, files and saws are SHARP. Throw away the Dremels.
The text in capitals is there for you to cut and paste into your browser for further information.

Finally, DON'T rush the job. PLAN the work before hand.


Frank

 

[nielsk]

Has anyone found an automatic center punch that worked more than a dozen times? I have tried at least 6 different brands, they all fail in no time flat...
Optical center punch? I'll have to research this one.., but for DIY one offs nanometer perfection is surely not required ???
I have found the Q-max punches I bought for XLR holes were a great investment. Very inexpensive, work great, 100s of holes so far & no problems, beats the hell out of a uni-bit :

 

[s2udio]

Finally, DON'T rush the job. PLAN the work before hand.
Frank

Absolutely.......look before you leap....top tips there

 

[Gold]

Frank,

How would you lay out accurate dial graduations around a center hole?