Chassis Ideas

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I'm looking for a Cost effective Chassis (oxymoron i know) that i could either build or buy. I really really didn't want to break the $60 mark on a premade case, and aside from simply taking the chassis of a non working Amplifier there doesn't seem to be any good alternatives.

I've tried the usual suspects, par-metals, hammond, but wanted somthing that looks atleast half decent. I dont' have many tools to fabricate a quality chassis so any kits out there would be welcome.


Cliffs:
1. Need a Decent Chassis.
2. Dont' have alot of skill.
3. Budget: $60

help.
 
I still have a few of these.

My amp pics aren't working, but Jean-Pierre's Gainclone documented at Brian's site, shows the case stripped out, then made beautiful.

I've been flipping them over and covering the top and sides with veneered MDF, (I've got some nice walnut). If anyone wants, I could drill for connectors in the back, make wooden or aluminum face plates, or do whatever you don't have the tools for.

These might be found at your local computer recycling center, but if not, send me a note.
 
I bought 4mm thick solid aluminum plates cut to form a chassi with the dimension 42x28x9cm (approx 16,5x11x3,5 inch)
i payed 100$ for:
1xGC-chassi
1xRIAA-chassi
2xknobs 35mm diameter and 15mm deep
+some square-rods to use as corners and to put the screws into.

All in aluminum.

only GC-chassi went for 60-70$ in sweden but the price couldn't differ that much in the land of the free (and so on );)
 
owen said:
Low Cost Case Plan

Take a look at my low cost case plan. With the copper PCB front and rear it looks great, and costs next to nothing to build...

If the diagrams are hard to follow, drop me an email, and I'll try to help out.

You should be able to build this for ~$15 with a little creative shopping :)

Ok?

Owen


Wow thanks for all replies, this Low Budget case looks interesting. I think i might give it a shot. Thanks.
 
The best sources of chasis -- for amplifiers consider getting the older Hewlett Packard Power supplies and gutting them out -- for preamps consider the older HP frequency counters and multiplex switches -- other good sources are Fluke, Krohn Hite, Lambda, Veeco cases. In California the power supplies go for a few bucks, but the metalwork is worth hundreds.

most all of the cases are modular in design -- the companies adapted a standard manufacturing methodology in which the top, bottom and sides would slide in and out -- usually held inplace with one 6-32nd screw --

almost anywhere in the US you can purchase 1/8" or 3/16" 6061 aluminum sheet and have it cut to fit for a front panel.

i am using a Hewlett Packard 20/40dB Laboratory Amplifier as the carcase for an RIAA amplifier -- the voltage on the transformer is a little high, but can be adjusted by setting the rear panel voltage to 220! I used one of these modded HP465A amplifiers for my 20/40/60dB noise amplifier. They usually sell for around $10 to $30 and would be great for a preamp. Here's a snapshot of what the amp looks like "before":
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
owen said:

Take a look at my low cost case plan. With the copper PCB front and rear it looks great, and costs next to nothing to build...


Must be a UK thing using clad PCB's for front panels? I've got a PYE Mozart integrated amplifier (stereo, 1x EL34 SE per channel) also using PCB material for the front. Polished up, it looks superb.

Your case scheme is quite clever, kudos!

speaker
 
Low cost aluminum chassis method:

Here's what I'm working on for my GC project.

Front and rear panels are architectural aluminum channel, 3 inch by 1 inch by 1/8 in. Get two peices, 10 inches long.

Top and bottom covers: 1/8 inch aluminum sheet. Get two peices, 10 inches by 6 inches.

Support structure: 1/2 in x 1/2 in aluminum bar, or aluminum angle will also work. Make verticals and front to back supports by cutting this material with hacksaw. Doesn't have to be precise, because won't be visible.

Side panels: wood planks. I got a peice of finished maple from the hardware store. It's nominally 1" x 4", but actually measures 3/4" x 3.5". So it's slightly taller than the metal. this will leave some space underneath and above the finished amp. Cut these to be the same as the front to back depth of the chassis.. which will be 8 inches with the measurements above. Or you can cut a little longer, if you want the wood to protrude front and back as well.

Drill holes, and attach the wood panels to the aluminum bar structure. Drill/file holes in back for connectors. Drill/file holes in front for lights/knobs as appropriate. Attach feet either to the bottom of the wood, or to the bottom of the chassis. Doesn't matter.

All these materials can be had very cheap at hardware stores, or metal dealers (e.g. through ebay). The only parts that need to be accurately cut are the aluminum channel that forms the front and back, and the aluminum plate that forms the top and bottom. These all need to be the same length. The two peices of aluminum sheet need to be the same width.

I hope I've explained well. It's very simple and cheap.
 
pixpop said:
Low cost aluminum chassis method:

Here's what I'm working on for my GC project.

Front and rear panels are architectural aluminum channel, 3 inch by 1 inch by 1/8 in. Get two peices, 10 inches long.

Top and bottom covers: 1/8 inch aluminum sheet. Get two peices, 10 inches by 6 inches.

Support structure: 1/2 in x 1/2 in aluminum bar, or aluminum angle will also work. Make verticals and front to back supports by cutting this material with hacksaw. Doesn't have to be precise, because won't be visible.

Side panels: wood planks. I got a peice of finished maple from the hardware store. It's nominally 1" x 4", but actually measures 3/4" x 3.5". So it's slightly taller than the metal. this will leave some space underneath and above the finished amp. Cut these to be the same as the front to back depth of the chassis.. which will be 8 inches with the measurements above. Or you can cut a little longer, if you want the wood to protrude front and back as well.

Drill holes, and attach the wood panels to the aluminum bar structure. Drill/file holes in back for connectors. Drill/file holes in front for lights/knobs as appropriate. Attach feet either to the bottom of the wood, or to the bottom of the chassis. Doesn't matter.

All these materials can be had very cheap at hardware stores, or metal dealers (e.g. through ebay). The only parts that need to be accurately cut are the aluminum channel that forms the front and back, and the aluminum plate that forms the top and bottom. These all need to be the same length. The two peices of aluminum sheet need to be the same width.

I hope I've explained well. It's very simple and cheap.


LA -- according to my son who went to grad school out there -- is a great place for finding surplus metal, finding metalworking shops -- must be Howard Hughes or something!

Here's the carcase -- or frame -- from an HP6130 power supply which I bought for about $10 --
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


And this is how Krohn-Hite fits together their cabinets -- Fluke used something similar in their old equipment. I actually made an engineering drawing in Solidworks for this and was thinking of having it milled:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
jackinnj said:


shipping aluminum to Canada is like shipping coals to Newcastle.

there is a guy who has some 6061 sheet for sale pretty inexpensively, but you should be able to find someone in Montreal right out of the phone book.


That was my initial plan, but sometimes ebay's cheap prices compensate for shipping, but not in this case. Just checking my possibilites, but looks like i will pick up locally.
 
I second jackinnj. Surplus/scrap metal. Some of those places don't like civilians messing around their place. Just tell them you're a student from some local college working on a project. Then you can aardvark around all you want.

You can find the most amazing stuff in those places, much you didn't even know existed. And why would you want your stuff to look like Naim or Mark Levinson, anyway? That's already been done. Watch Brazil. Pick up a design book. Or a book on vintage cars. Ideas are everywhere. Be creative.
 
Recycle!

I like to pick up boxes at junk yards. They usually sell stuff on a $/lb basis. You can get all sorts of interesting stuff. Here's a cell telephone diversity antenna (I think) box that I picked up for about $10 or $15 if I recall correctly.

I gutted it, patched a few of the unneeded holes with Bondo auto body filler, drilled a few holes of my own, painted it, and built an amp into it.

Junk yards have tons of this sort of stuff and you can get it for pennies on the dollar.

I_F
 

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Here's the end result

Here is what it looks like after paint- it's primer, then orange base coat, crackle medium, metallic blue, finally a clear coat. I was sort of inspired by my 1926 Neutrowound Super 6 radio...

Gotta get a better knob...

I_F
 

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