wooden enclosure for amplifier: wood too thick for parts

[then_dude]

hello everybody,

i'm building a few small headphone amps, i'm building them in a wooden enclosure. i have a problem, although the wood is only 12mm it is to thick for a lot of parts, like the rca chasis connector, the alp volume, the headphone connector, and power switch. i cannot take away enough wood to make it thinner at those places. does someone have some advice: i thought of putting small metal plates on those places so that i can install the parts. anybody some other thouhgts, and also what i could use or where i can buy these things

thanks

[digits]

Get a forstner drillbit, I think mine was all of $2.

[then_dude]

thanks,

drilling a big whole is not the problem.
if i can make it happen that i don't drill through the wood with the forstner bit i can gain enough dept to make it happen. But i don't own a stationary drill and that is handy if you don't wanne drill to deep.
thanks a lot already

[mickeymoose]

Trying to drill a good hole with a Forstner bit using a handdrill would be a challenge! I have a small table-top drill-pres (I live in an apartment with little space) I haul out occationally, much to the wife's dismay. These things are less than $80 here (unless you insist on a Bosch) and indispensable for clean work. E

[Cal Weldon]

Your idea of using a plate and mounting the parts to it is a common cure for woes of thick wood.

[Buckapound]

In the old days, people used wood chisels to make cuts like you're describing. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a good sharp one and a little skill and patience.

In modern woodworking, a router would be the tool of choice. If you can find someone who owns one, this would be a ten-minute job.

As for metal plates, we can buy aluminum sheets in hardware stores. Also look at things like push-plate hardware meant for doors--you know, the kind of doors that just have a metal plate as a spot to push them open. These are usually not expensive and the advantage is that you can get them in a number of metals (aluminum, brass, stainless) and finishes (polished, satin, brushed, antiqued). It is very helpful to have pre-finished metal, as it is very difficult to do it well without specialized equipment.

Also, retail shops for model-making hobbyists usually have some small metal plates of different thicknesses and types, along with nice looking nuts and machine screws and some other useful items for building cases.

Be sure to consider the size and placement of the metal as an important part of the design of the piece. Sketch it out before committing.

--Buckapound

[mymindinside]

Hi,
I have tried the chisel as well as the metal plate method.
For the rear panel i feel that a metal plate is the way to go. It makes the assembly easier and it isn't seen. For the front panel or any visible panel mounted parts (switch, volume and input control) it is a style choice. The chisel takes time, and is always a bit messy looking on the inside.

cheers,
mymindinside

[Minion]

I have built many Wooden chassis and I learned early on that For the front face plate that wood just isn"t really suitable for that ..... go to a sheet metal place and get some 2mm aluminum and use that as a face plate , probably won"t cost more than $5 ...

I got 3 pieces of 3mm aluminum plate that was 19in x 6in for under $10 and it is very easy to work with .....

Cheers

[digits]

I dunno man, I have a drill press, but I often use that bit just in the normal hand drill, perfect for mounting things like RCA sockets etc...

[Minion]

So did I , I built an amp (my first amp) with a wooden chassis and counter sunk all the holes so the wood was thin enough to mount TS jacks, pots and a power switch and all was well untill one day a friend bumped into the amp which cause 2 of the pots to be torn from the front of the amp and left large holes in the front wooden panel .....

Cheers