bosoz faceplate pics!

[cowanrg]

after being asked in another thread to post pictures of my new faceplate (http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57946), i have decided to take a few preliminary tease pictures and post them.

i started with a 4.5" x 16.5" piece of bubinga:

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/faceplate3.jpg

added some milling, cutting, routing, sanding, drilling,

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/faceplate4.jpg

add some plexiglass rods through the holes and some lacquer:

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/faceplate5.jpg

even more lacquer (about 30 coats total, almost 3 cans worth!):

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/faceplate2.jpg

and add the knobs, and there you have it!

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/faceplate1.jpg

it honestly looks a lot more stunning in person. the grains in the wood shimmer in different lights and it has awesome rays in the grain. and best of all, it looks almost JUST like my earlier renderings that some of you may remember from my site:

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/bosoz/preamp4.jpg

i dont have a picture of the LED's yet, but the little "dots" on the faceplate are 1/8" plexiglass rod that were forced into the wood and then lacquered over (they are perfectly smooth and undetectable with your hand). they are hard to see in normal light when looking at the wood. however, with the LED's behind them on, they glow very bright. the ones on the left side will be used for input selection indication, and the center one will be for power. when the PSU works, i will post pics of the LED's on, because thats how it has to work.

thanks to anyone who has followed the progress of this project! it helps motivate me to get done.

 

[pekka]

Beautiful... just beautiful

Looks really good... congratulations!

Where did you get the knobs from?

- Pekka

 

[cowanrg]

thanks.

the knobs were from apexjr.

http://www.apexjr.com/knobs.htm

 

[pekka]

Thansk for the hint!

Looks like you embedded the knobs pretty deep in the front panel, they look quite tall in Apex's pictures. Anyhow, the knobs really fit your design.

Best regards

- Pekka

 

[cowanrg]

i have them adjustable. they look best only sticking out 1/4" or so, but they are 2-3" deep. you just loosen the set screw and slide them in and out if you want them any different. but, i like them just barely sticking out

 

[steenoe]

That is really beautyful work. Very nicely made
I like the idea of a wooden faceplate. Kind of soften up the otherwise cold look of much equipment.

Steen

 

[eLarson]

Bubinga's a beautiful wood. Nice work letting it shine through.

 

[kilowattski]

cowanrg,

Beautiful work but if you are going to use your milling machine for woodworking make sure you protect the leadscrews on your X Y table from the sawdust. Sawdust on those leadscrews will cause you all kinds of problems.

 

[jleaman]

I want one..

 

[cowanrg]

thanks for the compliments...

steenoe,

that was exactly the idea. i wanted to change the image of the typical audio component to a softer, cleaner look. thats why i even recessed the LED's and everything. i wanted it to look very simple.

kilowattski,

the leadscrews are covered for the most part. they even have some basic brushers by the screws to keep dust and stuff out of them. PLUS, i clean them regularly as any machine owner should i actually have all the gibs relatively loose because i put on power feeds on the X and Y axis, and they are geared motors. SO, no hand crank adjustment for me!

 

[kilowattski]

cowanrg,

Cool. I can see you take very good care of your tools. BTW, I have the Enco version and have purchased an Accurite DRO for it. I do have to get power feed though. I have heard machinists much more experienced than I say that the constant rate of feed makes for a nicer cut.

 

[cowanrg]

kilowattski,

i dont have nearly enough experience with the machine (or milling machines in general) to really say i have experience, but it surely seems MUCH nicer milling things with power feeds...

its VERY easy to get a constant feed rate with powerfeeds. i built mine for around $50 for X and Y. they are only two speed (fast and VERY slow). fast could be faster, but it works ok. i would like to have a full variable speed drive, but i havent had the need for it yet.

i need to calibrate the machine first though. its not very true on ANY axis, so that will be the first thing i need to do before i do any serious work on it. i am just learning how everything works, and havent had time to calibrate it yet. i want to add DRO, because that would really let me do a lot more, but its a matter of $$ right now. i saw a DRO kit for DIY'ers that can be built for around $100 plus scales. but thats just one more project to add to my list

any tips or tricks for the machine would be great though. just how to set it up, get it working well, etc... ive heard some stuff about repacking the spindle bearings for a truer spindle, etc...

 

[kilowattski]

Actually I got mine just after you got yours. A neighbor of mine owns a machine shop and I used to go there on Saturdays to use one of his Bridgeports. I knew that I was wearing out my welcome, and wanted to keep peace in the neighborhood, so I bought the Enco after looking at a bunch of used Bridgeports. The older Bridgeports I looked at, were all in poor shape, but after all, I didn't want to spend more than $1200. My neighbor (Larry) suggested I buy a Rong Fu, but I bought the Enco clone instead. Larry was so happy that I was not going to bother him anymore that he set up the machine and installed the DRO for me. I bought an Accurite DRO and he teased me that the DRO was worth more than the mill. He gave me some endmills, some older indicators, a old micrometer set and an old 6" Kurt vice to get me started. I also bought a Mill stop, a set of parralels, a flycutter, boring head and bars, an angle plate, a set of machinist squares and a speed handle for the vice, all from Ebay. I already had a 6" and 12" set of calipers. I have squared some panels with the mill, but the real work starts next month when I do the metal work for the internals for my Aleph X. All the electronics are done. The Aleph X project is taking forever. It is a year old now and about time I finished it so I can move on to the next project.

 

[cowanrg]

haha, your alephx project is taking forever???

i started my aleph2's before alephx was a concept!

you have some decent tooling for your mill it sounds like. i need a good vise and a few other things. ive seen it all on ebay, but im trying to keep it all cheep of course. i just havent got around to buying anything yet.

you probably easily have twice as much in accessories as you do in invested in the mill thankfully i got a smoking deal on mine. it was about $800 WITH the matching stand AND a 3 year extended warranty (they threw it in because i NEEDED it). but, hauling it downstairs was a CHORE.

 

[kilowattski]

That is a great deal!!!! I got mine up on the stand using a gararge crane. Some people call it an engine hoist. No great shakes though on having projects take a long time. Look at it this way, we both finished successful projects in the meantime. I finished an Aleph 5, Aleph P v1.7 and Zen IV. You finished some Aleph 3's and BOSOZ. It's not like either of us have been doing nothing.