• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

KT88 SE Complete Kit

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i wrote a long and very well detailed reply to this but your bulletin board software kicked me off and now its lost to the ages, oh well screw it.

The only forum that I have is hosted right here on diyAudio. I don't know if there is a maximum post size. Some other forums won't eat a really long post.

I wish Scott luck, but this economy sucks! Tubelab sales have never been this bad. In 2008 I sold about 10 boards a week. Now I sell 1.

Now down to 1 or 2 per month. Our friends who have been in the hobby model aircraft business have recently ceased operations after 15 years of success. My wife and my acountant are both suggesting I do the same.

People are consumers nowdays, not thinkers,

You should have seen the lines outside Walmart and Best Buy last Friday. They needed cops to keep people from fighting over TV's and Wii U.

Polishing like that takes a lot of work.....I meant, always use gloves when touching it after the polishing is done.....I'll be needing to give it a thin clear coat

I have seen aluminum polished to give a near mirror finish. Within a week it lost its shine, and within a month it looked dull. At least here in south Florida the high heat and humidity will cause oxidation so start immediately and the finish will dull. It can be restored with automotive polishing compound and protected with automobile paste wax.

You will need some kind of coating, but I have not achieved good results with Krylon Crystal Clear.....it just wasn't clear. I wound up using a Stonecraft coating that looked like Granite.
 
I would like to suggest again to think about copper sheet metal. That can be polished easily to a mirror-like finish (at least it worked for me with wet sandpaper and a polishing wheel on the power drill) - I was never really satisfied when trying the same with aluminum.
If you don't like the slightly redish finish of copper, you could always bring it to a professional shop to electro-plate it with nickel or chrome. Check out your area, usually the next shop that can do the job is not so far away (think chrome-plating parts for automobile repair) and they might do it surprisingly cheap if you give them some time and a tip.
In my case, I did not coat it at all. The shining surface stayed perfect, just the color changed to a deeper red (until my two-year old son got interested in it - now it has lost all shine and would need extensive re-polishing).

Best,
Martin
 
i am considering going down to the local hardware store and buying a large sheet of copper for $50, its not very thick at all.

this will go over the top and the front and back, bent by hand, copper is fairly soft so i might be able to pull this off with a rubber mallet and some fabric inbetween..

let me know what you guys think.

I will have to wait for the chassis to arrive before I can consider it, and then i need to buy a hole punch kit if im going to go with it.

I like the simplicity of simply polishing the chassis as is though and will try doing that first, the copper plate idea will be a backup.
 
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If you want to see how mine turned out, see posts #55 and #59 on this page:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendors-bazaar/180897-kt88-se-basic-master-kit-6.html

The top plate was aluminum. I went from 400 to 800 to 1200 to 1500 and finally 2000 grit. And I finished with an aluminum polish rubbed in, then wiped clean and buffed with lint free cloths. The surface was very smooth, but even with that, you could see the direction of the sanding. As it was my first try, I'm sure there was room for improvement. ;)

As others noted, bare aluminum will oxidize with exposure to the air, and the shine goes dull. Different clear coats are available -- lacquer, acrylic, etc. I chose acrylic.

Anyway, that's my example of aluminum sanded smooth, then an application of acrylic clear coat.

The sound is what's most important to me. I'm extremely happy with it. You'll be glad, too. :D
 
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The sound is what's most important to me. I'm extremely happy with it. You'll be glad, too. :D

Dunno about you guys but when I flick that big power switch I wanna hear a big thud and have a reflection in my amp so I can see my own smile.

Its a turn on.

Ba dum tisss. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU

I've spent a while on ebay and found this:

Mix Chrome Plating Solution to 33 Oz | eBay

its an electroplating kit, you just gotta give it 4-15v DC at 5-15 amps for 5 seconds.

only problem is the anal-retentive australian customs probably won't let me import it.

There is also:
Copper: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mix-Copp...494?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e63efeade
and Brass: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mix-Bras...433?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e744eed11
and Nickel: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mix-Nick...591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e640140bf

And then there is a spray on chrome:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Refill-A...678?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e71ed14ee
 
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2pcs 500?A Panel VU Meter Warm Back Light Recording & Audio Level Amp | eBay

50 X COPPER BOILER RIVET'S, GENUINE MAMOD sealed end | eBay

I need to get the chassis and think about things before i can go any further, not even sure if those two meters will fit into the chassis.

Rivets are to hold down the meters + hold down some copper plates for R/L inputs, R/L outputs, mains cable, don't worry it will be well secured to the actual chassis.)

I could put the volume control ontop, to the far left, that will get it out of the way of the front panel.

bnew vintage mains cord: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OLD-GOLD...15670?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item2a1d09eaf6

DPDT mains HPM b/new switch: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/antique-...ials&hash=item1c2d0387a6&_uhb=1#ht_1829wt_689
Or: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/brass-li...?pt=AU_Building_Materials&hash=item19d6de87dc

These /could/ be used to flush off the leather around each tube, but the KT88's have a larger base which is 48mm in diameter (I'm led to believe), so you would need to drill out a pretty large hole out of these: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/round-ce...?pt=AU_Building_Materials&hash=item19d6a66409

They are also fairly tall and might end up hiding too much of the tube, the KT88's would be fine tho they have that big base of theirs.

I'm still on the lookout for something to flush/finish off the leather which would go ontop of the chassis, remember that for the 5U4 tube it hasn't got much space inbetween the tube socket and the power transformer/choke.

I might just break out the dremel and get a hole punch and cut up some copper rings to go around the tubes that I can then bolt down with nuts/bolts. I would need to make at least 4x of these though, of differing sizes, maybe including a couple for the front VU meters, and the volume control.

The leather can be tucked in underneath the transformers pretty easily, so thats not much of a concern, I can also use washers to give it some lift above the leather.

These could hold the leather down to the chassis: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tandy-Le...056?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c639f28b8

Then use some copper reinforcing strip and some copper rivets to finish off the edges on either end of the chassis and bolt/nail down the leather to the wooden pieces through the copper reinforcing strip.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1767-10m...746?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a11c86f1a

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tandy-Le...056?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c639f28b8

And of course non-flammable foam can be used to buff up the leather to give it that briefcase look.
 
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I built this recently. Not really steam punk, not sure what it is. A mess actually.

Anyway, for what it's worth.

Scott
 

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If I may add some creative critisizm:
It looks nice, the chassis does and so do those tube socket finishes, then your eyes hit the transformers/fake gold paint/capacitors, then it loses its high-class edge.

strip off all of that paint on those components only and try again.

Oh and replace that volume control with something else, possibly birch, it looks like it came off a 1980s amplifier, it does not belong there.

Where did you get/what type are the edge protectors?
 
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