Amp Chassis Suppliers?

karltone

Any one know of a firm who are reasonably priced for a one off amp chassis (punched, bent etc)

Cheers

jpfamps

One offs are always expensive as either they will be done by hand (very inefficient) or by CNC in which case the cost for time setting up per unit is high.

There are plenty of off-the-shelf solutions for the usual suspects (JTM45 etc).

What did you want the chassis for?

karltone

Its for a plexi 100 watt style amp with 6 preamp valves in line with the power valves. I have had a look some generic plexi (3 pre + 4 pow) chassis but none are suitable.

Ideally if i could find an 'off the shelf' one it would be a lot quicker and less work for me.

Cheers

thermionic

A friend of mine drew out his own chassis and got a bloke in the mechanical workshop at work to bend it and punch out the holes for a few cans of beer. He works for a large engineering (electronics/aviation) firm. Surely there must be some machining/engineering company nearby who could bend a chassis given the drawings?

ecc83

thermionic said:

A friend of mine drew out his own chassis and got a bloke in the mechanical workshop at work to bend it and punch out the holes for a few cans of beer. He works for a large engineering (electronics/aviation) firm. Surely there must be some machining/engineering company nearby who could bend a chassis given the drawings?

+1 I find there is always a small engineering firm who can do this sort of thing on an Ind Estate nearby.

If you are starting from scratch go for aluminium IMO. More expensive than steel and you need a heavier gauge but MUCH nicer to work with.

Dave.

John_A

karltone said:

Its for a plexi 100 watt style amp with 6 preamp valves in line with the power valves. I have had a look some generic plexi (3 pre + 4 pow) chassis but none are suitable.

Ideally if i could find an 'off the shelf' one it would be a lot quicker and less work for me.

Cheers

Try Modulus Amplification, I know they do the cut-outs themselves, and should be able to add extra pre-amp valve holes to a standard chassis

gjonesy

I think 6 preamps in a row + the power tubes in line will be a challenge (or a long chassis)

Assuming youre doing the turret board yourself maybe tweaking your layout you'll be able to use this:

http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Chassis/TT-Chassis-Metal/TT-Chassis-HiWatt-Style-universal::6179.html

I've used them a few times for other things (JTM chassis, resistors, caps etc) and they're pretty good

karltone

Thanks chaps, i found a firm who do the whole caboodle punching, coating and screen printing. Don't know the cost yet though? 
:-O 

Failing that i'll get a plexi size blank chassis and make the holes myself with probably a face plate from modulus.

hywelg

I'd be interested to know who they are and what they need by way of drawings and what they were to charge you. I want a Smallbox chassis with 4 preamp socket holes to make a 2144 clone.

You could try Ceriatone. The new King Kong has 5 noval socket holes and 4 octal holes. Its a monster. I'm sure you would be able to find room for another socket hole and cut it yourself.

jpfamps

There are plenty of off-the-shelf Plexi 100 chassis, so I would be tempted to get on a punch the holes your self (a chassis punch will about a fiver).

I would advise NOT using ali for a 100W Plexi; you really do need the strength of steel. Even 2 mm ali would in my opinion be marginal. Go thicker than this and you start having trouble mounting pots etc.

Also the corners will need some form of joining, either welding (expensive for ali), or an extra fold and rivetting.

ecc83

jpfamps said:

There are plenty of off-the-shelf Plexi 100 chassis, so I would be tempted to get on a punch the holes your self (a chassis punch will about a fiver).

I would advise NOT using ali for a 100W Plexi; you really do need the strength of steel. Even 2 mm ali would in my opinion be marginal. Go thicker than this and you start having trouble mounting pots etc.

Also the corners will need some form of joining, either welding (expensive for ali), or an extra fold and rivetting.

Yes, I knew Ali was frowned upon for the reasons given. I just thought the OP might not be treating the unit as  badly being a home build?

Having spent many hours opening up holes in a plated THICK! steel chassis I have come to love aluminium.

Dave.

jpfamps

ecc83 said:

jpfamps said:

There are plenty of off-the-shelf Plexi 100 chassis, so I would be tempted to get on a punch the holes your self (a chassis punch will about a fiver).

I would advise NOT using ali for a 100W Plexi; you really do need the strength of steel. Even 2 mm ali would in my opinion be marginal. Go thicker than this and you start having trouble mounting pots etc.

Also the corners will need some form of joining, either welding (expensive for ali), or an extra fold and rivetting.

Yes, I knew Ali was frowned upon for the reasons given. I just thought the OP might not be treating the unit as  badly being a home build?

Having spent many hours opening up holes in a plated THICK! steel chassis I have come to love aluminium.

Dave.

I've also spent plenty of time bashing holes in steel, so I don't need convincing of the ease of working advantages of ali, not withstanding its lightness and non magnetic properties.

We use ali for our amps.

However for a 100w Plexi style amp, in my view, even 2mm ali is inadequate strength wise; the chassis will bow significantly. Further the Plexi is a "top hat" style chassis and the corners will need either welding, or extra flanges + rivets.

Using an inadequate material to make the metal work easier is daft.

By using an off-the-shelf chassis the OP would need to bash 3 noval socket holes in the top, which will be pretty straight forward with the correct tools, ie a drill and a chassis punch.

ecc83

jpfamps said:

ecc83 said:

jpfamps said:

There are plenty of off-the-shelf Plexi 100 chassis, so I would be tempted to get on a punch the holes your self (a chassis punch will about a fiver).

I would advise NOT using ali for a 100W Plexi; you really do need the strength of steel. Even 2 mm ali would in my opinion be marginal. Go thicker than this and you start having trouble mounting pots etc.

Also the corners will need some form of joining, either welding (expensive for ali), or an extra fold and rivetting.

Yes, I knew Ali was frowned upon for the reasons given. I just thought the OP might not be treating the unit as  badly being a home build?

Having spent many hours opening up holes in a plated THICK! steel chassis I have come to love aluminium.

Dave.

I've also spent plenty of time bashing holes in steel, so I don't need convincing of the ease of working advantages of ali, not withstanding its lightness and non magnetic properties.

We use ali for our amps.

However for a 100w Plexi style amp, in my view, even 2mm ali is inadequate strength wise; the chassis will bow significantly. Further the Plexi is a "top hat" style chassis and the corners will need either welding, or extra flanges + rivets.

Using an inadequate material to make the metal work easier is daft.

By using an off-the-shelf chassis the OP would need to bash 3 noval socket holes in the top, which will be pretty straight forward with the correct tools, ie a drill and a chassis punch.

Wow! Just a suggestion!

Dave.