Nice work. Definitely looks better than some of the prototype boxes I have had to make over the years. 73, N2TK, Tony
-----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Wes Stewart Sent: Monday, August 01, 2016 6:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EC2 Clone (Was The 1500 watt amp) Nice work! I too have built my own enclosures with similar techniques. A couple of my projects can be seen here: http://sadxa.org/n7ws.html#amp Although at the time I had access to a prototype workshop, I have done similar work at home with comparable results. If possible, I avoid bends. In all of this stuff I used 0.062" 6061-T6 material so it wasn't going to bend anyway. The harder alloy drills like a dream. For all of the corner joinery I used 3/8" square stock, 8/32 threads and stainless steel screws In the protoshop, I had access to a shear but all of the sheared edges were still smoothed by hand. I had a granite surface plate and used a vernier height gauge for layout so similar parts were interchangeable. In the home shop I lay out as carefully as possible and match drill on a drill press. Most people can't tell the difference. With a lot of elbow grease a hacksaw works, although after a lot of furniture building and finish sanding, I needed rotator cuff surgery so I don't do that anymore. With extreme care and I do mean extreme, a carbide toothed blade on a table saw will cut aluminum if it's thick enough and the blade has fine enough teeth. Otherwise I use a bandsaw, which is always safer, if less precise. In the protoshop I had access to chemical dip baths for passivating the aluminum, silver plating the RF parts and a panograph engraver for panel lettering. Silver looks nice, but is highly overrated as an RF conductor.* In the home shop, before the un-elected bureaucrats in DC decided we were too stupid to handle lye (judging by the electorate they may be right), I would etch aluminum in a lye bath, rinse and neutralize with vinegar and a final water rinse. This would yield a nice satin finish. The best I have found since is oven cleaner. Another finish, if you like the look, can be had by using a random-orbit sander Play with the grit until you find something you like. Sanding it wet with a little cutting oil can be fun, albeit messy, too. Tube amplifier still have their virtues and, along with antennas, can be great roll-your-own projects that can work better than what you can buy. Wes N7Ws * http://k6mhe.com/n7ws/Plating.pdf On 8/1/2016 9:36 AM, EricJ wrote: > If you can build whatever you want, you can easily build the > enclosure. Here is an EC2 clone I built last week in about 6 hours. I > made the side panels with a hacksaw, file and drill press. The front > panel I cut and formed with an inexpensive 8" shear/brake. This one is > branded Grizzly, but Harbor Freight has them as well. I didn't use the > Elecraft 2D fasteners because I only had 2 on hand and didn't want to > make a bunch of little fussy pieces. I used 4 long sections of 1/4" > square aluminum stock and drilled them with the same hole pattern as > the 2D fasteners. The front panel will get painted after I drill and punch it for the current project. > > https://flic.kr/p/KBivtc > > The smaller K1 enclosure is nearly the same design (slightly different > top > cover) so it scales down easily. It would scale up for a large amp > just as easily. The cost of the EC2-clone was about $4 in materials (0.080" and 0.050" > sheet and 1/4" bar stock). All can be built with a hacksaw, file and a > hand drill. A bandsaw and a drill press make it more precise. A > shear/brake makes it even easier. > > Eric KE6US ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
