Brian,
In the past, there were 3 basic options; I suspect they are the same today:
1. Buy a standard sized box to use as the chassis; use a drill press
to drill small screw holes after your layout is determined and
inked in the box. Use a chassis punch set to cut the larger
holes, and so on. Buy other pieces of metal and cut to fit.
2. complete a drawing package and take to a small metal working shop
that has a metal brake to bend sheet metal, and the the parts
formed for you from sheet metal you provide or buy from them; I
like to us 6061T6 my self, because it is easy to machine, form,
and weld if needed.
3. Get a small metal brake, shear and drill press and do it all
yourself. It can be the cheapest solution if you find you made an
error in your drawings, want to add something, do another project,
and so on.
4. You may want to make an exact copy of a handbook amplifier the
first time out of the gate, to get this part of the process under
control, and that may even yield a source of drawings for you,
making (2) or (3) easier for you.
It can be a very fun part of the process as well; there are many tricks
you can use to detour around the stuff you don't have; for example, if
you don't have a brake to bend those nice curved corners, you can cut
all the parts with a shear, and use right angle stock along the inside
edges; counter sink the screw holes on the outside, and you get a very
presentable cabinet as well.
These methods of getting the sheet metal work done have served me well
for five decades, and I am sure others can provide refinements and
additional suggestions.
73 de Dave, W5SV
Brian F. Wruble wrote:
I have always wanted to try building one of those big amplifiers. One thing
that stops me is that I have no idea where you get or how you build all the
"sheet metal" parts --- complicated pieces of chassis, etc. Anybody out
there who knows how people manage to build or source these?
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