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5E3 amp build project


H

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H, that is some of the prettiest oak I've seen but how thick are the boards? My 5E3 with an AlNiCo speaker and pine cab weighs in at over 30lbs. If I replaced the cab with 1/2" oak, I fear it may compete with a Fender Twin!

 

Maybe you ought to send that oak over here and I'll shoot you some 100 yr old pine from a local farm... :D

The boards are just under an inch thick (23mm)! I had the boards sanded back to 23mm from 32mm. It will be pretty heavy for its size but it's staying home so no worries about lugging it around. If I make more of these I'll probably go to half inch or 5/8ths.

 

I think Ron Kirn's bought up all that old pine, hasn't he? ;)

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I had been mulling over the finger joints and getting my friend to help me out with them. I decided that I won't feel truly happy with the amp unless I do the every last thing myself.

 

So, I bit the bullet and bought myself a router table plus a router. It's used but newish and good quality. I'm collecting it tomorrow morning.

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I had been mulling over the finger joints and getting my friend to help me out with them. I decided that I won't feel truly happy with the amp unless I do the every last thing myself.

 

So, I bit the bullet and bought myself a router table plus a router. It's used but newish and good quality. I'm collecting it tomorrow morning.

Bully for you... I just love a home build..

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  • 4 weeks later...

Diary entry: all wood for the cabinet exterior marked up ready for cutting.

23de98a6.jpg

24288a72.jpg

 

I've been trying out making finger joint jigs and practicing the cuts with scrap wood on my router table. VERY nervous about the first few cuts in the cabinet wood :-/

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It's inch thick, not half. I don't do things by halves ;)

 

Excellent! That's going to be a beautiful cab.

 

The trick with a jig is to try to keep the pressure on your router consistent. Make the boards 1/16" or so too long. It's easier to sand or cut twice than add material later. :drunken_smilie:

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Howard, that amp is really starting to shape up. Thanks for the updates as I'm following it closely.

Imagine your new 150 (it's a beaut!) through an amp like the one I'm building. Lots of kit choices over there, Don, thinking about doing one?

 

I'll be cutting the wood fairly soon. I've got a circular saw on the way that fits in my router table. That will take care of the long, straight cuts I need to make. The router and jig will do the finger joints.

 

I need to figure out how to do the control panel cut-out on the top rear. I think I need a template and a router bit with a pilot bearing. Woodwork is really difficult!

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Ah! Of course... I hadn't thought of that. Good idea!

 

Sometimes beauty outweighs mass.

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You'll have to send me the schematic for that anti-gravity mod!

 

For the top control panel - the curved inside corners can be cut using a hole saw. First mark out the center of the circle/radius and drill a small pilot hole, and then use that to guide your hole saw cut.

 

From there, you can use the router table with a straight bit and a fence to make the inside cuts from there.

 

I've also used a dremmel trio with a cutting bit and a guide to make the control panel cut with some success, but for harder/thicker wood (for a moment there it sounded like this thread was becoming a viagra ad) it doesn't work so well; as in broken bits and burnt edges.

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You'll have to send me the schematic for that anti-gravity mod!

 

For the top control panel - the curved inside corners can be cut using a hole saw. First mark out the center of the circle/radius and drill a small pilot hole, and then use that to guide your hole saw cut. From there, you can use the router table with a straight bit and a fence to make the inside cuts from there.

I have the 'gravity' bit all sorted out, just need to do the 'anti-'... ;)

 

Thanks for the control panel tip. Is it worth cutting away as much waste as possible with a jig saw before the router gets involved? I expect the load on the router will be pretty heavy if it's using both sides of the cutter through this oak.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Little update: I've bought a circular saw which fits in my router table and a dovetail jig that can also do finger/box joints. A taper jig will soon be winging its way to me too.

 

The wood cutting day draws closer ;)

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Amamba - measure twice, cut once.

 

Or, as Thomas would put it: "No matter how many times I cut it, it's Still too short!" :aggressive_mini:

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Excellent!

 

Done any work on the electronics yet?

All I've done there is to confirm that all the components are present and don't look damaged. I'm aware of the electrocution danger but I'm familiar with soldering and I've got directions to follow to complete it.

 

The cab is my biggest challenge as it's not a kit and woodwork is an alien art to me ;) Once I have the sides, top and bottom cut and fitted together I'll get the soldering iron warmed up :)

 

Thanks for your continued interest in this project. In some ways I feel I have some friends in the room when I'm reviewing things :)

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New toy: this is a Trend dovetail jig which can also do half-inch box joints. A couple of clamps to fit it to my workbench and I'll be practicing the joints on some scrap with the router at the weekend I hope.

 

bfca71ac.jpg

 

Another item I'm planning to get this weekend is a piece of three quarter inch Baltic birch ply for the baffles. Aside from a short list of other things (speaker, grille cloth, handle, feet, corner protectors) I'm just about finished buying things to complete the project.

 

It's about time I did some work on this thing! :)

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