The Menace

[Voltron]

?? is more like it! You'll get it done though, I'm certain.

[n_maher]

?? is more like it! You'll get it done though, I'm certain.

Yeah, we need a pissed off dog or cat smiley. perhaps:

but somehow it loses something when it's that small...

Regardless, I made myself somewhat productive tonight and cleaned the adhesive off of all of the caps and mounted them in their clamps so that's one less thing that I have to worry about tomorrow night. I just hope the next bit can make it through the last two holes. With all the bits and such it's almost to the point where having a panel fabricated might not have been a bad idea. I'm pretty sure I torched at least $40 tonight.

[Pars]

Yeah, I wasn't sure how bifurcated hole saws vs. steel (I assume the amp case is also?) was going to fare. I know they are fine for most aluminum, but steel...

Good luck on the last two holes. But look at the bright side... unlike an SS amp, here you get the casing mostly done up front

[n_maher]

Yeah, I wasn't sure how bifurcated hole saws vs. steel (I assume the amp case is also?) was going to fare. I know they are fine for most aluminum, but steel...

I think I was just pushing it a little to hard and should have allowed more time for the bit to cool. It cut the first two holes fine and then died. The second bit was a cheap POS so I wasn't really expecting it to do anything.

But look at the bright side... unlike an SS amp, here you get the casing mostly done up front

A big amen on that one and I appreciate the low parts count more and more every day.

[en480c4]

Sorry to hear things didn't go well last night... I was looking forward to pictures!

[n_maher]

Well it did and didn't go well last night. Chassis fab = bad, Pete's review of the power supply wiring = good. Just a couple minor tweaks and that part is essentially functional if not done. I think the PS can live without the chassis stiffening for now although that'll be the first thing that I do after finishing the Amp.

I'm hoping that the hardest decision that I have to make next weekend is what sets of output tubes I'm going to bring with me to CanJam. Oh, and I'm really hoping that I'll have actually gotten to flip the power switch before shipping it to Florida.

[boomana]

Oh, and I'm really hoping that I'll have actually gotten to flip the power switch before shipping it to Florida.

No worries either way. I have inside knowledge that Mike, Matt, and John are starting their own Three Stooges Amp Repair company. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have you as their first customer.

[n_maher]

Well between last night and tonight I'm beginning to question whether or not the amp gods are on my side. Last night's snafu is already documented but get this - so I duck out of work 10 min. early so I can run by the hardware store (which closes at 5) and pick up a replacement hole saw. Any guesses as to what size they're currently sold out of. SONOFABITCH! And the pisser was that I had 20 minutes to deal with this before I had to be at another meeting. So I run to Home Depot aka the friggen devil to see if they have anything. Ok, so they've got pre-packaged craptacular looking hole saws so I grab a 2-1/2" set and then look twice. "Dang, that looks smaller than 2-1/2", but it has a label and everything." Not wanting to be f'ed twice in one day I crack open the package and low and behold it's a 2-1/8" bit. I cannot begin to imagine how angry I would have been if I'd gotten it home and found that out at 9pm. So, I go back to the isle and select the right bit and drive pieces separately and I'm headed back to the register with 2 min. to spare.

Fast forward to 9pm and the resumption of my hole cutting activities from the previous night. The third hole in the chassis, which was 90% done when the first bit gave out finishes up just fine. The fourth hole, yup, this HD bit sucks ass, fights me all the way. I manage to get it done but it leaves a slightly larger hole than the other three. Oh, and the burr that it leaves around the inside of the hole proceeds to slice my thumb, awesome. So for the rest of the evening I get to fight with trying not to bleed on the amp and bits since the cut is about the equivalent of a nasty paper cut and not worth doing anything about.

Anyway, enough pissing and moaning from me for one night. All of the large diameter holes are now drilled and the front four output coupling cap positions have the mounting holes as well. The tube socket holes are going to require some manual enlarging to ensure that they don't short against the case (more on that another night) but that shouldn't be all that time consuming. But no one cares about any of this, show us the pics man, show us the pics!!

Blank Canvas

Real Nerds Do Full Scale Cad Drawings

Mock Up

As of 9:30 (more mock up)

As of 11:00 (output caps provisionally mounted)

[Voltron]

I like the story more than the pics, but I still like the pics. Sorry about the sliced finger, but progress comes at a cost, man! You are cruising and there is no question that the Menace will be menacing SoFla in two weeks time. I am so psyched that we will all be there for a change -- no more wimping out and I do mean you thrice!

I have been drinking this evening with JP#s and none other than stevieo himself! We had a fine time drinking way too much to drive, so I hope the old bastard makes it home to Marin OK. He is full on for CanJam so that will be something else, altogether. I truly believe that this meet is going to top all meets from a pure fun and mayhem perspective. Gear like the Menace and thrice's FORMER balanced b22 will be cool and all, but the people and the action will RULE. Can't wait to see you all, but Nate and Grawk especially, because we either met briefly (Nate) or haven't met at all (grawk) and I think we need to drink and carouse and bond. Looking forward to it and the Menace and the like will just be gravy...

[boomana]

I'm loving the Diary of the Menace, Nate. It's like tuning in to a new episode each night. It will be even better when I get to see/hear it at CanJam. X2 with Voltron on the hanging out, but I'll leave it to you guys to do the carousing. I forgot Stevieo is going to be there

[Voltron]

I'm loving the Diary of the Menace, Nate. It's like tuning in to a new episode each night. It will be even better when I get to see/hear it at CanJam. X2 with Voltron on the hanging out, but I'll leave it to you guys to do the carousing. I forgot Stevieo is going to be there

Double the because stevieo claims to be unwilling to carouse, and yet he had 5 gins on the plane here and then several shots of tequila to go with his beers. Go figure this older generation!

CJ08 WILL register on the Richter scale, I guarantee it! Why isn't Reks coming?! What about the rest of the H-C crew?

[Smeggy]

Too many deadlines here, no spare time, no money and all the other excuses I can't think of right now.

[n_maher]

Looking forward to it and the Menace and the like will just be gravy...

It might be hot enough to make gravy on top. The cathode resistors for the output tubes look like this...

I like the story more than the pics, but I still like the pics.

I'm loving the Diary of the Menace, Nate. It's like tuning in to a new episode each night.

Well, it's a limited run show so enjoy it while you can. I'm hoping to make big progress this weekend although my wife has other plans for my time.

[JBLoudG20]

It might be hot enough to make gravy on top. The cathode resistors for the output tubes look like this...

Sounds about right.

[aerius]

Oh, and the burr that it leaves around the inside of the hole proceeds to slice my thumb, awesome. So for the rest of the evening I get to fight with trying not to bleed on the amp and bits since the cut is about the equivalent of a nasty paper cut and not worth doing anything about.

Note for the future, Krazy Glue is your friend in this situation. It seals the cut and stops the bleeding instantly and keeps the cut from opening up again until it heals. I learned this working as a bike mechanic where we'd get nicks & cuts on our hands on a semi-regular basis.

[n_maher]

Note for the future, Krazy Glue is your friend in this situation.

I've used that trick before. Thankfully this one wasn't that deep and didn't want to open up so I was able to leave well enough alone and treat it later with just a band-aid.

My real challenge for the weekend is figuring out how to isolate the tube sockets so there's no danger of them trying to short on the chassis. I don't think that hot glue will hold up to the temps that these things will be running at...

[aerius]

My real challenge for the weekend is figuring out how to isolate the tube sockets so there's no danger of them trying to short on the chassis.

Silicone rubber washers, or possibly silicone caulking, or both. Silicone rubber can stand up to fairly high temperatures without melting like regular rubber. Just make double sure it's silicone rubber, cause regular rubber will die pretty fast if it doesn't go up in smoke immediately.

[n_maher]

Silicone rubber washers, or possibly silicone caulking, or both. Silicone rubber can stand up to fairly high temperatures without melting like regular rubber. Just make double sure it's silicone rubber, cause regular rubber will die pretty fast if it doesn't go up in smoke immediately.

I'm investigating a product right now called pyrosealant.

And we were thinking the same thing with the silicon caulking. There's no room for washers since anything that has an I.D. of 1-1/2" is going to have a huge O.D. and not fit in the hole. I'm working on some hand filing to slightly enlarge the hole that I drilled but I definitely want a physical layer of separation between the socket and the bare metal edge of the hole.

[grawk]

Dow Corning makes some gasketting compound that might work. It's basically silicon caulk that is heat resistant and electrically insulating. That said, I'm not sure where you'd buy it. When I needed it, I grabbed a tube from the box at work (I used to work at dow corning).

[en480c4]

And we were thinking the same thing with the silicon caulking. There's no room for washers since anything that has an I.D. of 1-1/2" is going to have a huge O.D. and not fit in the hole. I'm working on some hand filing to slightly enlarge the hole that I drilled but I definitely want a physical layer of separation between the socket and the bare metal edge of the hole.

Maybe something along the lines of an o-ring. Some sort of plumbing part, perhaps. It would have the required ID but not have a prohibitive OD. I guess heat resistance would be the only concern, but considering temperatures in HW heaters, there might be something there.

[luvdunhill]

My real challenge for the weekend is figuring out how to isolate the tube sockets so there's no danger of them trying to short on the chassis.

doesn't seem like it be an issue to me. Ceramic sockets should be fine.

[n_maher]

All good suggestions but as usual time and availability are the limiting factor. Fabrication of the amp chassis absolutely has to be done by the end of the weekend and really I'd like to be wiring before Monday night. I'm going to head to the local HW store at lunch and see what I can find. I like the idea of using some sort of caulking-type product since the size/shape of the bottom of the socket isn't perfectly round so I'd have to use a glue of some sort anyway.

doesn't seem like it be an issue to me. Ceramic sockets should be fine.

I don't think you're seeing the hole picture (no pun intended), the sockets sit on top of the chassis so the contacts on the bottom run through the hole in the chassis and there's less than 1/16" clearance which makes me nervous. The Johnson tube sockets that I'm using (second guessing this choice big time) are a pain to work with for this reason, there's no way to bottom mount them and be able to use the output tubes that I want to. The socket pictured below is pretty similar:

[Pars]

I'm loving the Diary of the Menace, Nate. It's like tuning in to a new episode each night. It will be even better when I get to see/hear it at CanJam. X2 with Voltron on the hanging out, but I'll leave it to you guys to do the carousing. I forgot Stevieo is going to be there

x2 on the diary, although I want to hear about drill bits that fucking work and cut a clean, correctly sized hole! Preferably in the right spot...

As for your insulator, how about some high-temp RTV sealer (gasket compound)? Auto parts store... maybe even in black...

[luvdunhill]

I found some skived teflon on Ebay that I'm using to insulate part of my BH chassis. It's already adhesive backed as well... as for alternatives (like you really care, at this point) vt4c has some nice sockets that should fit.

[n_maher]

x2 on the diary, although I want to hear about drill bits that fucking work and cut a clean, correctly sized hole! Preferably in the right spot...

The first brand that I used cut a pretty nice hole and with a correctly sized pilot seemed to track really well. I'm sure if I'd taken my time and fussed with it even more I could have gotten really good results. The second, HD branded bit was a serious POS and did nowhere near as good a job.

As for your insulator, how about some high-temp RTV sealer (gasket compound)? Auto parts store... maybe even in black...

That's exactly what I'm hoping to find. I just want to be able to find a data sheet first and confirm electrical insulation/isolation. [edit] Like this: