The ultimate DIY? A Stax SRM-T2!

[nattonrice]

That looks very, very nice =D

How are you planing on mounting them to the front panels?

Blind holes on the mounting side?

[kevin gilmore]

is this g code? or is there a special way to do step and repeat?

I was trying to get cute. (meaning lazy...)

I got it right on the 3rd try.

Anyway

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack4.jpg

I could make it bigger, and keep the rest of it the same size, but i'm not

sure why i would want to. Then if someone really did want to put in a he90

jack, they would have to make a sleeve.

As far as mounting them, i really was planning on thru holes. But i'll try some

blind holes on test aluminum first to see if i like how much bite there is going to

be. It would definitely look cooler to have blind holes. So far i have managed

not to have any blind holes.

The price is still going to be ugly unless luvdunhill comes thru with the pins on

the cheap. Its really only about $5 in teflon per jack, plus machining time.

Plus $19 for the octal socket to steal the pins from.

It does not matter, i want it perfect.

[nattonrice]

Yeah blind holes would look significantly better (not to sound shallow at all).

Four holes 1mm or slightly less from the front surface would probably give enough length.

The new one looks very nice =)

[kevin gilmore]

replication is a thing of beauty...

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack5.jpg

12 minutes of machine time per jack.

Extra holes added specifically for luvdunhill

[cetoole]

Ooh, very nice! I presume that since the tension on the pins seems to be inherent to their design, there is no need to worry about cold flow in the teflon?

[Kerry]

Wow

Very cool that you have access to stuff like that!

[nattonrice]

When I am rich I so need a cnc for my garage...

Looks like so much fun!

[kevin gilmore]

Right now machines like the hurco and fadal can be had used with full warranty

for something like 20% of retail. So many companies going out of business due to

the economy, that there is a huge glut of these things. You can actually get

stuff like this that will fit in a standard garage, and run on single phase for

about $7k with a full set of tool holders for the tool bank and a number of different

hold down bars and a massive vise or two.

Then just add software, and any trained monkey can do this.

I wonder if my friend in skokie is trainable?

[nattonrice]

Yikes that's cheaper than I thought...

Now I need to find a bigger garage.

I don't think software comes in milspec red

[kevin gilmore]

featurecam, solidworks, or captiva is what you are looking for.

There are certainly lots of others. Some software is CAD only, like autocad,

some software is CAM only. Featurecam is both. And made especially easy

because it sucks in many 3D formats, for the ultimate in quick and brain dead.

Make sure that you pick software that already has a post-processor for the

machine you are going to acquire. Even a shitty post-processor can make

a big difference in how long it takes to actually make something.

[swt61]

As far as mounting them, i really was planning on thru holes. But i'll try some

blind holes on test aluminum first to see if i like how much bite there is going to

be. It would definitely look cooler to have blind holes. So far i have managed

not to have any blind holes.

Kevin, Marc designed some faceplates for my Beta22/Sigma22 that have blind holes in 4mm aluminum, and they have plenty of bite. They look so clean that I'm really glad he did them that way.

[kevin gilmore]

Kevin, Marc designed some faceplates for my Beta22/Sigma22 that have blind holes in 4mm aluminum, and they have plenty of bite. They look so clean that I'm really glad he did them that way.

Working on it!

Really...

Wanted the front panel by tomorrow, but i'm just too tired.

(burning the candle at both ends on a newly funded 5.6M$ NIH grant)

(5 years of programming all in about 3 weeks )

(there seem to be a few minor bugs)

[kevin gilmore]

ultra high quality mil-spec shaft coupler available from RSA for $35.

Same as in the stealth.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/rk50shaft.jpg

Also available from mouser for $1.92 plus about 30 seconds in my lathe in

my basement. Non-magnetic oxygen free brass, chrome plated.

Now the lunatic master machinist suggested i precision machine the holes for

the stax jack mounting screws, then insert machined and threaded pins with

a drop of super glue.

So i will be blind hole tapping for 4-40, as i believe that will be sufficient.

Also shown the tulip pins from marc.

[spritzer]

Most excellent!!

[luvdunhill]

The pins I sent Kevin are slightly different shape from the ones I previously had. From head on, they look slightly less substantial and you'd think they would have less force on the pins. However, I have a feeling this is aesthetic only, as I cannot tell the difference in a controlled double-blind test

I told Kevin I'd be glad to source these for everyone. I have a family member that can pick them up and mail them to me at a pretty reasonable cost, if I'm not able to supply them from my current stash.

I can also get a quote on the 9-pin sockets, and 8-pin sockets.

[spritzer]

Please get a quote on the sockets for us. The socket you sent me requires next to no force while plugging in the cable so nothing to complain about there.

Ohh and I do have one of those items you were asking me about earlier.

[kevin gilmore]

So some people are picking on me for what they seem to believe is my lack of

ability to use a camera. Yes there really are differences between quickpics done

at night handheld with a flash, and waiting for the sun to show up.

ok, so here is the original

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3.jpg

and here is the same thing with daylight, f32 6 seconds exposure

due to the lens, everything is out of focus. I tried, but this was the

best picture i could get.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f32.jpg

and here is the same thing f16 3 seconds

this is probably the best this lens can do.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f16.jpg

and here is the same thing f8 about 1.5 seconds

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f8.jpg

Mounted on a 50 lb tripod, camera completely secured, RF remote trigger

focus set once. Notice the picture shift with f-stop. That is NOT

the camera moving. Of course none of these could be done handheld.

So in the future you will continue to see quickpics due to me being a lazy fart

until the thing is done, then the pictures will be perfect.

Its the sound... stupid

[Les_Garten]

So some people are picking on me for what they seem to believe is my lack of

ability to use a camera. Yes there really are differences between quickpics done

at night handheld with a flash, and waiting for the sun to show up.

ok, so here is the original

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3.jpg

and here is the same thing with daylight, f32 6 seconds exposure

due to the lens, everything is out of focus. I tried, but this was the

best picture i could get.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f32.jpg

and here is the same thing f16 3 seconds

this is probably the best this lens can do.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f16.jpg

and here is the same thing f8 about 1.5 seconds

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f8.jpg

Mounted on a 50 lb tripod, camera completely secured, RF remote trigger

focus set once. Notice the picture shift with f-stop. That is NOT

the camera moving. Of course none of these could be done handheld.

So in the future you will continue to see quickpics due to me being a lazy fart

until the thing is done, then the pictures will be perfect.

Its the sound... stupid

Kinda sensitive aint'cha...

[kevin gilmore]

Kinda sensitive aint'cha...

Nope

But if the camera had a 64000 iso with the same noise levels

things would be easier.

[digger945]

I can also get a quote on the 9-pin sockets, and 8-pin sockets.

Please get a quote on the sockets for us.

I'm with Birgir, for at least enough to build this.

So some people are picking on me for what they seem to believe is my lack of

ability to use a camera. Yes there really are differences between quickpics done

at night handheld with a flash, and waiting for the sun to show up.

ok, so here is the original

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3.jpg

and here is the same thing with daylight, f32 6 seconds exposure

due to the lens, everything is out of focus. I tried, but this was the

best picture i could get.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f32.jpg

and here is the same thing f16 3 seconds

this is probably the best this lens can do.

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f16.jpg

and here is the same thing f8 about 1.5 seconds

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjack3f8.jpg

Mounted on a 50 lb tripod, camera completely secured, RF remote trigger

focus set once. Notice the picture shift with f-stop. That is NOT

the camera moving. Of course none of these could be done handheld.

So in the future you will continue to see quickpics due to me being a lazy fart

until the thing is done, then the pictures will be perfect.

Its the sound... stupid

Who on earth could possibly find fault with your large detailed pics?

I like the first one(the original) best.

[kevin gilmore]

everyone is a critic.

OK, now on to what will probably be pages and pages of discussion on the

most important aspect of the amplifier.

The KNOB. (pronounced 'KaNOBB")

So i've been playing with the delrin shaft on the panel bearing, and it acts just

like the real T2. Which is to say, it binds and generally sucks.

So its blind hole time again. Since i don't want any visible setscrew holes, i think

its best to machine the knob as one piece with a .875 shaft, and then the

panel bearing will work perfect.

Now on to the discussion of the diameter and thickness of the knob.

If i exactly center it, which i now think i'm going to do, the diameter can be

as big as 2.9525 inches. But i think that is a bit big. So something like

1.5 x 1 inch??

[Voltron]

Kevin, do you have a drawing or picture of the face plate? I'm generally in favor of big KaNOBBs but I agree that nearly 3" seems too large. Seeing the plate layout and dimensions could help though.

[spritzer]

I never measured the stock T2 knob but its size was pretty absurd. 1x1.5 would be cool though.

[kevin gilmore]

Kevin, do you have a drawing or picture of the face plate? I'm generally in favor of big KaNOBBs but I agree that nearly 3" seems too large. Seeing the plate layout and dimensions could help though.

Should have the real thing in a couple of days. Panel is 2.957 high and i don't remember

how wide, look at the pictures.

All that is on it is the volume knob in the middle and 2 of my stax jacks mounted

via blind holes from the back. Vertically in line with the output tubes.

(i.e. 2.575 + and - from exact center)

[spritzer]

Wait, what!!!!! I thought we'd talked about some gold screws to make it moar awesome??