One more thing concerning Front Panel Express; with a tie in to the SET project. Just as an experiment, last night I opened Front Panel Designer and duplicated my 6AS7 SET top plate design. Now that I’m familiar with the software it took less than an hour to complete.
My top will still be copper of course. However I was curious what it would cost to have the panel made. This is obviously a cost verses personal labor tradeoff. However, sometimes, like today when my shop temperature is running about 40°F (≈4.5°C), the idea of having the plate made is a more attractive option.
So here is what it looks like from the software.
The cost estimate for this plate is $139.55 USD. I took the liberty of adding tube socket markings and a “Cascade Tubes” label. This was standard practice on chassis for a long time. I think it adds a nice finished touch to the plate. However, if you forgo all the markings, the cost for the plate is only $102.10 USD.
At either price point, it’s really a judgement call as to whether it’s worth the expense. If you’re like me, make amps all the time, and already have all the raw materials and tooling, it’s simply a question of what is your labor worth and how much enjoyment you get from the process. If however, you don’t have the tooling and materials (perhaps this is a first project), or you aren’t as skilled as you’d like in metal working, this begins to look like a very attractive option. One could easily spend $100 USD on raw materials, step cutters, drill bits, drilling lubricants, paint, prep materials (sand paper / steel wool, etc.), and the like.
For an additional comparison, today the iron required for the 6AS7 SET is about $250 USD from Edcor and another $30 USD for the two Hammond chokes. Adding all the other miscellaneous parts could easily add another $100 USD. Then there are the tubes themselves to consider. Suddenly that $102 USD price tag doesn’t look nearly so large.
Acquiring a professionally made top plate has been an interesting experience. It has really opened my eyes as to what is possible. I probably won’t do it very often, but occasionally it will make a nice upgrade to a project.
I’m beginning to have a play with the Front Panel Express program in case its economical to import a completed top plate. Just wondering about the placement of the tube socket main and screw holes. Is that something you do manually from measurements take of the sockets or are there standard overlays? I see with the transformers, files in various format are available and FPE can import dxf files. Regards
Woodo
I did mine based on the measured drilling template I had already created. I simply set up a grid with uniform spacing, selected snap to grid, and placed all the holes. For those which didn’t fall on the grid (i.e. transformers) I then adjusted the hole positions manually. The tube sockets are just based on the dimensions I use as measured from the actual parts.
A factory made top plate would add a professional fit and finish to the project. I would go for it if I were you.
Looks great. I have been talking to a local sheet metal company about the top and bottom aluminium enclosures. He did mention an option to cut all the holes by an associated business. I might ask if they do the labelling as well.