It’s been several months since I’ve talked about my new 6AS7 SET and my guess is that some folks are wondering what’s happening. Don’t worry, it’s still in process. However there are some extenuating circumstances associated with the amp’s delay. Let me explain.

Last fall as I was going about my planning process for the new amp there was something else on my mind; retirement. Not a retirement from tube design or the web site but from my professional career of 33 years. I had been getting restless for some time, especially exacerbated by the whole “COVID” situation, and was thinking it was time for a change. And around Christmas I finally realized that the time left was worth far more to me than the money I might earn, so I decided to retire.

To those who have not gone through this process, let me explain that “retirement” is not simply “not working”. It’s a fundamental change in the way you live your life. It takes work, planning, money, and (at least for me) a substantial pile of paperwork. And I’m still not done yet. But, for better or for worse, the last day of my professional career was 31 March 2021.

The last four weeks have been a learning experience and I’m just now starting to get into a rhythm with my days and my projects. It’s amazing how many things get on the “sometime when I have time” list. Now I have time and after 33 years of procrastination, the list is mighty long. And it keeps growing. In my case, retirement has not meant “more free time”. Instead it seems to be meaning “more time spent on a lot more projects”.

For example, in addition to vacuum tube amps, one of the things I’ve played with in the past is vintage tool restoration. Here is a before and after picture of project I completed a few years ago.

This is a 1937 Craftsman 8″ table saw, model 101.02140, which I purchased from an architectural salvage store for $35 USD. It is now the saw I use (with a sliding table) to do all my non-ferrous metal cutting. Well, a friend and I went to a swap meet this last Friday and I came away with a 1/2″ wood shaper for the princely sum of $5 USD (motor included). It’s a Power King model 411 made between 1943 and 1947.

So now this tool is sitting in the middle of my shop and every time I go out to work on the amp chassis, I see the shaper. It is in need of a few missing parts and the search for those may take a while. I may be a little distracted until I pull together everything I need.

Another distraction that is assailing me is the garden. I have always liked gardening and now that I’m retired, I should have time; right? Well it’s spring here and there is a lot to do outside. And since the weather here the last couple of weeks has been very nice, virtually all my time has been spent in the yard and gardens. Once the rain starts back up, I can get back into the shop and work on other things.

Now, How About that SET?

However, fear not, the amp is still moving along, albeit slowly. Here is the last picture I took of the amp chassis back on January 12th.

I have been slowly working on sanding the internal contours of the openings. This is hard, slow work. The piece of Purple Heart I selected for this chassis is substantially harder than the piece I used for The 6DJ8 Headphone Amp. This means the the sanding of the burn marks is taking a lot of time. Once done with sanding, I’ll get a couple of coats of oil on the wood then I’ll be able to really start moving.

I think I will take some time to get the metal cut and fit just to be able to do something else on the amp. I should be getting back to spending some major time on this project in the next several weeks. Until then, I am asking for patience.