A new 'pool...

[paulruby]

I normally use my own styling and circuit options but, in this case, I was asked to create a replica of a friends amp. The cab is from Bob Burt. Some of the parts to get it just right came from Allyn.

Small versions:
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front_small.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front2_small.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front3_small.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_rear_small.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_and_me_small.jpg

Hi-Res for broadband folks:
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front2.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_front3.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_rear.jpg
http://paulamps.com/liverpool_and_me.jpg

I actually forgot to take guts pics. (Doh!) Had to get it out in a hurry for use at a gig this Friday. It's still in transit...

By the way, in case anyone wants to email me, you need to use the contact page at my website. I'm changing my email address weekly since the freakin spammers keep grabbing it.

EDIT:

Found a guts pic that I forgot I even took...

http://paulamps.com/PoolChassisGuts1.jpg

I bent the chassis in my garage myself and then used durafix to "weld" the corners. It's really more like soldering with a torch but works really well.

http://durafix.com/

- Paul

[mhuss]

hi Paul,

Looks beautiful.

--mark

PS. Any reason you put the links in Code tags?

[paulruby]

Any reason you put the links in Code tags?

I thought I was supposed to... No?

[drhulsey]

Paul,
Do all your amps come with landscaping
Great looking amp, as usual. The front plate looks like walnut. How about the rest of the cab

[paulruby]

Heh... I was a nice sunny day, so I took it outside, where my landscaping happens to be in progress...

The face plate is indeed walnut but the cab is cherry. The cherry panel that came with the cab was just a hair short for the opening and I was able to do the hand burning on the walnut better. So, I got a better fit and better burning result with walnut. Plus it looks nice... Not sure exactly why it burned better. I spent about an hour practicing burning on scrap. It wasn't as difficult as I expected... I used my soldering iron and made a custom 1/4", sharp, chisel tip, ground down from a 1/4 bolt. The trick was that the tip needed to be slightly rounded so I could roll it a little for custom length burns ranging from 1/8 to 1/4 inch.

I wish I was artistic enough to do a nice graphic on the panel. The owner wanted a picture of his dog but I simply didn't know how or who could do it.

[dartanion]

Hey Paul,

What thickness of material did you use for the faceplate?

I have been struggling to find 2mm thick wood. Do you know where to get some or did you mill it yourself. If it's the later, any tips?

[paulruby]

I have a planer, so milled it myself... If you want to send me some pieces, I would be happy to mil 'em down and send back. You can email me via my website. http://paulrubyamplifiers.com/contact.html

[dartanion]

Hi Paul,

I have a planer too, it just doesn't mill to the small of a thickness. Any tricks in getting it to work that way? Mine goes down to 1/8".

I was thinking of trying to cut pieces off larger stock on my table saw or band saw to 2mm, but is going to be a challenge.

[Distortion]

Hi Paul,

I have a planer too, it just doesn't mill to the small of a thickness. Any tricks in getting it to work that way? Mine goes down to 1/8".

I was thinking of trying to cut pieces off larger stock on my table saw or band saw to 2mm, but is going to be a challenge.

Well, I am not Paul but the easiest way to plane down thin stock is to take a thicker piece of wood and use it as a base. Attach the piece you want to plane down to the base material with double sided tape. Then the two pieces actually act as one. Slowly plane down the top piece until you get the desired thickness you are looking for.

The best way to plane down highly figured wood is to use a drum sander instead of a planer. Planers quite often will tear out chunks of the wood but a drum sander does not.

[paulruby]

Yeah... What Distortion said...

[doctord02]

"I wish I was artistic enough to do a nice graphic on the panel. The owner wanted a picture of his dog but I simply didn't know how or who could do it."

I was under the impression that BNP can use their laser to burn wood faceplates... I thought I had read that here some time back...

Nice looking amp Paul, as usual. Burt does nice work.

[paulruby]

"I wish I was artistic enough to do a nice graphic on the panel. The owner wanted a picture of his dog but I simply didn't know how or who could do it."

I was under the impression that BNP can use their laser to burn wood faceplates... I thought I had read that here some time back...

Nice looking amp Paul, as usual. Burt does nice work.

Yes, if the picture is of the correct format: pure black 'n' white, no grey scale. Any grey scale or artifacts from gif or jpg compression foul it up. But, when it's more like a pencil drawing, the laser can't do it. That's where I was stuck.

[dartanion]

I don't have a drum sander...DOH!

I'll try the 2 sided tape trick. I had though about that but was concerned that it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

I might also try using a random orbital sander to bring it down to 2mm. They need to be sanded anyway.

[drhulsey]

... I was able to do the hand burning on the walnut better. ..

I ran across a nice DIY method to make a wood-burning laser pen:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-wood-burning-pen/
The video looks like it is easier to control than a tradition wood burner.
But then.. does anyone here like to do DIY projects

[hairyandy]

Paul,

I had no idea Michael Douglas played a Trainwreck!



Andy