We're actually looking at several different materials.

What we are most likely to settle on is a canvas phenolic board.

I love teflon... but have been told that PTFE is tough as the devil to machine. And I am not sure if it can be laser cut or not. Great dielectrics. Man, how I love this stuff, but it would also probably be too expensive for us to use and stay within budget.

PVC... nay... just not for me... wasn't even aware that you could get it in sheet form... but I guess ya can...

hope I've been somewhat helpful,

msl

Teflon isn't that hard to machine if your tooling is sharp. Machined a bunch of knife holders one time for a beef packing plant. If your cutters get dull though, watch out!

They make sheet material out of just about any "plastic" you want: PVC, CPVC, Nylon, PTFE, Polyethylene, Polystyrene, etc....goto US Plastics website and you can see a bunch of different kinds.

I just liked the looks of the recessed jacks and it looks like it would be much easier to drill the holes and mount than to thin down the case so you could mount the jacks to it.

Hello, Shane.

The material wasn't plastic but actually some birdseye maple that I'd planed down to about 1/8". Though as Mike says we're likely going to end up using a cotton phenolic laminate which I really like for a number of reasons including sonics.

se

Are you a machinist? You sound pretty fluent in it...

we were thinking (for a different project of ours) of using either a glass or a lexan type top cover... but my partner in crime SE has been worried about how scratch proof lexan or some of the other plastics are...

we've acquired a bunch of glass samples... and some of them look really nice... but, again, machining holes through the glass... intimidating?

do you have any experience with glass or could you recommend a tough transparent or translucent plastic that holds up well to scratches and machines well?

about the recessed jacks and not thinning down the wood case... that is what lead SE to coming up with the recessed rca jacks...

and I was wrong on the canvas... Steve was kiddin' me and saying... canvas is good for tents but not for what we are doing... it is a cotton phenolic board that we are looking at.

msl

I've never messed with glass, but I've got picture frames that have holes drilled in them so I know it can be done.

I can't think of any plastic that is clear or translucent that wouldn't show scratches or that doesn't scratch easily. Nature of the beast I guess.

I really like the light/white look of the mounting panel behind the darker wood when looking through the holes on your prototype. I suppose a nice metal piece such as copper might look nice, too. But then you've got to deal with ground issues with the jacks.

Shane

:::I suppose a nice metal piece such as copper might look nice, too. But then you've got to deal with ground issues with the jacks.::::

hey... help me lobby SE for the copper. That's what I've been saying I want to do. The jacks are insulated if I recall right... so that should not be an issue.

glass shop told me that they could get special tooling (cutters) for glass... at some point we're just going to have to give it a try...
I ask SE to put up some pics of the glass samples...

shame on the plastic... easy to work with... and I keep thinking of al those acryllic turntable platters... or wanting that deep orange of a Parker Duofold fountain pen.

I thought you said in an earlier post about welding plastic... but I wasn't sure. Is that done simply with heat? Can you get really smooth seams?

msl

You can get it from a number of places. I get it from McMaster-Carr. Though they don't have any decent photos of it. Since Mike wants me to take some photos of the glass, I guess I could take a few shots of the laminate.

I used to work with honeycomb phenolic panels used to build custom interior furniture for personal jets years ago. Very light, strong, and takes veneer very well.

Yeah? Haven't seen that before. I imagine it's rather like aluminum "aerolam"? I.e. a honeycomb sandwiched between to sheets?

se

I've never seen smooth seams when plastic welding. It's basically just a small diameter heat gun used to melt plastic rod that is fed into the seam.

SE --- Copper would be cool!