Home » Audio » Craftsmen » Mahogany Chassis for DIY Dac. Thanks Bill
Mahogany Chassis for DIY Dac. Thanks Bill [message #29846] Sun, 10 December 2006 12:26 Go to next message
Riot is currently offline  Riot
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Registered: May 2009
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Thanks Bill Epstein for your input on this board over the past few months. Here's a pic of the DIY Dac with African Mahogany. Finish is resin lacquer made of dammar crystals dissolved in pure gum turpentine. Ebony wood knob with aluminum inlay made by Thingamaknob. My first audio chassis with help from a friend with tools

Re: Mahogany Chassis for DIY Dac. Thanks Bill [message #29847 is a reply to message #29846] Sun, 10 December 2006 12:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Shane is currently offline  Shane
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Registered: May 2009
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Very nice!

When mounting your RCA jacks, did you have any trouble with the wood getting too thin as far as being able to really tighten them down and not break the wood?

We used a forstner bit on a drill press.... [message #29848 is a reply to message #29847] Sun, 10 December 2006 12:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Riot is currently offline  Riot
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Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
and this made the job much easier. I found you need to get down to about 3/16" thickness for most connectors, including RCA and BNC jacks. My friend who is a wood hobbyist was amazed at how hard this African Mahogany is, and ultimately I think this helped us get tight connections. Of course they make connectors that allow for thicker chassis. We forgot to drill the countersink hole on the front fascia for the on/off rotary switch prior to assembling the chassis and hence could not use the drill press. This was the most difficult, and the bit skipped on us creating an eliptical impression in the wood; hence the oversized ebony knob (1.5" diam) to hide the mistake. After this experience, I would never attempt to countersink without the drill press. Of course one could hollow out the rear panel for portion/most of its area, and install a 1/8" metal to the inside and use this to mount connectors.

Re: That's really excellent and your braver than I.... [message #29849 is a reply to message #29848] Sun, 10 December 2006 20:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bill Epstein is currently offline  Bill Epstein
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Location: Smoky Mts. USA
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I always use metal for the terminals.

I've learned and had so much help from Wayne, Speakerman, Bill Martinelli, Steve Brown and lot's of others. It's a thrill to pass along my own small contribution. Thanks so much for the acknowledgement.

Re: We used a forstner bit on a drill press.... [message #29850 is a reply to message #29848] Sun, 10 December 2006 22:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Shane is currently offline  Shane
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Registered: May 2009
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That's what I used the last time and it worked pretty slick (by hand by the way--I really need to get a small press). I was using a softer wood and had to back the nuts with decent washers on the inside panel. I figured the mahogany was plenty hard in your case.

MQ had a prototype where they used thin wood panels (1/4"), drilled jack holes a little oversized to sink them, then attached a piece of 1/8" teflon or poly sheet to the inside to mount the jacks too. The small bit of white that showed when looking from the outside looked pretty decnt against the med brown wood they were using. Here's a pic.

Now that's nice [message #29851 is a reply to message #29850] Mon, 11 December 2006 08:54 Go to previous message
Riot is currently offline  Riot
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Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
I think this approach, and Bill's implementation with the metal, are less risky and probably quicker as well. Very nice

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