I should soon be pulling finished structural components of my CNC build from the maw of this machine (if we want to adhere to technical accuracy, replace "pulling" with "handed" in the preceding sentence).

Every minute spent on the internet is a minute that I am not pushing this into being. This is the sort of under breath muttering the passer by will hear from the apparently distracted bearded individual as he bicycles to and from work today.. tomorrow... etc.

Aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer) is a sticky metal.

This splash is what's left after a plunge up to 7/16ths with a stepped bit (or unibit, if you prefer).

The bit itself also suffered some adhesion issues, I had to pick metal from between the flutes between each pass. My goal here was to overbore a hole for the 3/8" shaft of the chassis punch, which allowed for a little shifting room to align the punch independent of actual drilled hole (my press having a few issues that I may get around to addressing).

Enter into the equation the chassis punch. Photo sequence here is going to sidetrack into another hole making session (as evidenced by the existence of steel in lieu of aluminium).

During that previous punching session, I needed to punch a one inch hole for an admittedly large pilot light assembly I am installing on a slave amplifier build. So, naturally I grab the punch set labelled 1" and move on. Sadly, it would appear as if my "vintage" chassis punch set of Japanese manufacture was prescribed to the metric inch, as my panel mount lamp would not fit the hole, which measured out 2% shy of an actual inch.

Thankfully my hand operated filing operation didn't need to ream out an actual inch.

The process was a pain in the ass none the less. This is also the time to point out that sometimes alignment on center of parts is inferior to unified distance of space between finished assemblies. For the record, that fuse assembly has been usurped by a superior one, and I do acknowledge there is a trace of rust on that power switch - electrical function will be assured prior to implementation.

Back to the 1U XLR breakout connector panel for the Autogram AC-8 (amongst other things), as it turns out, the snug inch hole is roomy for Switchcraft panel mount female XLR jacks (I have taken to measuring everything prior to commiting work). There is, in fact, enough slop to align the actual parts to compensate for drift that occurred in the punching phase. And so..

..it was made. Hole explanation from left to right: stereo pair XLR male send, 5 stereo pair female XLR input, one speaker bypass switch to allow capacitor discharge through 22 ohm resistors as opposed to my studio monitors (I live in a manual world). I'll update with a finished shot once it's finished & functioning.

After a short session of soldering I decided to tackle some of the mangled sheet metal on the Otari 8 track.

I still haven't conjured up a sequence of events that explains this condition while supporting the integrity of the surrounding machinery. Must've been a one in a million shot.

Here's another angle on the vent cover distortion, after extraction for hammering. Naturally, most of the hammering occurred while the sheet metal was not installed.

I popped the meter bridge face off to facilitate removal of the vent metal, only to discover that it too had taken on some stress.

Since a wood floor isn't a precision surface, here's a shot with the piece reversed proving the bend is in the metal. The repair for this was gently bending it back over my knee. Very little force was required.

Installation was not as easy as place & bolt, there was a mild interference fit at the butt joint between the vent shape and the transport shell. I'm not overly concerned about the skin of the machine though, so it was hammered into place.

While not minty fresh, this is a vast improvement over the former condition. Surface distortion, while very apparent to the touch, does not jump out and grab me by the eyes. However, while everything was disassembled a knob for input level struck out on the path of freedom, and remains at large. While I'm certainly not going to overlook a possible bout of personal absent mindedness in this, I'm hinging my investigations around my helper monkey who may have swiped it as a trophy.

Have run into a bit of a back and forth in terms of getting my transport sorted.


These parts are so close as to not actually work as designed. This brass nut was sent as a replacement for a mis-picked Delrin plastic nut (originally shipped in the larger size of the other screws). I'd like to employ the clearly higher quality metal part, but need to make them work together.


My hopes are that the out of whack thread starting at the point it is turned down are what is prohibiting me from threading the nut. I'll file those bent ridges down without side loading and hope that allows freedom of movement.


It's either that or tapping out the nut.

I'm currently at odds with my organization program down at the lab. I have a box of switches that is eluding me, and completed projects are starting to back up because of it. I figure I may as well add the EC power supply to the pile.


First step was to remove all components and hardware from the upper shroud. I posed it here with some of the objects I will be using to realign the sheet metal, notably absent: hammer, perhaps the most important tool of all. Okay, that tool is the mind, I'm still a bit miffed that the hammer wandered off during the photo shoot.


My initial idea of gently clamping stuff into shape was rapidly undermined by an array of deficiencies in the tool department. Seeing as how the project was under way on the living room floor and my ability to make new tools involved going across town, I reassessed my approach.


Roughing in the general shape by hand is satisfying, 17ga metal offers minimal resistance.


Shaping the corner is as easy as clamping in some appropriate backing material and tickling the outside edge with a hammer.


I'm over-all satisfied with the shape. It is no secret I'm fine with rough looking equipment so long as it is functional.


I'm pretty sure the front panel controls can be mounted now, free of interference.


All shaping after that clamped corner was a hammer and the small block held by hand.

Raises arm, shields eyes..

TAP

And so, rebuilding begins. Stymied by the lack of a power switch (the original is in many pieces) I occupy myself mapping the guts of this unit, to assist in understanding and potential troubleshooting down the road. It's not without a few points of concern.


When powered, the entire rotating assembly here is electrically hot. Since the structural integrity of the case isn't stellar, I'll have to refrain from placing heavy objects on the conveniently flat surface the top of the case provides.

There's also only a fuse in line with secondary side of the variac. I plan on placing a primary side fuse in the opening that carried the variable AC output jack, since I don't need another variac.

Now, to locate my switches so I can reassemble this, repair the Peavey EQ-27, a delay, and something else that's slipping my mind at the moment..