BillFitzmaurice.info

Philip Kelley wrote:So here is what's been happening lately.

I made a quick and dirty "lathe" from a 1/2" drill, the mandrel from a wire brush wheel, a disk of plywood and good old double stick tape. So far so good as they say, more to come on the custom phase plug idea.

So here's what's been spotted flying over continental Europe lately.


So much for life from outer space. 't Was just another BFM addict switched into overdrive mode. Try one of these modern drills with two speed gear box and electronic throttle control? It may not move as fast and as far once it has taken off, but you'd have more control over the process. Thanks for the phase plug by the way.

Chris_Allen wrote:I've used saws, drills and chisels in the workshop before but I am not entire sure how to use a bass neck.

Looks like it's missing a fingerboard. Probably another project waiting in the wings.

It's the remains from a finished project actually. I picked up a Musicman style bass by The Bass Company which some other guy had bailed on it after trying to replace the fingerboard with a fretless blank......



.... with a hotmelt glue gun as far as I can tell. I ended up building an entire new neck. It turned out pretty well. Maple and wenge laminations with CF stiffeners, and hidden fret markers. (hard to see in this picture)







It was an interesting project, but cost a lot in time and materials. In hindsight, it would have made way more sense to just buy and aftermarket neck and be done with it. So now the dead neck hangs on my garage wall as a reminder not to get suckered into the same mistake again. It seems to be working well.

Well, hopefully we won't see some Jacks hanging on your wall in a few months!

I do love British humor. When this project is finished, I expect it to be considered a complete success, despite what my wife may think.

Oh, and re Anton Z: that drill only runs at 450 RPM. I probably wouldn't go much slower even if I could.

Well, hopefully we won't see your wife hanging on your wall in a few months!

Thanks for sharing, Philip, and for making me laugh Chris
Now if it wasn't your phase plugs, then we've got to go find out what it was that actually did come flying over Europe. O dear.

Well, I've been busy. I do tend to get a bit obsessive when I've got a project going.

Finished filling, sanding and painting boxes, here is a pic of them in my apparently chaotic shop. It's actually not that chaotic, but is getting to need a good cleaning at this point in the process.



And I wired up the low pass filter. As I've stated elsewhere, electronics is not my forte, and I made this job seem much harder than I know it really is. If any knowledgeable poster out there could confirm that I've got it wired correctly, I'd much appreciate the input. I'd like to be sure I've got everything hooked up correctly before plugging it in and having something go up in smoke. The leads all have long tails now that I'll trim to length when everything is installed. And I realized that the wire I had is probably 16 gauge (or less ); I'll think I'll re-do everything with 14 gauge.



Ciao.

That looks to be wired correctly.

Excellent, thanks. I mounted the corners, handles, and drivers this afternoon. 'Hoping to run the speaker break in overnight. Damping, wiring, seal 'em up and go. They ought to be ready for House Party next Friday.

16 ga is plenty inside the cab. No worries.

"16 ga is plenty inside the cab. No worries."

Oh. Well, it's 14 ga now. I've gotta say, me and soldering just don't seem to get along.

Philip Kelley wrote:"16 ga is plenty inside the cab. No worries."

Oh. Well, it's 14 ga now. I've gotta say, me and soldering just don't seem to get along.

Hey Phillip, clean both surfaces, the right solder, lots of flux and a hot clean tip and you should have instant solders..

Drey Chennells wrote:

Philip Kelley wrote:"16 ga is plenty inside the cab. No worries."

Oh. Well, it's 14 ga now. I've gotta say, me and soldering just don't seem to get along.

Hey Phillip, clean both surfaces, the right solder, lots of flux and a hot clean tip and you should have instant solders..

+1 ....to add...get the tip hot....and then solder by touching the tip to the wire followed by dabbing the solder to the tip.

The End Is Near.

Damping and low pass filter installed.





Phase plug layout. Double checked; I don't want any collisions between the the driver and plug! One half inch clearance all around.



Rather easy to machine, once I had the layout done. Cardboard template to check the dimple; this is what we call "good enough." I've actually worked with foam a fair amount, making patterns for sculptural glass castings. The challenging thing about foam is that it's too soft and easily bunged up. Pink is nice.





So is Duratex



I'm really looking forward to being done, my obsessiveness is getting to be a bit much. I always underestimate how much work a project is going to be; the pair of jacks has been no exception.