Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum
Amp Stuff => AmpTools/Tech Tips => Topic started by: fdesalvo on January 13, 2009, 01:55:17 am
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...for building.
Man, I can't do without my forceps- they work great for wrapping the ends of bus wire around turrets and for crimping the hooks on the leads connecting to pot/jack lugs. They also make kick ass heatsinks.
I have this other tool that I got in a pack from Radio Shack. It is a metal rod with a pointed end and a slotted end, which is bad ass for making hooks and loops in leads. You have to open up the slot a bit, though.
I have forgotten how fun building these things is. Part of it are the solutions you have to come up with to overcome unforseen obstacles.
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chopstick, heatgun, scope, signal generator, alligator clips
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signal tracer, bias meter/sockets, multimeter, dummy loads, side cutters, component substitution boxes.
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Hmm, I have to try a signal tracer. I largely use my scope and sig gen, but that might come in quite handy for quick diagnosis of a broken circuit - same thing as a signal injector?
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Well, all of them of course!
But I'm extremely fond of my soldering station, my flush side cutters (now if I could only keep the other guys in the shop from using them for guitar strings!), and my round nose pliers.
Gabriel
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Arm mounted lighted magnifying glass. I don't even tin wire w/o it.
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>Arm mounted lighted magnifying glass.
You got a pic of that?
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"magnifying work light"
http://www.forlights.com/Lighting/Magnifier-Lights
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Tools you can't live without
Well if taken literally, I'm pretty much with gabriel:
1. W/o this stuff I couldn't do anything: assorted screwdrivers; pliers; needle nose pliers; razor blade; soldering station; volt/ohm meter; hammer; chisel; el drill & assorted bits; unibits; dremel tool & assorted bits; jewelers screwdrivers; chopsticks; sharpie pens in various colors; pencil; wrenches; scissors
2. alligator clips & leads; decade boxes; ruler; caliper; signal generator; listening amp; dummy load; metal polish; rags; scotch brite pads; sockets & wrenches
3. table saw; router, table & asorted bits; awl; center punch
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Much like the ones ToN posted, except CHEAP. I think it was like $30.00 The clamp was a PoS so I drilled 4 holes in my bench to stick the arm in. Here's a pic of my bench from roughly 1 year ago (based upon the chassis under construction, I gigged that amp last March). Lamp is on the far left, and I jacked the sag outta my bench since then. :-[
(http://www.butterylicious.com/Images/Lab/01-Bench.jpg)
Many years ago, prr said, "clip leads are your friend." This comment was not made to me nor even on this forum, but I had a huge ass epiphany due to this single sentence. Everything changed for me after that (as far as electronics go). I bought a 20 pack that night.
-Richard
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Oh, anglepoise. I thought you meant it strapped to your arm!! ;D ;D ;D
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Buttery, I WANT YOUR VARIAC.
Gotta love the ported cab under the bench...
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The variac on the left was a gift from ISOTone. Sadly enough I seldom use it anymore because it has no current meter. If you look closely at the protoboard, it has a built in variac with both ACV & ACA meters. The poor Ted cabinet has a blown speaker. I forget the company's name, but it was an early knock off of an Altec. I'm a dumb ass for blowing it. It was probably worth something to a collector.
-Richard
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I got a variac off of Ebay and it didn't have an amp meter either so I use a Killawatt meter on the plug of the amp as it will do volts, amps, watts. $20 or so at Harbor Freight or a hundred other places. It will cover the voltmeter on my variac but I think I could use a small extension cord for it and use it on the variac. I have even wondered about using it to plug the variac into. I am not sure how to work the amps though. I'll try it some day and see.
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I have an IEC cable with a split in it that I can put my amprobe on. Still not the same as an analog meter.
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I forgot about my nibbler...I fabbed up a nice vertical recto board bracket out of some aluminum! Looks kick ass. You guys need to learn the goodness that is the nibbler.
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One of the most important:
(http://www.akohl.com/imagesBlog/Guiness_Beer.gif)]
In moderation of course, kids don't go poking around in live amps after using to many of the above tools... ;D
Regards,
Dyna