Amp Caddy

[p2pAmps]

Well I took the night off from soldering and decided it was about dang time I made an amp caddy.  Nothing fancy mind you, just something other than 2x4s to hold em up... 

I would like to see your home made caddys too if you have a few pics.

[eleventeen]

Oh geez, with the metal channel and the adjustable knobbies?


That's a thing of beauty, man. Absolutely, if you are gonna hose out Fenders the way you do, you should own one.

[p2pAmps]

Oh geez, with the metal channel and the adjustable knobbies?


That's a thing of beauty, man. Absolutely, if you are gonna hose out Fenders the way you do, you should own one.

I actually had all the hardware around the shop from a drill press top I made a while back.  If I could spend a solid 3 months on just the shop it would be so much cooler.  One piece at a time as they say.  One thing I will say is that Baltic Birth Ply is some good stuff to work with IMHO

[Paul1453]

Mike,

Your work always amazes and inspires me to do better.

Top quality workmanship benefits from the use of top quality tools.

Now that is a beautiful tool.  An amp rotisserie.  Nice!   

[p2pAmps]

Mike,

Your work always amazes and inspires me to do better.

Top quality workmanship benefits from the use of top quality tools.

Now that is a beautiful tool.  An amp rotisserie.  Nice!   

Very nice thing to say...  Thank you...

[eleventeen]

Yeah, with good power tools and of course technique, that birch ply is very friendly and can be dimensioned and finished (if desired) very nicely. As simple or as complex as you want, it still looks pretty good, or even great. Works like metal.


Over the weekend I got a free organ with the bass pedals. So the bass pedals are pretty nice sticks of 2" x 3/4" maple. (Some, the black keys, are stained black/dark) I'm working some of those to make some wooden surrounds for a few of the "naked chassis" things I have laying around. Maple is like that, its more like metal than wood.


Yes, of course I will use these "shelf" amps so much more if they have nice wood around them. 

[jojokeo]

Here's my minimalist approach for about as simple and cost effective as it gets and still be called a "cradle"? It came out of necessity a long time ago but still works like a charm. Now I can't sit comfortably soldering at a 45º angle listening to cool jazz w/ a nice cabernet next to my solder station but it gets the job done.    One piece of pine with two cuts, two L brackets, & eight screws. When the chassis' get longer or shorter I just re-screw it where it needs to be.

[Platefire]

Nice and completely Adjustable! That's the best I've seen. Looks like something you would buy from Stu-Mac for $399.99 %>/

Mine is like jojokeo. I think I have three different cradles that usually fits whatever I'm working on.

Great work! Carry on 

 

[sean_thornton]

I am pretty good at woodworking but that cradle is a work of art.  Honestly, it is gorgeous! I agree with you about birch plywood, i love the stuff, but the nicest wood I have ever worked with is American Black Walnut. It's the closest thing I have found to working with chocolate.
Anyway, your cradle is terrific, mind if I steal the design?

[p2pAmps]

I am pretty good at woodworking but that cradle is a work of art.  Honestly, it is gorgeous! I agree with you about birch plywood, i love the stuff, but the nicest wood I have ever worked with is American Black Walnut. It's the closest thing I have found to working with chocolate.
Anyway, your cradle is terrific, mind if I steal the design?

Hi Sean,  Thank you sir.  I saw one kinda like mine on the Mojo site but wasn't about to but theirs.  So I made one that looked kinda like the one I saw.  I googled a bunch too to get a few ideas.

So the bottom board is a 3/4" dado to fit the Kreg rail.  The way I did the slots on the end pieces is I setup a pin on another piece of plywood and screwed it to my router table.  I then drilled a center hole in my work piece and just made a 1/2 circle.  On the pieces that the chassis sit on I used 2 T Nuts sandwiched between two pieces which I glued up after installing the T-Nuts.  It took a few hours to build and the most time was spent just doing setups on the saw and router.  I also did a 1/2" round over on my router for all the edges. 

I sed to use 2x4s and wedges and had enough LOL...

Yes, Black Walnut is nice stuff.  I'm also a fan of Spalted Maple, and Honduras Mahogany.

[Fresh_Start]

Sweet!

I'm a little slow this morning.  Couldn't figure out what the upper cyclops smiley face was for, then realized it's perfect for putting a naked board at the right level.


Oh man, I just noticed the matching round over on the end of the t-track. Now I'm going to have to do that on the router table I was working on over the weekend. Actually, I'm really glad I noticed that before cutting my t-track.

Cheers,
Chip

[p2pAmps]

Sweet!

I'm a little slow this morning.  Couldn't figure out what the upper cyclops smiley face was for, then realized it's perfect for putting a naked board at the right level.


Oh man, I just noticed the matching round over on the end of the t-track. Now I'm going to have to do that on the router table I was working on over the weekend. Actually, I'm really glad I noticed that before cutting my t-track.

Cheers,
Chip

I did that Chip so I would have the option of getting a chassis higher.  The closer the better with these eyes :)

[Willabe]

Great work Mike!!!!!   

How long it?

In fact would you mine posting measurements of it so guys could make their own if they feel so inclined? Including bolt/T nut size, channel size and 1/2 circle radius.     

[sluckey]

That certainly looks like a 'made in scaggs' cradle! Nice work. Where did you buy the T-slot?

[Ed_Chambley]

Nice Work Mike. Here is the plans for one I have made.

[p2pAmps]

Great work Mike!!!!!   

How long it?

In fact would you mine posting measurements of it so guys could make their own if they feel so inclined? Including bolt/T nut size, channel size and 1/2 circle radius. 

Yeah sure...  Now mind you I did all this in my head so I'll give you approximate dimensions

All the wood I used was 3/4" Baltic Birch Plywood

Base is: 3/4"x 7" x 30"
Sides are: 3/4" x 7" x 8"  - Bottom of the sides piece: 3/4" x 7" x 5"
Side blocks: 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 8" (cut with my bandsaw)

I used 36" Kreg slotted aluminum bar on the base.  You can buy at local woodworkers supply or maybe Lowes.  I got mine at Woodcraft.
4 - 1/4" x 2" t-bolts w/washers for base
4 - 1/4" wing knobs for base
4 - 5/16" T-Nuts (hidden) for sides w/washers, 4 - 5/16" wing knobs



Tools Used:
Cup of coffee
Jazz Music in the background (Oscar Peterson)
Shop dog sleeping and in my way 

Table Saw
Router Table
Hand held Router
Hand held Sander
Combo belt/disc sander to even up the side pieces after glue up[/li][/list]
Drill Press with both forstner and brad point bits.  I used forstner bits to recess the T-Nuts inside the side pieces the chassis sits on.

[Willabe]

Thanks Mike and thanks Ed. 

[p2pAmps]

Nice Work Mike. Here is the plans for one I have made.

Looks like a good one Ed

[p2pAmps]

Here is a fancy one for 700 bucks - NOT!

[sluckey]

Here's a discussion with lot's of different cradles...

     http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27171

[p2pAmps]

Here's a discussion with lot's of different cradles...

     http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27171

Ampgarage is still throwing up that security warning page.  Been there a long time now.  You would think the site owner would take care of his issue... oh well

Thx Steve

[sluckey]

The threat is not real. The problem was taken care of a long time ago. However, it takes some simple coordination with Google to get the threat warning removed. The owner knows that, but refuses to do it. I think the problem is either apathy or ego.

There are ways to avoid the threat warning (browser dependent) if you want to.

[p2pAmps]

The threat is not real. The problem was taken care of a long time ago. However, it takes some simple coordination with Google to get the threat warning removed. The owner knows that, but refuses to do it. I think the problem is either apathy or ego.

There are ways to avoid the threat warning (browser dependent) if you want to.

Yeah I know the gig for sure Steve.  Google is a PITA sometimes... 

[eleventeen]

That $700 one is just silly. It doesn't look at robust as yours...and we're talking about 35-40 lbs on top of those ends.


I kind of like the tray deals along the front but those should be in some kind of long removable tray with 3-5-8 compartments for parts, so that you could be working on one amp (thinking about a customer repair, not a build) stop, and change to a different amp if you ever had a reason. Because you'd have a diff big tray and the sub-trays or 2 or 3. Like an emergency right-now repair for your best customer. Thinking about long thin 1" x 16" block with sub-compartments that you can take out because it is a PITA to get parts into and out of a routed-out space; you can't turn the whole thing upside down without dumping ALL the trays.


For builds, Mscaggs, you could pre-assemble half a dozen parts kits for say Princetons and Twins, since you blow them down to zero, you know exactly the parts you'll be using. I assume you already have some sort of hyper-organized means of dealing with that.

[p2pAmps]

For builds, Mscaggs, you could pre-assemble half a dozen parts kits for say Princetons and Twins, since you blow them down to zero, you know exactly the parts you'll be using. I assume you already have some sort of hyper-organized means of dealing with that.

I use plastic containers from Chinese food take out 

[Willabe]

I use plastic containers from Chinese food take out 

Yep, me too. 

[eleventeen]

How about a little fixture like a machinists "V" block with a gap in the middle; insulated ends. You connect your DVM to it, you pick up a straight-leaded resistor with your needlenose pliers & drop the R into it and get an ohms reading on it one-handed, without having to put down your soldering iron, find your meter leads, grip ends, get your hand acid on the leads, read meter, detach leads, pick up soldering iron.


have to keep the ends clean and/or have some sort of (again, one-handed) means of pressing the R in place for good contact. Like a hinge.



I don't know about you but I grew up on Allen-Bradley resistors which I can read without any effort but have a hella time reading color codes on these blue ones. Eyes, age, etc; Plus I want to check values if I can do so with an ohmmeter test because there are such things as mis-marked parts and fixing them can destroy your mind. 

[Ed_Chambley]

I am trying to find, but cannot.  I believe it was Katie77 who posted a amp stand and drawing that used 3 large Dowel Rods and 2 end caps with a sliding center.  I made one and use it mostly because it will stand flat and has an angle as well so all you have to do is roll it forward.


I searched the forum and cannot come up with it.  Anyone got it or remember it.  It is cool because it is one piece when complete and I made it in about 10 minutes.

[Ed_Chambley]

I use plastic containers from Chinese food take out 

Yep, me too. 

I used to have a ceiling full of jars with the tops held in place by wood screws and twist the jar to open and push back up and twist.  Now I have something really nice.


I got the sliding drawers from my local Radio Shack when they closed.  8 drawers high and there were 10 of them.  I asked the guy selling off the stuff how much and he said $50 and I thought $500 was not too bad.


He said $50 for all and I thought I was going to pass out.  I must say I am sort of weird tho, but most of you know that anyway.

[shooter]

Very beautiful work!
I'm on vacation, you didn't steal my maple easel from my studio did you!!
Those quick knobs are great for easy positioning and set-up

[jojokeo]

I am trying to find, but cannot.  I believe it was Katie77 who posted a amp stand and drawing that used 3 large Dowel Rods and 2 end caps with a sliding center.  I made one and use it mostly because it will stand flat and has an angle as well so all you have to do is roll it forward.


I searched the forum and cannot come up with it.  Anyone got it or remember it.  It is cool because it is one piece when complete and I made it in about 10 minutes.

I have photos of it and the design plans too. They are in metric if people can handle that here in the US? Ha! There's even a photo of it being used as a book case. I can post later this evening when I get on my home computer.

[jojokeo]

I must say I am sort of weird tho, but most of you know that anyway.

I resemble that remark... 

[Fresh_Start]

I collect odds & ends, including photos of amp cradles.  The middle one is the Katie77 version IIRC, but JoJo please post plans if/when you find them.

My cradle is a much more crude version of the 3rd pic.

Chip

[jojokeo]

I believe it was Katie77 who posted a amp stand and drawing that used 3 large Dowel Rods and 2 end caps with a sliding center.  I made one and use it mostly because it will stand flat and has an angle as well so all you have to do is roll it forward.

[jojokeo]

Here's a few more

[Ed_Chambley]

I believe it was Katie77 who posted a amp stand and drawing that used 3 large Dowel Rods and 2 end caps with a sliding center.  I made one and use it mostly because it will stand flat and has an angle as well so all you have to do is roll it forward.

This is the one.  I changed it a little making it wider and deeper.  Built as is large tubes (KT88) will hit on the back dowel.  I first built the one with the adjustable tilt, but after I made this one I never use the other.  No adjustments to make except sliding the center.  One thing I did do is make ruler marks on the front dowel so I can set the center sliding support in the proper place so I am not holding a chassis and moving the center but I only did this AFTER I broke a Amperex GZ34 that was not mine.  Thankfully the amps owner was ok with less costly replacement.


And yes it is metric dimension on the build sheet and your dowels will not be when you arrive at your local supply.  If you cannot figure out how to convert the metric, you must turn in your DIY card.

[jojokeo]

Funny story but lessons learned. I gathered the width was a bit narrow seeing the effects box on there which scaled it a bit. When I get time some day I may break out err clear all the crap off my table saw & other wood working power tools and build a few in several sizes? It's much essier to build a few at a time.

I still have all my metric conversions memorized ftom high school (several decades ago) - 1"= 2.54 cm or 25.4 mm

[p2pAmps]

One thing is for sure, there are a lot of cool designs out there for cradles.  So far the one I made myself is working perfect for me so I will keep her around for awhile

[Ed_Chambley]

One thing is for sure, there are a lot of cool designs out there for cradles.  So far the one I made myself is working perfect for me so I will keep her around for awhile

Yous is really nice and looks great as well.  If you so desire, you can send me one.
I used to use different size small boxes filled with paper cut to the same size and they were like bricks.  Every time I was working on a fender chassis leaning over to look at the pots and work the wife would say you need a rotisserie like you have on the grill.  Now, you know that is a great idea. 


I would like to have one that you could flip the chassis like that but I be dang if I can come up with a simple way to make it.  I am fairly good with metal fab but even making it out of aluminum it would have to be stoutly built.  Something that would hold an Ampeg SVT.


You are correct, there are some nice ones.  You think if I had the $700 one I could make a better amp?

[Ed_Chambley]

Funny story but lessons learned. I gathered the width was a bit narrow seeing the effects box on there which scaled it a bit. When I get time some day I may break out err clear all the crap off my table saw & other wood working power tools and build a few in several sizes? It's much essier to build a few at a time.

I still have all my metric conversions memorized ftom high school (several decades ago) - 1"= 2.54 cm or 25.4 mm

If you do, it is much easier to simply drill all the way through. I just made a rough cut of 3 pieces of Birch 3/4 and stacked and clamped.  Cut all 3 at once on my table saw to the size and drilled through all 3 with a 3/4" paddle bit on my drill press.  Seriously, I don't think it took even 10 minutes.


I drilled holes and used small wooden dowel pins and some glue on the 2 end pieces to insure it did not twist any.  If it twist I think the sliding piece will jam.

[PRR]

For larger amps:

[p2pAmps]

For larger amps:

LMAO

[jojokeo]

I think I saw something like that recently on Gas Monkey garage?

[Willabe]

.... the wife would say you need a rotisserie like you have on the grill.

Top pic in reply #32 from Fresh Start.

[Willabe]

Tools Used:
Cup of coffee
Jazz Music in the background (Oscar Peterson)
Shop dog sleeping and in my way 

Oooo, I missed this. 

[sluckey]

Now that the garden is up and running I have time for the shop again. But with no amp projects in mind, I finally decided to build an amp cradle. But which one? I finally came up with this simple design, mostly because I had everything I needed except the two 1/4 x 20 thumbscrews.

This cradle will accommodate most chassis that are 0" to 24" long. If I need longer, I'll just cut two more pieces of EMT. The arms are adjustable with four posi-stop holes indexed at 0°, 20°, 40°, and 60°. I suppose the downside is not having continuously adjustable tilt. The upside is never having to worry about the arms slipping and accidently cracking your tubes.

The left side is pinned to the rails with recessed screws through the bottom. The right side slides on the rails and is locked into position with two thumbscrews. The support arms are attached with 1/4 x 20 bolts and threaded inserts. I cut the heads off the bolts and used four cheap knobs for easy turning. All you have to do is just snug them to hold the arms securely.

I applied one coat of clear wipe-on poly just to give the mahogany a wet look. It took longer to round up all the scraps and hardware than it did to completely build this. I guess now I'll have to come up with another project. Probably wait until winter though.

[p2pAmps]

Best thing I ever did was build a good cradle.  Looks great Steve

[Paul1453]

Yes, it looks good and simple enough to build.   

I damn sure need to make me one of these soon.   

[sluckey]

Here's a bit more info on my cradle in case you may want to build one like this...

     http://sluckeyamps.com/cradle/cradle.htm

[John]

So, I'm thinking that posting pictures of my 4x4 scraps isn't really going to cut it in this thread.