31-03-2016, 06:01 PM
No Gary - I usually make the project, then make a box to suit. I try to use offcuts of mahogany which I scrounge from here and there, but failing that, I use oak, which I'm not very fond of. Really, the most time consuming part of slicing the wood on the band-saw to about 7mm thick, then sanding it smooth on a belt-sander. Then having cut the wood to size, I use a home-made router jig to cut the comb joints. I usually use scrap SRBP PCB sheet for the front panel, sprayed white, or sometimes I design a simple front panel on coloured paper and laminate it, then make an acrylic panel to go on top from 2mm acetate glazing sheet.
To be honest, though I get lots of encouraging comments about the little boxes, it only calls for basic woodworking skills, a cheap DIY store router and time, which I often don't have. Of course, it's only viable if people see it as an interest rather than a chore. Woodworking isn't everyone's cup of tea.
There's no logic to it of course - it can take almost as long to make the box than to make a simple project that goes in it, but it enables me to indulge in both woodworking, and electronics, as time permits. The most recent box I made was for a chum who's new to the hobby and had built a Velleman K700 signal tracer/injector kit. He'd built the PCB, didn't have a speaker, sockets, switch etc and had lost his way a bit, so I boxed it up for him.
I started making the boxes because it's not always easy to find ABS project boxes of just the right size, (and they're not often cheap either), apart from which I think the wooden jobbies have more of a 'vintage look' about them, evocative of the crystal sets of yesteryear, so are a bit more in keeping with the hobby. And of course, there's the added frisson from 'mekking summat from now't', which has great appeal in this neck of the woods, especially to the likes of me, born at the onset of the 'make do and mend' era .
To be honest, though I get lots of encouraging comments about the little boxes, it only calls for basic woodworking skills, a cheap DIY store router and time, which I often don't have. Of course, it's only viable if people see it as an interest rather than a chore. Woodworking isn't everyone's cup of tea.
There's no logic to it of course - it can take almost as long to make the box than to make a simple project that goes in it, but it enables me to indulge in both woodworking, and electronics, as time permits. The most recent box I made was for a chum who's new to the hobby and had built a Velleman K700 signal tracer/injector kit. He'd built the PCB, didn't have a speaker, sockets, switch etc and had lost his way a bit, so I boxed it up for him.
I started making the boxes because it's not always easy to find ABS project boxes of just the right size, (and they're not often cheap either), apart from which I think the wooden jobbies have more of a 'vintage look' about them, evocative of the crystal sets of yesteryear, so are a bit more in keeping with the hobby. And of course, there's the added frisson from 'mekking summat from now't', which has great appeal in this neck of the woods, especially to the likes of me, born at the onset of the 'make do and mend' era .
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
