On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 03:54:05 +0000, west wrote:

Thanks to all the RATs for previous advice on custom chassis size. I'd
like to ask if given heavy enough gauge ... which is better for
constructing an amp ... steel or aluminum? Do they each have their own
merits? Thanks. Cordially,
west

My personal preference is aluminium for one-off chassis and steel for
multiple orders.

Ali is easy to work if you keep to 1.6mm or, at most, 2mm thickness. It is
possible to bend it with minimal tooling (providing you keep the lengths
and thickness down and arn't too fussy about the end result). Ali's
natural finish isn't too bad for prototypes and you can get suitable
primers to allow it to be painted. It doesn't rust anyway!

Steel is much harder to work in a home workshop (bending can be *really*
difficult as you need a serious amount of pressure) but, providing you
want a few items doing, it can work out much cheaper for a local sheet
metal firm to use. You don't really need 2mm steel unless you have really
heavy ironwork to support. Steel is also generally easier to get a good
finish on too - it needs it though to prevent rust!

--
Mick
(no M$ software on here... :-) )
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Web: http://projectedsound.tk