The last blog post left off with the pieces of the frame all dovetailed and dry fitted together. Now it's time to disassemble and rout out the holes needed to mount the Power In and Instrument Ins/Outs.
For my Power In, I used an IEC Inline Power Filter. There's some dispute whether or not this will improve sound quality and my thoughts are "probably not"...but they cost 10 bucks from a retail store in Australia and they are not hard to get. I actually saw the thing first being used by Brad in one of his Schuurs Facebook posts.
For the Instrument connections I used Neutrik D-Series 1/4" jack connectors. I used the type where you need to solder them in, there is an alternative model where the inside end is just another female 1/4" connector. That way no soldering is required.
Take the 2 side boards and lay out those connectors where you think they will go. Size them using the components that you already have on hand, if you are waiting on the parts to arrive then wait for the parts rather than doing this off measurements that you got online.
I also purchased some labels for the Neutrik connectors. I got these off Redco Audio in the UK. The routing for the instrument connections will need to accomodate these labels.
To start on the Neutrik connectors I used a spade bit to drill a correctly sized hole where the main barrel would go.
We can then focus our attention on the power connection - we will need to create a square hole for it to fit through. There are a variety of ways to do this. I did this using a drill to drill out the waste and then a chisel to clean it out.
With the main holes for the Audio and power connections done, you should be able to mount them but they will be proud of the frame, rather than flush with them. If this is ok to you, you could just skip the next step and save yourself a ton of work and wood dust.
If however you want to mount them flush to the frame, you will need to break out the router. From the previous step your pencil marks should still be present, marking out where you will need to create the recesses. I used a chisel and a hand router to do the first recess:
...however that didn't last long. It was just taking too long and I wanted to get on with it so out came the power tools. Be careful when doing this because if you mess up, you would need to go back and create the side piece again, create the dovetail join again, etc. Take your time with it and as always be careful with the power tools.
Once you are done it should look something like so:
Now that all the connectors have been fitted, it's time to glue up the frame and round the corners. As usual, make sure all the sides are square when gluing up. Since the router is already out from the previous step, I installed a 1/2" radius roundover bit and worked on all the corners. As can be seen in the following pics I also rounded over all the edges with either a 1/4" or 1/8" radius roundover bit. Use your own taste and judgement for the radius sizes and always try on scrap wood before doing it on the project piece. You can also use sandpaper for this if you want, or chamfer it with a hand plane.
Now that the frame is all glued up, we will need to add the top board mounts as mentioned in Part 1 of this series. I used some scrap wood of the same stock that I had to create these mounts that the top board can rest on and be screwed onto. They will need to have the same bevel angle as the front and back boards of the frame, and they are just glued onto the front and back boards of the frame. It's really easier to show pics than to describe, as it is really quite self explanatory once you see it.
Next task is to sand everything down to at least 240 grit in preparation for the final stages. If you plan on staining it, like I did, then do this before sanding down. I used a Minwax Red Oak stain - follow the instructions on the can and you will be fine. See you next post! As always, use the comments if there are any questions.