Bottlehead Forum
General Category => Kit Assembly Service => Topic started by: Paul Birkeland on November 13, 2018, 07:14:33 AM
-
Here are some photos of various BH kits that I have built for myself and other folks with some of the finishes and wood species that I stock.
-
Here is my favorite color combination: walnut and wrinkle black.
-
The silver and copper vein powders are also a popular choice.
-
For a more wild look, wrinkle red and wrinkle blue give lots of contrast.
-
Another walnut/black Crack rolling off the line.
-
The amp looks great. Bu what really caught my eye was the cool wallpaper.
-
A customer came to me and wanted a Crack built that more or less matched his Victrola phonograph. The wood for these was listed as "red mahogany", and it did indeed look like actual mahogany, so I purchased a piece with good straight grain and some red dye and made a red base that looks quite similar. The top plate is done in gold vein to give it a bit of an antique look.
...My fingers are still red in a few spots.
-
PB,
do you rabbit with a router bit (with a bearing) or do you do it on a table?
Jamie
-
I can do it either way, but it's far easier to setup on a table saw.
-
PB - Do you have any interest in submitting any of these to the gallery site I built? You're not quite the typical DIYer, but the goal is to show people what is possible. No pressure, obviously, just thought I'd offer.
-
I'll have to get setup with some external image hosting.
-PB
-
Sure thing. A couple people have either emailed pictures or uploaded them to Imgur. Once they're there I just grab them and host them locally on my site, so a longer term solution isn't super necessary.
-
Here's a black Crack I just completed. The owner wanted the base to match some other components and furniture with a black ash finish, so I built a base out of ash and soaked it in black dye over the course of about a week.
-
Great look. Well done, Paul.
-
Nice one!
-
Is it the case that you built and glued up the base, then just left it in the dye for a week? Or were there multiple soaking sessions? I've never used a dye before but I'm considering something different for the Kaiju/BeePre (and eventually Eros). I've been staining and finishing a scrap piece of alder over the past week to see what I want but haven't found anything I liked yet.
-
If I could have made enough dye to submerge the wood, I would've considered it! Instead it was a brush application several times a day for many days until it didn't get any darker.
-
Got it. My biggest issue is getting the tung oil finish to look right. I've done it correctly one time and the other times have been disappointing.
-
Here's a black Crack I just completed. The owner wanted the base to match some other components and furniture with a black ash finish, so I built a base out of ash and soaked it in black dye over the course of about a week.
That looks awesome!
Joe.
-
Here's a black Crack I just completed. The owner wanted the base to match some other components and furniture with a black ash finish, so I built a base out of ash and soaked it in black dye over the course of about a week.
Lovely job Paul, especially that wood base. A quick tip for the screws, dip the heads into some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue and they will instantly blend in.
-
Love that black finished Crack. Woodworking has been my main hobby for years and I have had good luck at ebonizing oak and ash with a simple process. Obtain some black dye from a woodworker’s store, a water or alcohol base dye works equally well, but may have to re-sand if the water base raises the grain. Apply 2-4 coats of dye, let it set for at least a day then apply a standard black stain (like Minwax ebony). As a finish coat rub in some Tried & True varnish oil, the more coats you add the glossier it gets. Adding the standard black stain helps pop the grain and give it an ebony like appearance.
Jim G.
-
Here is a Kaiju I built for personal use.
-
Now that's a fine looking amp. I like the combo of black metal with deep brown wood sides.
Very nice, Derek
-
Are those covers sitting over the regular transformers or are there custom parts i there? If it’s the former… where can we get those?
-
Yes, they are covers that fit over the transformers. No, they will not work on a stock Kaiju plate.
-
Touch of the Quad II's there. Very smart.
-
A lot of nice builds Paul! you are busy!
-
A lot of nice builds Paul! you are busy!
That's at least partially your fault!
-
And a purple Crack.
-
I didn't have much faith when I saw that purple heart lumber. I stand corrected, that looks really nice!
-
Here is a green Stereomour II that I just completed for a customer. It is setup with a 4 pin balanced headphone jack up front for driving power hungry headphones off the speaker outputs. The customer opted for the DC filament upgrade to keep it super quiet, as well as the shunt regulated driver supply.
-
Very nice. 45 or 2A3 (or both)? Either way, I think the purchaser will be very happy.
cheers, Derek
-
It's built for 45s. Both isn't an option on the S2.
-
Hello
I have a S.E.X kit that I have 1/2 assembled that I need to get done. I don't have a space to work on it anymore is this something you can help me out with?
-
Yes, you can e-mail me at pb(at)bottlehead(dot)com and we can discuss this further.
-
This is a Crack with a green vein top and walnut base I just finished.
-
@PB could you explain how you got the top finish / color done? It looks very cool!
-
A powder coating gun and an oven!
For powders with any kind of metallic particles, the Harbor Freight gun is pretty decent.
-
I feared so. Out of my league for now! Looks to be worth a try on the next project. Truly inspiring builds PB.