Prepare to rock with Emma's Guitar Amplifier-style enclosure for our Mono Amp Kit! "It features an interesting experiment in making a speaker mesh from polypropylene, which worked quite well if I do say so myself!"
Why not substitute the Kitronik name for your own, or your schools? (Or maybe a nice compliment about your D&T teacher?)
We Used:
- Kitronik Mono Amplifier Kit.
- 3mm Black Perspex®.
- Black on White Laser Engraving Laminate.
- 0.8mm Black Polypropylene.
- 4 x 6mm Spacers.
- 4 x 10mm M3 Pan Head Screws.
- 4 x M3 Hex Nuts.
- A Laser Cutter
- This DXF file.
Customising:
If you want to change the name/logo to something more personal to you, just load the DXF into your favourite CAD software and make your edits.
Step 1 - To The Laser Cutter:
Start by loading up the DXF file we have provided onto your laser cutter software, and cut it all out in the following order:
- First engrave everything in purple on the Laser Laminate, then cut around the outside.
- Then cut out the speaker mesh from polypropylene, shaded on the diagram in blue. Make sure to cut the inner holes before the outside.
- Lastly, everything on the diagram that is shaded in black should be cut from 3mm Black Acrylic, which can be any kind. We used black Perspex®. Make sure that you engrave the battery door first - you can customise this with your own text if you’d like!
Step 2 - Building The Mono Amp:
Now put together the mono amplifier kit, using the in-depth instructions here. As per the image below, make sure to solder the speaker to the wire through the panel with the circle in, which will become the supporting piece behind the speaker inside the enclosure.
Step 3 - Attaching The Kit To The Panels:
Attach the PCB to the back panel (with the four holes at the top, and the long rectangular battery door at the bottom. Use the four spacers, with the four 10mm M3 screws and four hex nuts to hold the PCB off of the acrylic. As per the below image, make sure you thread the jack cable through the hole at the bottom of the side panel - this can go on whichever side you want! (Here I also had already attached the battery door - this step can happen whenever you fancy it.)
Step 4 - Gluing Together The Enclosure:
Start gluing your sides and inner panel! We’ve used Tensol which is pretty serious stuff, but you can use anything you want like superglue or hard plastics glue. Beware though - superglue is likely to leave a frosting effect around where you apply it, and tensol and hard plastic glue melt the plastic and may cause it to bubble. You’ll want to test your acrylic with different adhesives on scrap pieces to see which is best for you.
Step 5 - Adding The Front Panel:
Put together your front panel as shown (or as per your own design if you’ve altered it!).
Step 6 - Completing The Assembly:
Glue it all together, making sure the speaker and jack cable stay in place. Leave it to dry, and you’re done!
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