Midnight Crack

btrancho

New member
eBay stepped attenuator, aluminum volume knob to complement the bevel I planed on the edge of the case, Mullard CV4003, and the CBS Hytron 6AS7G I am currently auditioning.  The base is finished with an ebony wood dye and satin wipe-on poly.  The transformer ball bell and blots bolts were blued. Top plate is just rubbed with fine steel wool.

The Speedball goes in as soon as it arrives.

crack_1.jpg


crack_2.jpg

 
Now that is very cool.  Never thought about a black/ebony dyed base.  Much better than paint as you can still see the wood grain.  Not like with a lighter finish where you see the grain through it but a very different look with the black and worth if for the "cool" factor.  I like it.  Did you do the bluing with one of the home gun bluing kits or have it done?
 
Laudanum said:
Now that is very cool.  Never thought about a black/ebony dyed base.  Much better than paint as you can still see the wood grain.  Not like with a lighter finish where you see the grain through it but a very different look with the black and worth if for the "cool" factor.  I like it.   Did you do the bluing with one of the home gun bluing kits or have it done?

Dye is a bit tricky as it must be applied in a flood and wiped off quickly to avoid streaks, overlaps, etc but the base is so small that it wasn't a problem.  I recently moved to an apartment and gave up my wood shop, so a water based dye worked better than a petroleum based satin - no odor at all.  You just need to be neat as dye is, well, dye and will color just about anything it come in contact with.  Latex gloves are a must.

The photos don't have the best color temperature accuracy but it did come out looking very much like real ebony, with the grain and color variations showing through - black with subtle brown/red highlights.  I mean to give it a coat or two of wood wax once I take it apart to to the Speedball.  Right now I'm using it too much to want to take it apart.

I used a gun blue at home (Birchwood/Casey).  A good workout of steel wool on the bell and a few treatments of the blue came out very even.  I forgot to do the bolt heads before assembly but some judicious steel wooling and a q-tip application matched up with the bell pretty well.

Bob
 
That really looks nice.  One question, where are the balls and blots on the transformer?  I expect that it a typo.  Bell and Bolts?  I would have sworn they were chromed.  That is gun bluing?  

btrancho said:
  .  .  .   The transformer ball and blots were blued.  .  .  .  

crack_2.jpg
 
Grainger49 said:
That really looks nice.  One question, where are the balls and blots on the transformer?  I expect that it a typo.  Bell and Bolts?  I would have sworn they were chromed.  That is gun bluing?  

btrancho said:
  .  .  .   The transformer ball and blots were blued.  .  .  .  

Ha!  That's what I get for trying to type fast while my wife is calling me to dinner!  Thanks Grainger.

Yes, gun bluing.  The light from the window makes it look a bit like chrome but the first photo shows it a little better.
 
I bought some gun bluing to do my Paramour end bells.  So, just hit them with 4/0 steel wool till smooth and blue.  Doc suggests a top clear coat for the Paramours since they will still rust with the bluing on them.
 
Grainger49 said:
I bought some gun bluing to do my Paramour end bells.  So, just hit them with 4/0 steel wool till smooth and blue.  Doc suggests a top clear coat for the Paramours since they will still rust with the bluing on them.

That's good to know.  I'll do that when I do the Speedball surgery.
 
Great looking amp! I like the little details, such as rounding the corners on the base. I used ebony stain on mine, but it basically ended up black, unlike yours. Probablly due to my superior staining skills. ST bottles just seem to belong in the Crack don't they? Enjoy your amp.

Cheers,
Shawn P.
 
The best looking Crack in the entire gallery imho - and I examined them all. Going by the table the Crack is sitting on, you seem to know your joinery.

I will use this as my inspiration for when my kit finally arrives. Anything that you would have done differently?
 
My hosting company had to move my files to a new server the other day and for some reason that took almost 16 hours.  All should be good now.

BTW, the table it is sitting on isn't my handiwork.  It's a Sticklely sofa table I was able to pick up on sale.  The woods (cherry/walnut) match my DIY speakers exactly.
 
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