where can i buy a big sheet of this stuff? i want to cover the front of a 2x15 im building. i need it around umm 44'' tall and 21'' wide i think or around there.
I just bought a large sheet (24"x80"x1/8") for my motorcycle lift table. I went to a place called Discount Steel here in Mpls. I would imagine any steel supplier or welding fab shop could get a piece for you. It's not real cheap that piece cost $80. Lex
For the front? I don't get it. You mean it'll be the baffle and you'll cut 15" holes in it? Sounds difficult and heavy.
If he's just using it as 'armor' over a wood cabinet, then, yeah it'll add some weight. No more than what Mesa and Peavey have done with their Rectifier/XXX cabinets and heads. If it's not structural, he can find some thin DP that is purely cosmetic. Don't get 'truck bumper-grade'. ps. Buy it from a metal fabrication shop, and have them plasma cut it after you've sketched the template. DO NOT try to do it on your own with a $19 Sears jigsaw...the circles will be jagged.
Josh, Are you talking about a diamond-pattern metal grille to cover the speakers? "Diamond plate" is a steel plate with a surface pattern often plated in chrome and used as decorative or protective cladding on trucks and machinery.
im talking about putting it on the baffle purely cosmetic. i thought it would look pretty kickass and weight isnt much of an issue as its gonna be at one of my permanent jam spots. anyone know some links to buy big sheets of it? theres no custom shops that i know of around here but ill check.
Try this place, I've ordered some angled aluminum from them before. http://www.midlandxpressmetals.com/
+1 Not to mention the fact that the speakers won't seal well with all the ridges. I did this once when I worked in a metal fab shop, I had the luxury of using a CNC mill to smooth it down where the speaker would rest, and just added a small rubber gasket to make the airtight seal. It worked great, a 2x10 modeled after an Eden XLT style cab. I wish I never sold it.
well im going to cut the holes bigger than the actual speaker so the speaker is mounted on the wood and the diamond plate around the outside.
Do you have a Lowes by you? I just came from the one near me, and the sell a 2'x3' pice for $75. It is 1/8" thick. I found these guys online: http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/alum2.phtml?page=tread&LimAcc=. Looks to be about $65 shipped for a 2'x4' piece 1/16" thick. -Mike
sweet thanks, ill have a snoop around locally then if i cant find anything at a decent price ill buy off that online store. ill be sure to post pics after its done too, its gonna take a while though. I'm basing it around a yorkville 1x15 i got, this mofo is gonna be huge.
I can't wait to see it. I want to know what you plan to use to cut out the 15" hole though. If you are oversizing it to let the speaker rest on the wood underneath how will you cut a smooth clean and round hole in the aluminum? Any rough edges or imperfections will be quite obvious in it.
I wouldn't pay those kinds of prices just for the amount you're needing. As a professonal welder myself, I can say that if you just start calling around to local metal fabrication and welding shops (it doesn't necessarily have to be specialty custom shops either) any manufacturing facility will usually have some laying around. In the fab shops, those sheets are usually bought in quantity and come in 48"X96" pieces. If you're just needing 21"X44" then alot of places will have that much just lying in the floor behind a shear,scrap rack, or recycling dumpster. Just call one of the palces and ask to speak to a fabrication supervisor, tell him what you need and what you're using it for. Chances are he'll find you a piece, size it with a shear and cut the holes for you . If you know how to talk to him he probably won't charge that much, if anything. If you need to cut the holes yourself, a jigsaw or metal body saw can be used (although you'll probably go through a few blades.) Just remeber to cut the holes smaller than you actually need and finish them out to size with metal grinding bits and an electric drill or a Dremel tool to smooth out the rough cut edges. Another alternative if you can't get the holes smoothed out enough, is to use chrome edge trimming that slides over the edge of the metal and can shaped around the holes (sort of like chrome edging used on car doors only smaller and more flexible.) And remeber to ask for aluminum when shopping around for diamond tread because there are other types like steel and stainless that would be way too hard to work with by the average user.
