Plate Reverb Build: Frame Construction

This week, I constructed the entire frame together for my plate reverb. From my needed materials post, you can see that I needed two pieces of 1 1/2″ x 60″ Zinc Plated Slotted Angle and six pieces of 1 1/2″ x 36″ Zinc Plated Slotted Angle to build the entire frame. After picking these up, they needed to be cut to the size that I designed in my blueprint.

However, after inspection of all my parts, I underestimated the length that my eye hooks and links would take up, so I extended my frame by one inch on all sides.

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After cutting them to size, I needed to file down the edges that were just cut.

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After getting these filed down the best that they could, I started by bolting down the corners through the slots that matched up to create my outside frame.

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After getting this complete, I began to make the frame more rigid by adding four joints on the “outside” of the frame (the plate will go on the opposite end).

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Here is the frame with the joint support:

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After putting everything together, we brought out a square to make sure that all the corners were exactly square. After doing this, we tightened everything down and added support for the corners to make them more stable.

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Here is the completed frame:

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If the corner supports don’t work as well, I can always take them off and go back to the metal triangles to add rigidness to this frame. Next up, I will be installing the plate to this frame, which you should see done this coming week.

Plate Reverb Build: Needed Materials

Building this plate reverb will not be without some costs. I have come up with everything that will be needed to complete this project.

1x Cold Rolled Steel Plate – ($26)
2x 1-1/2 in. x 60 in. Zinc-Plated Slotted Angle ($28)
2x 1-1/2 in. x 14-Gauge x 36 in. Zinc-Plated Slotted Angle ($52)
1x 12-pack 20mm Piezoelectric Elements/Contact Pickups with 2″ Leads ($17)
1x Vidsonix Ghost Transducer ($20)
1x GLS Audio 1/4″ Jacks Female TS Mono Panel Mount Jack – 4 PACK ($12)
8x 880 lb. x 1/4 in. Zinc-Plated Quick Link ($18)
8x 1/4 in. x 2 in. Zinc-Plated Steel Eye Bolts with Nut ($5)
1x TEKTON 6555 Rivet Gun with 40-pc. Rivets ($14)
1x Neiko Hand Held Power Punch, Sheet Metal Hole Punch Kit($31)
16x Stanley-National Hardware 1-in Metallic Corner Brace ($25)

Overall, the entire cost of this project will be $248 if I don’t include the wooden frame and damping plate, which are both optional at this point. This doesn’t include the extra nuts, bolts and screws that I will need to keep everything together. It also leaves me with some extra supplies for my second attempt at it, and I won’t have to buy the tools again.

Next up is buying all of these materials, as well as researching the acoustics of metals and damping plates, which will come later this weekend.