This page details the construction of an AX84 High Octane style amplifier: www.ax84.com

Features

• Hi-Gain 12ax7 Preamp

• 6BQ5/EL84/SV83 Power Tube in Class-A Single Ended Configuration provides a surprisingly loud 5 watts or so of output power

• Cathode-follower driven Bass, Mid and Treble tone controls allow you to shape your sound. Alter the values of the components in the tone stack to tailor your sound.

Many thanks to Ramiro Silva for his excellent construction web page with plans, photos, the works. Ramiro is a gifted amp builder with extraordinary attention to detail.

See his amps website here:  www.silvatone.bravepages.com

CONSTRUCTION

February 9, 2006 (1 Hour)
Cumulative build time, 6.5 hours

After two days off I spent about one hour polishing the chassis, just to see how it would look. It turned out surprisingly beautiful considering the tools and my lack of skill! Still going to paint this one gloss white with a couple coats of lacquer on top, but a future amp will definitely be polished aluminum.

POLISHING THE CHASSIS

Picked up a 6" buffing pad at Lowes ($6). These pads are good for about 3500 RPM max. I set the mighty Tradesman to 3100 RPM, its max speed.	I used a Number 6 polishing compound stick on the buffing pad. These sticks cost about $6 each.
The results were pretty dramatic, considering I put in only about an hour of work.	It's not quite a mirror finish, but close enough for DIY!
Before Polishing	After Polishing

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