My ZPA 0.8's-- #1 of 2 is almost done

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:19 pm

joyride wrote:You mine sending me that model in a 3dm form (if you can export to that)? I want to try something out really quick. if you cant get it in 3dm, Im sure I can import any other common format.

I can export to .3ds or .dwg. Let me know if either will work. If it will email me at **edit_removed email**. I will email them out to you.

wash with gasoline · Post by **wash with gasoline** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:12 pm

took some pics for you, let me know if you want any more http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn1/ ... /pg%20zpa/

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:43 pm

wash with gasoline wrote:took some pics for you, let me know if you want any more http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn1/ ... /pg%20zpa/

Sweet, that is awesome. Thanks, do you mind if I dload and store the pictures for reference?

Joyride, email is sent, I am interested to see what you are going to do to it

Later,
Jason

wash with gasoline · Post by **wash with gasoline** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:22 am

no problem, if i new how i would email you the higher res. pics. ...to bad mine is chrome, i probly would have sent it out to be fixed by now if it was factory

KHPower · Post by **KHPower** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:35 pm

That looks very nice! Jason you have all the skills to do it so make time and im sure itll come out just like you want

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Sat May 02, 2009 7:52 am

Well, my initial reason for the model was to test the surfaces when importing from sketchup. I was curious as to how it handles the transfer. Then I figured 'what the hell, might as well make it look pretty'.

Im pretty sure the boards are oriented the wrong way though

Post by **AVICJR** » Sat May 02, 2009 8:00 am

That looks KILLER!! Extremely nice!!

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sat May 02, 2009 1:06 pm

OMG! That is fuckin awesome! What software, and how hard is it to learn???

Did you draw the boards? It is close enough to get the idea! Thanks mang, that really gives me something to look forward to!

Later,
Jason

Post by **stipud** » Sat May 02, 2009 4:41 pm

This thread is pure pwnage.

andy600rr · Post by **andy600rr** » Sat May 02, 2009 5:25 pm

Much respect to the mad skillz of Jason & Joyride

freshkryp69 · Post by **freshkryp69** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:30 pm

this is so bad ass and so inspirational...watch I;d bet ya this going to start a trend...to customize old skool PG amps! I know everyone is thinking about whats possible.....the more that do these type of things to PG amps the better. I myself have alot of ideas that I would like make happen....dammit man I want to learn cad now just so I can create on computer rather than work done from scketches/layouts etc...

are there any free cad programs out there that can let me do whats been done on this thread with the zpa 0.8? the wire frame looks ways cool and the solid modeling is perfect for seeing what your creating...

I am totally into this shit! I want all my PG amps modded in one way or another!

keep up the great work!!!

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun May 03, 2009 5:57 am

As mentioned several times so far in this thread, Google Sketchup is free for the basic version. It does everything that the pro version does, except exports. You can get a 8hr trial of the pro version and use it just for exporting.

ProgCad(sp?) is a free 2d cad program. The manufacturer took the free version off their site, but you can still find it via a google search, I did a few weeks ago.

I recently heard that Solidworks was unloading licenses for dirt cheap or free-- I never verified it.

There are all sorts of variations of 3d cad software, from free to unbelievably expensive. Sketchup is honestly the best free solid modeling software I have found. The biggest downfall of it is it is "loose" It doesn't do as good of a job intuitively snapping to the geometry as things like Acad do. It is easy to have it snap to the wrong plane while you are drawing, and if you aren't watching very closely, when you zoom out, half your model is all screwed up. Add to that, that if you start selecting multiple items in sketchup, it starts to get very, very slow, and is just frigging annoying. In the end, not being able to export into any usable format (i.e. for machine work, screen printing, ect...) is a killer for anything other than playing around, and google wants nearly as much as what a decent software sweet would cost for the pro version. I think the last I saw, it was $700 a seat for sketchup pro. Like I said above though, you can have the pro trial on your machine side by side with the free version, and it is a timed 8 hour trial. It takes maybe 2-3 minutes to go into pro, open and export a model, and close. I still have the majority of my 8 hours time left on my installs...

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Sun May 03, 2009 7:57 am

I use Rhino for modeling, and Vray for rendering. Rhino is a really good program to use, but it may have some problems with with the constrained stuff. It is primarily a CAID program based on NURBS, so it is highly unconstrained. It is a very simple program to use though. Vray on the other hand, has quite the learning curve. It produces great results, but is highly processor dependant. Once learned, vray is a really good renderer.

I attempted to just use a picture of the board with a displacement map, but it wasnt producing good results. I decided to spend the 15 minutes building some of the bigger pieces. Turned out alright, but with more time I think I could get better results.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun May 03, 2009 8:14 am

I have heard good things about rhino, but I have never tried it. I have taught myself all of the software I use. Acad and my CAM software has been the most difficult, however, now that I am used to the acad command line I have trouble moving to a CAD program that does not allow direct command entry. I can do it, but it seems a huge waste of time to go pick a tool for every operation, most of the time when switching from acad to something with no command line, I spend the first 5 minutes typing commands on accident every time I want to do something-- ugh!

The rendered model is awesome though! I can not thank you enough for making my dream one step closer to real.

Thanks again,
Jason

Pedi · Post by **Pedi** » Sun May 03, 2009 9:56 am

Not to become a OT-guy here, but I have seen sooo much nice work here now - that I just wonder when somebody is going to make/reproduce the MS-heatsinks again ??? I would die for a stretched one, with space for 3 MS-amps inside...

Post by **joerg** » Sun May 03, 2009 9:57 am

Pedi wrote:Not to become a OT-guy here, but I have seen sooo much nice work here now - that I just wonder when somebody is going to make/reproduce the MS-heatsinks again ??? I would die for a stretched one, with space for 3 MS-amps inside...

Mhyde71 knows a guy that actually owns an amp to fit 3 MS2125!

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun May 03, 2009 10:05 am

Pedi wrote:Not to become a OT-guy here, but I have seen sooo much nice work here now - that I just wonder when somebody is going to make/reproduce the MS-heatsinks again ??? I would die for a stretched one, with space for 3 MS-amps inside...

Honestly, it is cost prohibitive. The original sinks are either cast or extruded, I looked all over for a company with the tooling for that design, and for the M sinks. No one I found had it. If you had to pay to have tooling made, along with the sinks, it would be big time money. The only other option is machining one from a solid block of aluminum. It would be the cheapest way, but you are still looking at probably $500-$1000 just for the piece of aluminum, then you cut 90% of it away, the machine time would be very high. To get a one off sink, you would probably spend more than $2k unfinished. If I had the time and piece of aluminum, I would try it, but one little f-up and you are out a ton of money.

There are artsy/sculpture places that I have heard of around the US that every so often will do castings for people. You might look into seeing if someone can cast the basic shape, then it could be machined for a reasonable amount...

Later,
Jason

Pedi · Post by **Pedi** » Sun May 03, 2009 10:44 am

@Jason: Yeah, that will be too much - I know...

joerg wrote:
Mhyde71 knows a guy that actually owns an amp to fit 3 MS2125!

Yeah, but as far as I remember - It was not for sale - and IF it was going up for sale, the price would be like 2-3000$$ ????

And that is too much....

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:38 am

Jacampb2 wrote:
Pedi wrote:Not to become a OT-guy here, but I have seen sooo much nice work here now - that I just wonder when somebody is going to make/reproduce the MS-heatsinks again ??? I would die for a stretched one, with space for 3 MS-amps inside...
Honestly, it is cost prohibitive. The original sinks are either cast or extruded, I looked all over for a company with the tooling for that design, and for the M sinks. No one I found had it. If you had to pay to have tooling made, along with the sinks, it would be big time money. The only other option is machining one from a solid block of aluminum. It would be the cheapest way, but you are still looking at probably $500-$1000 just for the piece of aluminum, then you cut 90% of it away, the machine time would be very high. To get a one off sink, you would probably spend more than $2k unfinished. If I had the time and piece of aluminum, I would try it, but one little f-up and you are out a ton of money.

There are artsy/sculpture places that I have heard of around the US that every so often will do castings for people. You might look into seeing if someone can cast the basic shape, then it could be machined for a reasonable amount...

Later,
Jason

I'd disagree on having it rough cast, go with the billet. Work holding on a casting is a pain in the ass, and it would definitely cost more to have a casting done than you would save in excess material.

Cool project here though..

I switch between mastercam and bobcad.. each of our mastercam seats cost about $10000, each bobcad one being around $200, but I probably split my time evenly between the two.

I can do it, but it seems a huge waste of time to go pick a tool for every operation,

I hated this style of programming at first as well, but when you're trying to organize several hundred operations in the same program, performed by ~30 tools, you really have no other choice. Especially when you know in 3 months an engineer will make a change, and you'll be the one that has to go back and dissect 10,000 lines of otherwise disorganized code

oh, and since you're already making a 'replica' of sorts, why not have a powdercoater match the original zpa finish? I'm a huge fan of anodize, but I think it would be strange to see an anodized zpa :/

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:18 pm

I agree, a casting may be more trouble than it is worth, unless you could "backyard" cast it, or get it done dirt cheap somewhere. Even then, it is a really big pour, and more than most shade tree casters would be able to do.

Dimensions to fit 3 MS2xxx amps would have to be at least 52x12x2.5, that is one big hunk of aluminum. I would have to do it in two setups to get it on my mill, and right there you have the possibility of small mis-matches in the cuts. You guys probably have a machine big enough there, you want to tackle this one

I will do the cad drawings if someone wants to send me a sink.

As for the ZPA, I like the factory wrinkle powder coat, but I guess I was thinking if I am going custom, why not go balls out. I have not yet found anyone anywhere near local that does anodizing, so it is likely powder or paint anyhow...

Later,
Jason

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:40 pm

when somebody ponies up the money for material, we'll talk ;P

Post by **Jacampb2** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:38 pm

Started the first case today. One top cover got scrapped-- mis cut. The one on there actually came out good, but I had to try to bend it w/o a break and it looks like shit. So, I am either going to buy a break or see if I can rent one at the home depot. This aluminum is light enough I should be able to do it with a siding break. Anyhow, aside from the hammer shit, what do you think. It is a big bastard.

Later,
Jason

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:41 pm

That is fucking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by **stipud** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:48 pm

Welp... I'm impressed.

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:03 pm

I like how when you talk about doing something, you actually do it.

Bravo, man.