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I will be trying to form some tweeter bridges out of stainless, but have never worked with the material. Anyone have any comments/suggestions? I dont believe I've seen anyone using it in an install....
------------------ Ron Hawkins
Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.
Use your ears to judge components, NOT your wallet! K.I.S.S.
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I used it quite abit when I worked at a machine shop. It is much harder to work with than aluminum and regular steel. Which is why you don't see much use of it in car audio. However Scott Buwalda I believe used it extensively in his 240sx. How are you planning on building the bridge? Maybe I can give you some hints.
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I'm not sure what you are talking about exactly. Are you trying to make the design out of a flat piece of stainless? If so what kind of thickness are you talking about?
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Oh hell yes...Stainless Steel rocks! So does Aluminum! But Stainless Steel is Stainless! And it's Steel! That said, I have no experience with it at all...well, a little experience, but it'll look cool however it turns out because it's metal! Post pics if you try it. Working with SS is much more difficult than aluminum, but once you get it done, I think SS looks cooler and also, I like working with SS finished pieces, since it's a harder material than aluminum, not as much worry about scratching or denting. What exactly do you mean when you say "tweeter bridge?" The little piece that holds the tweeter over the mid? I saw a pretty phat one of them made out of a butt-ugly piece of radio backstrap! It was even featured in a mag!
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I’ve never built anything out of stainless other than what I did at the machine shop with expensive lathes and mills. So from this point on what I write is only suggestions, please do not sue me (you wouldn’t get much anyway) after you chop off a finger or two. I don’t think using a router would work very well for this type of material. Stainless is hard on drill bits and end mills so I don’t think a router bit would last more than a couple seconds. You might be able to get away with it by using an endmill in a router but at the speeds that a router runs it would probably just snap them in half. Besides without having a guide roller you would have to set up very complex jigs and guides for the shape you want. So in my mind what would work best is to cut the rough shape out with a jigsaw or plasma cutter, preferably a plasma cutter because they are more fun. If you are using a jigsaw it might help to get a squirt bottle filled with water and or a lubricant made for metal cutting to cool and lubricate the blade. Then use an air powered die grinder with abrasive disks and wheels to get it down to the final shape. For outside edges you can always use a belt sander to smooth out the shape. It will take some time but I know you aren’t one to settle for less than perfection
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