My father needed an amplifier for his PC speakers and I figured I could whip one up that would work for him. I ended up making a case from African Blackwood to house it. A knob made from Brazilian Rosewood was used for the volume control.
African Blackwood (called Mpingo in Africa) is interesting to work with since it is very hard, very dense, almost grainless, and machines like a hard plastic. I ended up milling out the inside cavity and using files for finishing. The photo is lightened a bit so that the wood grain shows better, but usually the grain in this wood is barely visible. With time and exposure to air, the grain tends to disappear, and the colour changes to an almost uniform flat black. African Blackwood is also interesting in that the sapwood is an almost grainless pale yellow, making for a stark contrast with the black heartwood.
| Material: | Enclosure: | African Blackwood |
| Knob: | Brazilian Rosewood |
| Finish: | | Wax |
| Size: | | 2.75" x 2.5" x 1.25" |
| Done: | | May 22, 1993 |
