Mounting Tube Sockets, on the Tweed Amp clone

On the last few amp builds I've done, I've 'graduated' from using bolts and nuts to hold tube sockets on, to using pop rivets.

On the right we have my trusty Arrow pop-rivet gun.  It's probably not the best quality, but it gets the job done.

I'm using steel 1/4" rivets for the tube sockets.  If you haven't pop-riveted before, it's quite easy.  Easy enough that even I can do it.  You load the rivet into the gun...

...and you insert the rivet through the hole in your work piece.  If you look carefully you'll see I have a second rivet in the other socket hole to keep it aligned.

Then you squeeze the trigger.  The rivet starts to compress and you release the trigger so the gun slides all the way down on the rivet.  Then you pull it again and whoosh...click...you have a nice rivet.

Here's the finished rivet.  Looks pretty good.

You can see that I went for ceramic tube sockets.  I like the ceramic, and hopefully they will have a long life.

Here's the back side (actually it's the bottom...) of the chassis with the tube sockets mounted as well as the speaker output jacks.  The jacks are insulated with shoulder washers. 

In this shot, only one of the preamp tube covers is in place.  I'll use all three of them when the amp is finished.