Wondering if anyone here has built their own plate and if you'd be willing to chime in with your experiences and opinions.
I think you're using the same plate material I used...from the one lonely bin of welding supplies at Lowe's.
I've got a contact for some stainless that I need to be getting in touch with.
Since you're at the start: go back and replace the screws that hold the brackets on the plate with stainless. I had problems with plain steel ones getting sheared off. Are your eyebolts welded closed?
The real crux: the thing will sound best when it's tensioned absurdly tight. One of the classic descriptions is that you tension it until you break something, then back it off a hair. I've destroyed the threads on a number of #20 bolts & nuts, and opened up a number of eyebolts and s-hooks.
The frame has to be pretty rigid, too.
I'm leaning towards a Ghost transducer for the driver and piezio pick-ups using the pre-amp design from JCC & Associates (platereverb.com).
The Ghost is fine for the money.
Piezo discs will work, but sound awful - very chalky. PVDF tabs sound better, but they're a little odd to work with. A small loudspeaker with a spike that contacts the plate can work.
I've mounted pickups using neodymium magnets and/or blue painters tape.
Has anyone here built a plate using the Ghost transducer as a driver? If so, did you mount the driver right to the plate? Is it attached to the frame at all or just the plate?
I have a spike that threads into the driver where the foot used to mount...I think it's a #8 thread. The ghost sits on a little arm that's mounted on the frame, decoupled with some foam. The spike means it acts like a true point source.
I was finding that anything flat mounted to the plate tends to buzz & rattle.
I'm guessing this is going to be a set it and forget it kind of thing.
If yours comes out anything like mine, you'll want a lot of hands on damping control. The last few fractions of an inch before the damper hits the plate are were some really nice sounds live...seriously, most of the action is between 1/8" and 1/2".
I built my damper with a manual arrangement, but have been reconsidering. I'm starting to think something with a stepper motor and remote control would be useful.