Looking to upgrade to horns

J!m

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Based on the tools you have, you are doing the best with what you have.

You can make a straight edge jig to run the circular saw nice and straight. I bought a clamp on thing for ripping 8’ panels but you can make it with 1x1 aluminum and some clamps.
 

AngrySailor

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Based on the tools you have, you are doing the best with what you have.

You can make a straight edge jig to run the circular saw nice and straight. I bought a clamp on thing for ripping 8’ panels but you can make it with 1x1 aluminum and some clamps.
This is how I cut all mine. Use a straight edge to guide the saw!
 

roccus

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Yea I'm learning as I go, but after routing all the edges everything fits real nice. I have been drilling holes to mount the back covers. I am using 1/4 - 20 T nuts, each cab will have 36 bolts on each cab to hold the back covers on snugly. Woofers were supposed to get here tomorrow but it has changed and they are now supposed to be here next monday, they say they come with a template for the holes so I'll wait for them, but I have plenty of work I can do to keep me busy. I can only get a few hours a day to work on them. I was toying with the idea to make my own flare tubes but just went ahead and ordered 4 of these flare ports I figure I have enough work to do on these so why not?
 

AngrySailor

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Yea I'm learning as I go, but after routing all the edges everything fits real nice. I have been drilling holes to mount the back covers. I am using 1/4 - 20 T nuts, each cab will have 36 bolts on each cab to hold the back covers on snugly. Woofers were supposed to get here tomorrow but it has changed and they are now supposed to be here next monday, they say they come with a template for the holes so I'll wait for them, but I have plenty of work I can do to keep me busy. I can only get a few hours a day to work on them. I was toying with the idea to make my own flare tubes but just went ahead and ordered 4 of these flare ports I figure I have enough work to do on these so why not?
Did you order the Rockville’s? The “template” is not a template. It’s a dimensioned drawing, useless as a transfer to the wood. Also mind the orientation of the lettering on the dust cap if it’s going to be visible. They’re not aligned and placed randomly. If you’re going to have grille cloth it’s not an issue. I just placed the speaker in the hole, leveled the lettering and marked my holes.

MDF doesn’t hold T-nuts worth a Fack also. I learned this the hard way when the T-nut starts spinning inside. I would use some sort of adhesive on the removable back cover or it will rattle and beat the MDF to dust eventually. Even if it’s that low strength silicone, latex caulk, mastic, or something that will release relatively easy. I’ve done this before and was able to remove the panel by careful prying and using a razor blade. Wood glue will separate the MDF before it comes apart. This is why I only build cabinets where the speaker mounts from the outside now...
 

roccus

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Did you order the Rockville’s? The “template” is not a template. It’s a dimensioned drawing, useless as a transfer to the wood. Also mind the orientation of the lettering on the dust cap if it’s going to be visible. They’re not aligned and placed randomly. If you’re going to have grille cloth it’s not an issue. I just placed the speaker in the hole, leveled the lettering and marked my holes.

MDF doesn’t hold T-nuts worth a Fack also. I learned this the hard way when the T-nut starts spinning inside. I would use some sort of adhesive on the removable back cover or it will rattle and beat the MDF to dust eventually. Even if it’s that low strength silicone, latex caulk, mastic, or something that will release relatively easy. I’ve done this before and was able to remove the panel by careful prying and using a razor blade. Wood glue will separate the MDF before it comes apart. This is why I only build cabinets where the speaker mounts from the outside now...
I'm not mounting the T nuts into the MDF, if you look back you will see I made frames out of some ash planks I had here that I ripped down to 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 square pieces for the frames.. Ash will hold T nuts, that stuff is like wood steel, they make baseball bats out of it.... As far as the logo on dust cover goes I don't want them so will most likely paint them. I did order the rockville's, they are supposed to be here Monday I guess I used the worng word "template" I meant the dimension spec sheet
 

J!m

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The guy I used to get guitar making wood from described ironwood to me thusly:

“They make fence posts out of it and put a rock on top of the post. When the rock rots, time to replace the post.”

I got a chuckle out of that (and a hernia trying to lift a 4/4 board of the stuff).

I figured it’d be great for a fingerboard, particularly on a fretless bass, but it doesn’t look like much.
 

roccus

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The guy I used to get guitar making wood from described ironwood to me thusly:

“They make fence posts out of it and put a rock on top of the post. When the rock rots, time to replace the post.”

I got a chuckle out of that (and a hernia trying to lift a 4/4 board of the stuff).

I figured it’d be great for a fingerboard, particularly on a fretless bass, but it doesn’t look like much.
Are you referring to ash wood?
 

J!m

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No. There are a few species referred to as ironwood. I’m not sure what I handled 20-odd years ago.

There’s desert ironwood which I think is in the maple family and a local around here in the cherry family.
 

roccus

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Things have been going along with the sub cab build, if I can remember to bring camera in from the shop at the end of the day tomorrow I'll have some pics. I had mentioned a few posts back I was planning to make the template for the woofer hole out of steel flat bar stock. Well I tested it out to make the holes for the ports, these flared ports need a hole 8 1/4" to mount them. So I made a simple round hoop hoop with inside 8 1/4" dimension, welded a couple tabs with holes in them to screw it to the panel and routed out the holes. It worked perfect, so I know it will work well for the woofer hole in the front baffle. The bottoms are glued and screwed to the frames, Next I will do the baffles..... if the woofers gets here, was supposed to be here last friday, then it changed to was supposed to be here today, now says will be here tomorrow, but once the baffel is done the rest of the cab build will go very quickly.... then finish work begins. We are getting cold nights starting here now down in the low 30's, heavy frost on everything in the morning but the days have been warming up to the high 60's so far.
 

roccus

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Well here are some pics... got all the T nuts in for the back covers, you can see the template I made for the port hole and I have the baffles all laid out, tomorrow I will make the template for the speaker opening. The rockvilles got here today, they look good
bs8.JPG bs9.JPG bs10.JPG bs11.JPG bs12.JPG bs13.JPG
 

AngrySailor

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Only thing I would recommend and maybe you already have this covered but I’d put some bracing on the face board. That woofer and a WOPL will try to flex that all to heck!

It’s oretty tight to your frame, but maybe 4 gussets on the diagonal lines you have drawn?
 

roccus

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Only thing I would recommend and maybe you already have this covered but I’d put some bracing on the face board. That woofer and a WOPL will try to flex that all to heck!

It’s oretty tight to your frame, but maybe 4 gussets on the diagonal lines you have drawn?
I think your talking about on the front baffle, right? Well I had thought about that if you look at the pic of the circle on the baffle you can see that the top and bottom of the 18" woofer are just about touching the solid frames, so there wil be no flexing there. the area between the sided of the woofer to the frame is only about 7 1/2" so not a whole lot of area to flex. The MDF is 3/4" thick, then I will be laminating a piece of lewon over the MDF to cover the T nuts and all the screws that I will use to fasten it to the frame that about 3/16 think I think. Then over that will be 1/2 MDF laminated to the lewon, it will be for front revile/trim, (to give it a 3D Altec look like the 816 mids) so all together the baffle will be a little over 1 1/4" thick.
 

J!m

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You could run a scrap of MDF that’s about 4” wide across that center span on edge.

If you look how Jim Thiel did his cabinets, there’s so much bracing and 2” thick sides you wonder how the speakers fit...

These are gonna ROCK!
 
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