Titan 39 Build

[Bryan Cox]

I devoted some time to figuring out what I did wrong and can't find it. Everything is square and dead on. It sure doesn't look that way in the picture. Some kind of optical illusion I guess...I don't know. Either way, panel 7 has me covered.

[Tom Smit]

I devoted some time to figuring out what I did wrong and can't find it. Everything is square and dead on. It sure doesn't look that way in the picture. Some kind of optical illusion I guess...I don't know. Either way, panel 7 has me covered.

I think it's the light, or rather, the shadows that make it appear to be wrong. As long as all the panels are the same width, and, the cover flange braces measure the same from each "side" panel, you're okay.

[Bryan Cox]

Got to spend some time in the garage today. Pretty sure I progress more slowly than anyone else who builds these cabs. But meh, I'm in no hurry. The time allows me to ensure everything is square and tight. That's probably why I've never had air leak issues. At any rate, here's today's progress...

[Seth]

Looks like there's not much left but to paint, wire, and play. Good job!

[Bryan Cox]

Thanks, Seth! Yeah I'm just letting the PL dry then I have to put a tone through it to check for leaks. Hoping the next two go quicker.

[Bryan Cox]

Made a little more progress today. Routed the edges, filled screw holes, searched the seams for leaks (with a 960 lumen flashlight), dry fitted the hardware, installed the grill mounts, filled the imperfections with drywall mud, and painted hard-to-reach areas with flat black spray paint. Should be ready for sanding and Duratex in 24 hours or so.

[Bruce Weldy]

Should be ready for sanding and Duratex in 24 hours or so.

Add a coat or two of that flat black between the sanding and duratex.

[Bryan Cox]

Will do, Bruce. Thanks for the tip.

[Bryan Cox]

Made a little progress the last few days. I got the second box sanded and ready for paint/duratex. I forgot to take pictures though. Then I started building the last two. So far so good. This ply warps faster than I can install it so it's slow going. I'm only installing about 2 panels a day on each cab. Then I have to secure them with clamps, wedges, etc... to pull the warp out. Anyway, here are a few pics of the progress.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

When prototyping I never did more than two or three panels per day. I found if I started a session with the intent of doing more than that I had a tendency to rush, which led to mistakes.

[Bryan Cox]

I've experienced that as well. Two to three panels per day is resulting in a nice product so far. When I was building the first two T39s I'd spent 12-16 hours in the garage a day. And at certain points I'd rush to get through a problem spot, only to find something warped or not quite square later on. Now that I have a good understanding of this cab I can think more critically about each piece and determine what the end result will be.

Thanks for a sweet cab, Bill.

[Bruce Weldy]

I know the pricing is different all around the country, but using Baltic Birch is worth the difference in price if for no other reason than all the stories of warping panels and the time it takes to fix it.

I've seen some very tiny amounts of warping on large sheets of BB, but only after standing in my garage for months at a bad angle. Cut panels have never warped - period. I cut all panels for everything I'm building at one time and stack 'em up. Then do an assembly line for putting them all together at the same time.

[Bryan Cox]

I hear ya, Bruce. The first Otop 12 I ever built was made from BB and it didn't warp for love or money. It was readily available since I was in Germany. But here in North Dakota I haven't found it at all. Lumber yards quit carrying it and big box stores will only order it if you buy a skeen at a time. Even then you have to pay freight. The lumber yards don't even carry the most basic of woods anymore: oak, maple, pine, cedar, walnut, sassafras, etc... They call those "craft woods" here, you can only get them if you special order, and they come at a high price. If you ask for cabinet ply you get ACX. I guess I could use ABX, but that stuff is stupid expensive here as well since I can only get it at Menards.

I guess that's the price I pay for being a cabinet builder in a state that has three trees.

But in two years I'll retire from the military, move back to Missouri, and build a herd of cabinets from real BB. I'll bet that build process will be simple.

[Tom Smit]

Bigcox4002001, I have heard/read that when someone goes to build something out of wood, they say that they are "going to make some sawdust". I DON'T SEE ANY SAWDUST IN THE PHOTOS!!!!

[Bryan Cox]

Haha. That's cause I "made with the sawdust" and cut flat packs ahead of time The only sawdust I'll make now is for the panels 3/5 and 4/6 braces, panel 7, and driver chamber cover. I cut all those to fit as I go along.

I find that because the ACX is warped so badly, I can never get the driver chamber to be square. No matter what bracing technique or sorcery I try to use, something is always off. So I have to cut those panels to fit each cab and they're never exactly the same.

Speaking of, something I learned while building T39s; if panel 6 and extension are not perfect then the driver cover will be off. This has been my issue in the past.

I've tried bracing the panels, wetting the concave side and pulling straight with clamps, wedges...I've even tried sizing the 4/6 braces to ensure panel 6 is pulled into alignment. Nothing I try has yielded a great result. I'll be building another four of these when I retire and I'll use authentic BB ply. I expect those will go much more smoothly.