Throat filler tip

[Mark Coward]

Whether you buy them ready made or roll your own, in most cabs we want to paint the visible edges black. I'd been doing this with spray paint. On a recent build I did from spare parts, I made some fillers out of packing styrofoam I had laying around. Spray paint melted them. Made another pair and painted them all over with a couple of coats of Duratex. Looks a lot better and it also made them considerably stronger.

[bzb]

I guess you never made a solar system mobile back in elementary school, eh? So disappointed when my Jupiter looked more like a melted asteroid.

Good tip on the Duratex. What did you trim the foam with? I'm thinking the sander is going to make an incredible mess... maybe I'll stick with the hacksaw.

[Rune Bivrin]

I've used the same method, albeit with Warnex which is as close to Duratex as I can get (and it's pretty good).

I haven't used a sander, nor a hacksaw. I've just used a sharp, long-bladed knife. Ideally I'd use one of those hot wire cutters that I remember from kindergarten, but I've been to lazy to locate one.

Styrofoam being what it is there's a slight mess, but the sharper the knife, the less the mess.

[Israel]

I made mines from some round foam bases i found on a crafting store also "cheat" black paint (latex) from a neighbour ( i told the poor guy that these cans were out of the market for lead poisoning)

[jbass]

I used black acrylic paint from a craft store. It's cheap, it cleans up with water and a small bottle goes a long way.

[Ken Lustgarten]

I've used the same method, albeit with Warnex which is as close to Duratex as I can get (and it's pretty good).

I haven't used a sander, nor a hacksaw. I've just used a sharp, long-bladed knife. Ideally I'd use one of those hot wire cutters that I remember from kindergarten, but I've been to lazy to locate one.

Styrofoam being what it is there's a slight mess, but the sharper the knife, the less the mess.

I made a hot wire foam cutter many years ago when I was building remote control boats from scratch. It came in handy to cut out parts for a catamaran. It resembled a bandsaw. Make the base out of a piece of 3/4" wood, cut a notch in it. Make an arm with a thin metal rod sticking out from the top and bottom. String a piece of piano wire between them (like a bow). I found it helpful to file a little notch on the ends of the metal supports so that the piano wire does not slide. Bolt the arm in the slot you made in the 3/4" thick base so that it can pivot for cutting angles. For a power supply I used a ceiling fan speed controller followed by a transformer out of an old fried receiver. Next in line was a 25 amp rectifier and the a pair of alligator clips. Fasten the alligator clips on to the two metal arms and you are all set. Start with the fan speed controller at minimum and turn it up only until the foam cuts with ease, to far and you will burn through the wire.

[Rune Bivrin]

Neat setup, but why the rectifier? AC heats piano wire just as well as DC.

[Ken Lustgarten]

Neat setup, but why the rectifier? AC heats piano wire just as well as DC.

I am sure that it would have worked fine without the rectifier. I was just making my own version of a proven design that was DC. Fun stuff to play with!

[Mark Coward]

The point is that Duratex adds strength to the foam, I painted the whole thing not just the visible edges. And it looks much better inside, even though it doesn't show unless you remove the driver. As a commercial builder, if a cab I sell needs the driver replaced down the road I don't want the customer to see "styrofoam" inside.

[5meohd]

Would the added "strength" change acoustical properties? or does that not matter?