Finally starting my build

[el_ingeniero]

Building 4 x T39 @ 23.5" 3012LF loaded, and 4 x DR200 Delta Pro 8B loaded.

A fellow tango DJ and friend of mine is a cabinet maker with an in with Industrial
Plywood about 1 mile from where I live. I can't order there, but the owner of the
place owes my friend big time, because he finished a project on the owners house
someone else screwed up.

Got 13 sheets of 3/8" BB, and 3 sheets of 1/4" BB. Finally.

With my help, my source got the 3/8" ply ripped down to 9 T39 sides, 800 running
inches of 22.75" stock for the t39s, and tops, bottoms and baffles for the the DR200s.
We also cut backs for the DR200s from the 1/4" stock. We used a brand new $80
blade on his saw, it cut though the ply like soft butter, with no chipping whatsoever
on the face ply. The leftover ply got ripped once at 24" so I could get it home.

My friend is skilled in the art of improvised lumber transport, and to my amazement
we got it all loaded in my 91 Toyota Corolla, hanging all the 60" pieces out the trunk,
and putting the smaller bits in my front seat. Didn't dare take the highway. I looked
like Fred Sanford tooling up Nicollet Avenue towards Hennepin Avenue. I got to my
tango lesson 20 minutes late, but after that I got home, and humped it all up into my
2nd floor apartment.

Cost me $500.18 and copies of 3 out-of-print tango CDs (man, that almost hurt worse
than the $500), plus $35 for the rough cutting. Plus, he'll loan me all the clamps I
could possibly need ... he's got more than 100.

I'll be building in what would be my living room, if I was at all normal.

Pics of rough cutting, transport and build area forthcoming, prolly Tuesday night.

Oh, and early Xmas present: enough cash to afford a pair of b-stock XTI2000s. I know
these can take more, but for me it's about great sound quality and controlling dispersion
in super reflective venues, not about how loud I can make it. If I need to, I'll stack 4
tops a side and run them at 75W each, just to keep the mid bass off the ceiling. I was
going to run QSC PLX amps, but I can't ignore the simplicity and value of the Xti.

[Radian]

My friend is skilled in the art of improvised lumber transport, and to my amazement we got it all loaded in my 91 Toyota Corolla,

How does one go about building a whole cab out 3/8" ply? I mean are you using brads or just clamps?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

How does one go about building a whole cab out 3/8" ply? I mean are you using brads or just clamps?

3/8 isn't bad with brads, screws are a PITA. The bracing count does have to be increased.

[el_ingeniero]

I was already planning on doing 3 sets of internal braces 5.5" apart instead of 2 sets 7.4" apart, per Bill's specifications. That only makes sense.

I've got an itty bitty 8 oz finish hammer, brads and an itty bitty nail punch. But just thinking how to use brads on the butt joints without everything falling apart at the first hammer stroke makes me break out in a sweat. And dados on both sides of the internal panels are out because 1/16" deep (or even 3/32") dadoes seem like they're not deep enough to keep the ply from moving, not to mention that 6 and 9 mm dado bits are unobtanium.

I used to build my own bike frames back when they still used steel. We used investment cast lugs at the joints which the frame tubes slipped into, which stiffened the joints and shortened the effective length of the tubes by and inch or more. Also, the ends of the tubes had much thicker walls than the middle, which further stiffened the joints.

Thinking along those lines, the 3/8" ply opens things up by 1/8" per panel and I've chosen not to shrink the front to back dimensions of the cabs to match, and will keep the speaker chamber and the first section of the horn the same size. So I can add a bit of material here and there to ease construction and further shorten the effective distance between braces. The result won't be quite as light, but should be even stiffer than using 1/2" ply and normal braces.

I'll use strips made of 1/4" ply about 5/8" wide as permanently glued guide boards on the sides to hold the internal panels in place, and do the same on the internal panels to hold the braces in place. I think that will stiffen things a little and let me build with clamps only. I could lay in such strips on the side panels all the way around the outside of the speaker chamber panels, which should go a long way towards assuring a complete seal.

[subharmonic]

Building in your living room. .....

...


I will try to never complain about my garage again.

[el_ingeniero]

Building in your living room. .....

...


I will try to never complain about my garage again.

I'm single.

It's not really a living room. Closer to a heated garage with a wood floor.

What's supposed to be my dining room is what I use for a living room. Going to have to put plastic up to keep sawdust out of the rest of the apartment though. Not sure how that's going to work out with the heat, since the thermostat is in the garage/living room.

[David Sample]

There will be LOTS of fine dust that doesn't just fall to the floor friend!!!

[el_ingeniero]

I will do a lot of cutting out on the porch which has a door leading out there from the living room. There won't be that much sawdust in the living room, except when I'm drilling smaller holes.

Even so, sawdust control is important. There is no better kindling than sawdust (except maybe greasy rags). I have a wet/dry vac, and I've taken the head of it off and stuck it on one of those DIY vortex generators over a metal garbage can. I'll duct tape the hose from that to the circular saw, and a second hose from the exhaust will hang over the porch rail about 3 feet when I'm sawing.

But "plastic up" means putting plastic sheeting over doorways to keep what sawdust little sawdust might remain, and the smell of paint and curing PL from drifting into the rest of the apartment (as much as I can).

[subharmonic]

and the smell of paint and curing PL from drifting into the rest of the apartment (as much as I can).

I think that PL fumes are an aphrodisiac, paint not so much.

[el_ingeniero]

Was going to start cutting wood for T39 tops today, but I had to spend all day taking 2 round trips to the hardware store on public transportation dealing with with iced up car locks.

On the plus side, I am setting the stage for serious progress.

Once I finally got into my car around dusk, I went to Home Depot for a second spare car key and scored a Husky air compressor/brad nailer combo I saw on clearance for $70. It's not a Porter-Cable or Makita, but Husky makes pretty OK stuff. No way I could have craigslisted that one, and now I have it for the house my fiance and I will buy someday.

Also got another Irwin 8 clamp combo kit for $24. Counting previous purchases, I now have more than enough clamps to build 4 T39s in parallel, including 12 4" bar clamps. Those 4" Irwin clamps are a dollar cheaper than 4" C-clamps, and a sight handier.

Wednesday, I'm ordering 4 full up 3012lf loaded T39 kits from Leland. I ordered 4 12" spacers from him the other day, cheaper than buying a jig).

Oh, and I got 2 Xti 2000 amps in from Unique Squared in Atlanta off eBay. The price was far below anything else I could find.

I'll round out the system with a Behringer DEQ/DCX combo. I'll put it all in a Gator 8U rolling rack I have, along with an Aphex 204 processor and a Furman power strip, and feed it with a Mackie Onyx mixer.

I thought about going SAC, but I can't justify that level of complexity for just doing recorded music. Maybe that will be what I work on next winter.

[LelandCrooks]

Do it early enough I can ship it Wednesday. Starting thursday no shipping until the 16th.

[el_ingeniero]

Do it early enough I can ship it Wednesday. Starting thursday no shipping until the 16th.

The money should be sitting in my bank account tomorrow. If so, I will order in the AM.

[subharmonic]

Once I finally got into my car around dusk, I went to Home Depot for a second spare car key and scored a Husky air compressor/brad nailer combo I saw on clearance for $70. It's not a Porter-Cable or Makita, but Husky makes pretty OK stuff. No way I could have craigslisted that one, and now I have it for the house my fiance and I will buy someday.

I am using a $60 compressor/nailer combo from sears, the Evolve or something, along with a nail punch for the mishaps of not sinking deep enough it works fine

Oh, and I got 2 Xti 2000 amps in from Unique Squared in Atlanta off eBay. The price was far below anything else I could find.

I bought from them a couple times now, always have been pleased with the super deals they have.

[el_ingeniero]

After more a year or so of doing everything but building, I have some progress to show. Tomorrow, I'll do some baffles.

[el_ingeniero]

I have a question: what's the best way to place the hurricane nuts for mounting the driver?

I've been using a bolt to pull them through, but it's a terrific pain in the ass. I've also tried using a c-clamp to push them though, and that doesn't work at all.

Finally, even when I'm pulling them though with the bolt, when I release the bolt, the hurricane nut releases from the board: it goes from having a tiny bead of squeezeout to showing a hairline crack.