Table Tuba build by a car stereo guy

[Jason]

I wanted to share this build with everyone-It's a Table Tuba that will replace an Onkyo SKW-200 that came with a home theater in a box system that I bought years ago. I've noticed that in general, we car audio folk tend to get a bad rap in home audio circles. My approach to this build was more or less how I would build something for a car, and some of the techniques I routinely use are things that I haven't seen in other builds here. I figured sharing my build might be useful to other people looking for a different way to go about some things, mostly how to cosmetically finish the enclosure. I've seen some fantastic wood finishes in other builds, but I personally don't have anything in my house that has a stained wood finish. I hope you enjoy it, and I also hope to dispel the stereotype of car audio folk don't have anything of value to contribute.
The first thing I did after I drew out my panel layout was to cut a mock up of each interior panel, but only 3/4" wide. I use a 1/2" wide double stick tape made by Kent (used for holding side moldings on cars) to attach them to the panel layout. I then wax that really well with McGuire's mirror glaze. Next I rough cut the negative of that (basically the horn path) out of 1/2" mdf so it fits into the panel layout with a bit of gap all the way around. (I do this with a jig saw) I shoot a few brad nails into the rough cut part just to hold it steady, and then I mix a batch of bondo-(premium lightweight body filler from Wurth actually) and spread it in to it fills in all the gaps right up to the 3/4" pieces that are positioned just as the interior walls will be. When the bondo cures I use a pneumatic 6" palm DA sander with a 40 grit pad to flatten it out & then pop it apart. Now I have a perfect dado jig for a table tuba, which I double stick tape to a piece of 3/4 mdf and use a 1/2" clean out bit set 1/4" deep to dado the panel layout onto that piece.
(with a handheld laminate trimmer) (be sure to make your panels 1/2" wider that you would have otherwise, because now 1/4" of each panel on both sides will fit into the dado grooves. You can flip the jig over mirror imaged and dado the other side and now all of your enclosure walls really have no choice but to fit perfectly square

[Jason]

all the panels cut and ready to go

[Jason]

This is how you cut accurate angles

[Jason]

Dry-fitting all the panels as I go

[Jason]

woofer hole cut with jasper jig

[Jason]

Forsner bit to recess t-nuts

[Jason]

Drill jig for the two holes you can't reach in the drill press. Yes, that's a 9-driver TLAH in the backround with the aura nsa-525's and apex jr tweeters, and a 36" wide THTLP under the bench - our woodshop is at war volume playing either Octane or BPM pretty much all the time

[Jason]

recessed and drilled for t-nuts

[Jason]

small chamfer for clearance of the speaker surround

[Jason]

Anytime I've ever had a t-nut spin out it's always been because the teeth would fold instead of bite because the surface of mdf doesn't have a grain, so now I recess the holes with a forsner bit before I drill the hole that the t-nut goes through. This gets me down through the surface layer to the more fiberous part of the wood. Then I press the t-nut in just with finger pressure to make an impression of where the teeth are and I stick a straight pick down in those spots to "pre-bite" the wood so the teeth won't fold. I use a 30 second CA glue in the recessed area before I put the t-nut in, then pull in into the wood with a bolt and a fender washer from the other side. Once it's snugged down I shoot it with accelerator, and 30 seconds later I can pull the bolt out and it's rock solid.

[Jason]

I'll have to finish posting build pics when I have more time and when I figure a better way to resize my pictures. In the meantime I resized a few teasers - enjoy!

[biggerrigger]

Looks very solid. Nice work.

[Radian]

Very contemporary looking cab.

Interesting edge detail work.

[Bas Gooiker]

I dont like it... i love it!

looks great.

[SirNickity]

That is fan-freaking-tastic woodwork. You've obviously picked up a few tricks along the way.

Here's the work of one of my local car audio shops. *facepalm*

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