Davids for Tom

[publicIdaho]

After cutting the ears off of the top panels, I decided to put the corner angled panels up while I had the front in place.

This is where the train came off the tracks. They were too small and the gaps were not the same top to bottom. Not even close.

I was feeling pretty good - I had slapped the second cabinet inner panels on with pocket screws pretty fast, getting the fitting done quick and easy. The tricky angled access panel cut out that I had made the day before (assuming that the second set would work with the same set up as the first without actually putting cabinet #2 panels together) went together as well as I could have hoped for.

Then I get to the angled corner and disaster. Time to come home and look at the Sketchup again.

Let this serve as a warning - when you venture off the reservation (the plans) BE CAREFUL!

I had not been super careful when using the tape measure tool - and it definitely is not smart enough to know what I meant to measure verses what it was measuring.

So end result - the distance across the front face of the speaker from point to point is supposed to be 6 3/4", my panels were cut down to 5 3/4". Too much had also been cut away at the other end as well, so the angle was about 1/2" short on each side.

One of my favorite lines - "I cut it twice and it is still too short."
Great story from the cabinet shop I worked at one summer in college - "Hey Mike, go find the board stretcher and bring it over here." I am not named Mike by the way; the old timers did not try to pull that one on me after I laughed and wrecked the fun that they were having with Mike, who had been there a month or so before I got there.

The side panels were worse. At the base of the angle, the cut was about 3/4" too much, but at the top, there was ~3/8" too much.

So my fronts and my sides were cut small.

Not good. "Hey Mike, how are you coming on that board stretcher?"

I bought three sheets of birch ply. Friday is the deadline for putting in an order in for Monday's truck. So the earliest I can get more material is the Monday after next.

Did I mention that I am cheep? Actually, I don't know if I am really that cheep, I just have always have been poor.

So here is what happened.

You might like this next part...

[publicIdaho]

Time to stretch my boards.

The edge that needs to get bigger is already at a 22.5° angle, so I need some wood cut at that angle.

Alder or poplar are a good match for the Baltic birch we use.

Avoid open pore wood such as oak and ash, this is especially true for my situation where I am doing a smooth painted finish. Also avoid soft woods (pine, fur, etc.) as they will ding much more easily. Really hard woods like hickory are just a bear to sand and really add to the work.

[publicIdaho]

After carefully cutting out some angled edge material, it was cut a little long and the end that meets up with the base has to be sanded at a slight angle to improve the fit.

So far so good, but how to clamp it on where we have angled edges that will slide past each other when pressure is applied to the clamps???

[publicIdaho]

Here is what I came up with:

First, put some thin spacers on the side of the panel that is narrower (the side that the edge will want to go up over when clamping.)

I used some formica scraps.

[publicIdaho]

If you look carefully at the picture above, you can see the panel edge is wider on the bottom, and the wood edge is wider on the top. If clamped, the wood would slide up the panel.

Next Clamp a flat panel on top of the spacers so it hangs over where the wood is. I used 3/4 melamine because wood glue does not stick to melamine.

The spacers are there so that the wood piece can slide up a little bit to insure that the wood will be proud and can be sanded flush - I used 5/8" thick wood for the edge as before so it will overhang front and back and can be sanded flush - if the wood edge is below the plywood panel, you are hosed.

[publicIdaho]

The picture above shows the panel flipped over - notice the angle part of the panel that is longer is now on top. The melamine boards make a handy place to sit the edge pieces when you are gluing them and the clamps are easier to put on.

Ready for some glue and clamps. Kind of handy to have some angle pieces around to keep the clamp faces square.

[publicIdaho]

And we have made our panel bigger.

[publicIdaho]

One thing to mention about fitting the edge pieces, specifically in the corner where the other edge piece had been glued on - look out for glue squeeze out.

Use that sharp chisel to get it out.

[publicIdaho]

Sorry for the sad picture there, I have my mom's sad old camera. Don't want to risk my nicer camera down at the shop...

So, now we wait for the glue to dry....

Hummm, I wonder if I can find a piece of 1/4" that will work for the grill over there...

[publicIdaho]

So, after the glue has dried (well at least dried enough), it is off with the clamps and under the belt sander to flush up wood edge with the plywood. Again, belt sanding on plywood is tough, better know what you are doing.

Take a look at what needs to happen with the side panels.

Oh man, I made the edge piece 1/8" longer than it needed to be That would be all I needed after all this - glue on an edge piece that was too small.

Same process as before - trim all but an 1/8" on the bandsaw, then use the router to cut the 22.5° edge.

[publicIdaho]

Here is the fixed up piece after the router. Still need to use that sharp chisel to clean up the corner. Much easier in the alder than the birch ply.

So it looks like we have salvaged the side panels and are ready to move on.

[publicIdaho]

Put my side panel down and start getting the interior panels in place. This time, I get smart and lay the braces between each of the panels and what do eyes behold...

[publicIdaho]

[publicIdaho]

There is not enough room for the last panel. Time to come home.

So, all you experienced speaker builders out there - what gives this time?

To explain more, I cut my side panels 14" wide instead of 14.5" per the plans because I wanted to just slap the back over the sides rather than cut a notch in the back - notches like that have been very hard to get super smooth for finishing in my experience. So the edge of the side panel is where the back is and the braces and the interior panels should exactly fit from the back edge of the side panel to the inside of the angled front edge.

I am about 3/8" big. I slid the braces toward the bottom end of the speaker to get it that good. Pretty sure my pieces are sized pretty close, I know the plywood is a little under 1/2".

I spent some quality time checking my measurements from the Sketchup this afternoon, so I think the sides are cut out accurately.

Can I skinny down the braces a little to make things fit?

Does anybody have the exact outside dimensions of for the David for the following to make sure I have it right:

Back of speaker to bottom of angle cut out on the side.
Back of speaker to the top of angle cut out on the side (or from the front to the edge, or the distance from the front of the side panel to the angle edge. I want the actual outside edge were that angle is since I made a simple 22.5° to 22.5° joint rather than the overlapping 45° of the plans.)
Side of speaker bottom of the cut out angle on the front.
Distance across the front panel at the very top.

Frustrating day. But still had fun. Good to do something a little different.

[AntonZ]

Great details, also in documenting where you messed things up