SLA Center

[67baja]

I used 3rd order BW at 4500 IIRC. The problem is I did not have an impedance chart for the Sony woofers I used at the time of build so I built the crossover per the plans for the 4" Goldwoods. Now I have the impedance chart and think I can do better.

[MissileCrisis]

I learned how to use a scraper last night (the woodworking tool used in place of sandpaper when taking off lots of material). I just about cussed myself out when I was using a dying electrical sander and dented the face of my baffle, luckily it was shallow enough that I was almost able to completely hide the mistake with lots of (manual) sanding. I have finger burns (from the sandpaper) to prove that I spent ~1-2 hours getting that baffle pretty and even between the sections. Looking good so far. I will post tomorrow pictures of the attached "Top" (what Bill calls the bottom). The plan is to flush trim the top and bottom sections to follow the facets of the baffle, should look pretty sweet when it's all buttoned up.

[miked]

Cool on learning to use a scraper and glad you could fix the dent in the baffle! I hate it when I do something stupid, like slam the sander down b/c of fatigue or inattention and gouge out a hole. Post some pics of your progress when you can.

[MissileCrisis]

Hi so I got up to the point of gluing the baffle to the "top". I will flush cut it tomorrow as well as make/glue the sides/back. Saturday is crossover and prep for finish. What you see below was only jig saw (overhang will be removed with router).

[Michael Murphy]

Nice going so far! What will the final height be i.e the longest side of the cab? And the other dimensions for that matter

[MissileCrisis]

Its just shy of 39 wide, which fits width wise in my car the height is 9 and the depth is 15 like bill's.

[MissileCrisis]

Here you can see the Dado's I put for the back panel (recessed as to allow jack clearance). More progress shots, got the hardware for the rest of the build in today. Looks like all I need to buy are shorter screws to mount the "bottom" with, matching the 10-32 recessed inserts I got.

[MissileCrisis]

More updates, working on finish, likely wiring up the tweets/woof's tomorrow.

Baltic birch blocks added (glued in place) to give Leland's 10-32 threaded inserts something to grab to and avoid splitting. This was a labor intensive process because they are all recessed.

Baby skin soft, takes a while but oh so worth it.

[MissileCrisis]

Couldn't fit all the pictures into one message.
Hand made, by me, (using Bill's favorite crossover calculator) 4kHz 3rd order butterworth on Philippine mahogany for my center. Notice that in some parts two inductors are in series and two capacitors are in parallel to make oddball capacitance values. I took the time to rotate the inductors as per suggestions for my TLAH build. Oh, and hot glued to make sure nothing resonates, last time I forgot or neglected it and very much regretted it (later went back and fixed).

[miked]

It's coming along nicely. Those edges/corners are perfect. A fine finish (you're doing piano black, IIRC?) needs a smooth base to start from. Looking great!

A question about the crossover. Is your frequency and slope something you decided on based on the drivers you're using, or is it specified in the plans? Just curious.

[MissileCrisis]

I'm doing a clear deft (varnish) finish.

[MissileCrisis]

<grumpy>
You wouldn't believe how much work it is to install these woofers rear mounted. Being smart I forgot to predrill from the rear clearance holes for the screws to secure the woofers. This is ignoring the fact that the holes for the woofers are so tight that you have to trim the black surround (a little ridge prevents it from sliding in easily) with a file. Back to the drilling... so I used the tools pictured below to get in the screws, after pre-drilling the holes by hand. Yes the contraption you see (wood piece surrounding a hand drill/bit) was hand turned some 100 times per screw hole (besides the ones where a power drill could reach (only 4 of those). The one's in the far corners were too close to the edge to use anything but my right angle screwdriver and for these it was incredibly painful because the range of motion was restricted to 30 degrees and I had to pilot the hole with the screwdriver (fingers still numb). However, I made it through all the woofers and I wired up the electrical side of things rather smoothly. Tweeters will have to wait for tomorrow and they require (only) a 3 step process: mark placement with tweeter in hole, drill out plastic in tweeter to fit screw and avoid splitting the plastic on install, and finally pre-drill the tweeter screw holes (then install). Let's just say I'll only be doing this the once (next time I'll drill the necessary holes when the baffle is in little pieces and flat).
</grumpy>

Looking good

[MissileCrisis]

Update Pictures continued:

^This guy was a doosie.

[Chris_Allen]

I'm assuming your HF will be front mounted.

[miked]

Man, those woofer screws look like a huge PITA, especially the ones in the corners! Thankfully you own a right-angle screwdriver. The project DOES look great though, pal. And I'm sure it's going to sound even better. Keep up the good work...once the feeling returns to your fingers, of course. Been there, done that, with the sore fingers. Not fun.