Journey - DR200 Build

[Bman]

(Cont.)
Both blanks cut.

The smaller cut-off is actually the closest to the size in the plans. But I wanted a little more meat to the nacelles, so I used the bigger ones.

Trimming them to the final size.

Final size.

All 16 of them cut. They are 3/4" wide.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

I drew the bottom reference line, then the spacing lines. Add some PL and hot glue to tack it place and we're good to go. It was pretty easy and straight forward and went quickly.

All nacelles tacked in and set aside for the PL to cure.

This is where the frustrating part of the day came in. It was time to work on the curved backs. First I tried to do it straight off without precurving the 1/8" BB. Big mistake! After the first one exploded on me. I decide to precurve the rest, like I should have done in the first place. But during the process, EVERY single one just snapped when trying to bend them. And of course, I cut some more from the rest of what I had, and they ALL broke. I figured out the they were too dry. We've had low humidity for the last week or so. Even with one day of rain, the BB was brittle dry. So I went back to the lumber yard and got another sheet. This time before trying to precurve them, I wet them down. Not a soak, but a pretty good wetting. Here in the pic, I've finally got them bent pretty well and they are going to dry for at least 24 hours, before I attempt continuing with the build.

And just in case, I'm bending a couple more as back up. I used pipe and web clamps.

The good thing that resulted from this frustration was I picked up more BB for my two Tuba 45 builds coming next. 7 sheets of 1/2" in total. I also got a discount for more that 5 sheets... ended up costing $22.50 a sheet. Not bad.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

While the curved backs are drying, the PL on the nacelles have cured. So I marked an "X" on each face of the nacelle and used my drill press to drill all the holes.

All the nacelles drilled. That's it for today.

[Tom Smit]

Yup, you did exactly as I was trying to explain.
Glad it worked for you.

[miked]

Very nice, BMan. The nacelles turned out great. Sorry about the backs all snapping on you; that's one of the things that scared me away from DRs. But I'll give at a go one day...just not soon. At all. Yours are looking great! Keep it up!

[Grant Bunter]

Fantastic job on the nacelles, well done

I pre bent my back halves for a week or more. And over tightened them so the curve was somewhat exaggerated.
Glad to see you got there in the end...

[escapemcp]

Great build bman. Really enjoying the detailed pics & descriptions Can't wait to start on mine, although it may be a while yet... got to build up the woodworking skills yet!!

[Bman]

It's been a while since my last post. Work has been busy, but I have been building, albeit at a more piece-meal rate... one hour here, 20 minutes there, etc. Completed enough to have a worthwhile post. I've been taking pictures, but more at random. I've tried to put them in logical order on the process, though.

While the curved backs were being precurved, I worked on the HF module a little bit. Putty filled all the holes.

All the filler sanded smooth.

I had the curved back panels pre-curving for about 3 days. This is after releasing them. Stubborn things. Really resistant to change. But they were good enough to work with.

All the panels glued in with straps and clamps. A good tip: have a trusty helper to work with you. Helps with the (in)sanity. I also drilled the access hole for the speaker wire. I did not seal off the wire and hole until the panels have set.

I also filled the back seam between the panels with PL to make sure of an air tight seal.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

While the PL on the curved backs was curing, I finished the paint work on the HF module.

Now with the PL cured it was time to remove the straps and clamps. I did take a picture with everything initially off, but I must have lost it. Can't find it. Sorry about that.

Now that the curved backs are secure. I sealed off the speaker wire in the access hole.

I used a hand saw to trim off the curved back. Not the prettiest job, but it worked just fine.

Front view of the curved backs on.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

Back view of the curved backs.

Laying down the sides to start the fitting process. Aligning it to the front of the cab.

Drawing the reference lines. It starts from the front of the cab to where the curved section starts.

Using a straight edge to complete the line all the way to the back.

All the cut lines drawn and panels labeled.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

Instead of using my tablesaw, I decided to use my circular saw and cut-off guide jig that I made for breaking down sheets of plywood. It's pretty heavy duty as it's made of 1/4" aluminum. It's also much quicker to set up and cut with the reference lines.

This Makita circular saw is the oldest power tool I own. I bought it back in 84'. Built like a tank, it's made mostly of metal and weighs about 15 lbs. The only plastic part is the handle.

All trimmed up.

All the grooves cut (on the tablesaw with dado blade) for clearance of the curved back panel connection.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

I'm attaching carry handles for the DR200's. I was going to just cut a mounting hole and then use speaker gasket tape to seal it off. But the inset for the handle is shallower than the thickness of the BB, so I decided to route a recess instead, to maintain the seal. Referenced the front top corner and squared to the front edge. The long rectangle in the middle with the squiggly lines are the reference to the middle brace where I will drill for the screws to attach, when I assemble the sides. The recess is on the outside of the sides.

I used scrap wood as guide jigs and attached them with carpet tape to the reference lines for the recess.

Checking the fit with the handles to make sure my measurements were accurate.

Used a plunge recess bit and set the depth, accounting for the jig. With the bit being so short, I had to route to the final depth in a couple of passes. I had this set up for all panels so I could route them simultaneously.

The wide clear base that I made for the router makes it easier to see what your doing.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

Routing all done.

Guide jigs removed.

Check fitting the handle.

After routing, the material left is pretty thin. I put it up against the sunlight and you can see the outline of the recess from the inside. I believe that it is about 2 layers thick.

All four handles in their recesses.

[Bman]

(Cont.)

Before attaching the sides, I wanted to prepaint the insides of the horn. I masked off the areas I wanted. My flatbed provided a perfect height platform for painting. I first sprayed a primer coat followed by 3 coats of satin black.

The inside of the horns of the cab painted.

The inside of the side panels painted.

After they were dry to the touch, I want the paint to set for another couple of days to cure more. So while they're doing that I covered them to keep them clean from the sawdust. Sawdust you say?? Yep, gonna start work on the T45's... two of them. Starting a new thread for that build.

[miked]

Now THAT is an update! Really appreciate all the pics! The DRs are looking great; really precise work you do, BMan. Glad to see that the curved backs went on without further incident.

I'm very interested in your aluminum circular saw sled. Would you share some more info on it? What it's made out of and how you built it? I'd imagine there was a lot of precise measuring for the base, b/c you can't "cut it off" with the saw like you do when making a sled out of wood.