2 x T30 Slim Build Log

[Tom Smit]

Escapemcp, I enjoy your build diary (sans Redtube, of course) muchly.

[AntonZ]

I don't know that Redtube place you speak of. Actually I think I don't want to know either
Keep up the good work, much to be learned by others from your experience.

[escapemcp]

Keep up the good work, much to be learned by others from your experience.

Yeah, will do... although I couldn't get motivated today as it was freezing in the garage and I needed a day off. Didn't even pick up the sander whilst I was quickly having a fag in the garage (that's usually how I get sucked in for the day). Still haven't been out to get the screws to attach the side on, so that is why I probably subconsciously thought " it" today. I have been out in the garage for almost all of my waking hours recently, so a day off is good. Should be back on it tomorrow though

[miked]

During both my OTop and Titan builds, there were a few days where I went out to the garage with every intent on picking up where I left off the night before, and I just just couldn't get into it.

Pick a reason (excuse):
Last night was particularly long, taxing and full of frustration.
I hurt my back moving the cabs.
Wife got on my case last night/this morning/OR BOTH about spending too much time in the garage.
Tired of PL stuck to my arm hair.
Tired of PL on my clothes and underwear with zero recollection of how the hell it got there.
Decided "it can wait one more day."
Just damn tired of seeing unfinished cabs, sawdust everywhere and a mess in the garage.

And I'm sure there are a thousand more excuses. IOW, don't feel badly about taking a day off...or two. Unless they must be done by a certain date, take pleasure in building the best damn DIY PA cabs out there, and add a dab of PL here and there as insurance so you can smite the Asshole Gear Snobs with your mighty BFM Rig!!!

[88h88]

Ah Redtube, a great site for research purposes.

I have the next couple of days off work to get some OT12s finished, they've dragged on foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[escapemcp]

Ah Redtube, a great site for research purposes.

I have the next couple of days off work to get some OT12s finished, they've dragged on foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My OTs took as long to finish off as the woodworking stage - well worth it though and TBH it still didn't take that long. I cannot wait to order my grilles tomorrow and show you guys my mounting technique... they are going to look the nuts!

[escapemcp]

Hi again... sorry for delay. Had a bit of a payday so went on a bit of a bender for a few days Good times

I have also been waiting for my internet goodies that I ordered to get here. Every day I'm eagerly awaiting the postie/courier to see what goodies he is going to bring me today.

The first thing to arrive was a flightcase from whybuynew. I have had issues with them (WBN) in the past, but a deep suitcase type flightcase for £26 - couldn't resist and it was a chance to show me that they are not a bunch of Luckily they came good this time. I had to have that case as it was one of the very few with the correct dimensions to fit my laser inside. As the laser cost me £300+, I wanted it flightcased asap.

When the flightcase arrived, I discovered that it had a divider down the middle that was riveted in. I also had a moment of clarity and remembered where my (fake) dremel was.. in the laundry basket with a computer power supply and broken light of course I only had one cut off disc left so had to cut economically. The disc lasted and I managed to get the central bit out and then using the leftover blastazote (?) foam from my CDJ/mixer flightcase and a bit of egg crate foam from some delivery or other I fashioned a nice house for my laser. This was the result:


I'm pretty stoked with the result from this and my whole rig is starting to look a whole lot more professional.

I then moved back onto the cab. I routed out the logo:


And it was then time for the side to go on. Final pic of the guts of my 4th T30:


As I was using my reinforcements to attach the side to, I had to work out where the attachment screws had to be. I had already drilled all the holes through from the 1st side (as per the plans ), so I had to ensure that I didn't use a hole I wasn't supposed to. To do this I made sure that I put the screws in the holes as I drilled them. The end result was this:


You can see my 'shaded' bits telling me where there was a nice bit of BB underneath

As my base was off by a little, I used the reinforcement in the mouth to pull the base into alignment. To do this, I attached my reinforcing BB to the side, instead of to the superstructure - which is what I did with every other bit of reinforcement.


Note that the side is upside down, and you can only just see the reinforcement strip in the light. I made the strip from 12mmx12mm BB, routed to 45°, as this was the one reinforcement that you would be able to see when you looked 'into' the sub. A big lump of BB just wouldn't have looked as good!

Then when I attached the side, I could pull the base back into alignment as I tightened the screws. You can see how this would work from the following (pre-closure) pics:


Note that the side is warped upwards, so I had to sit on it whilst tightening the screws!

Anyway, the end result was pretty good. The side got pulled into alignment, bar about 1/2mm... I can live with that. It looked a little something like this post closure:


And from the inside:


When I attached the side on, I had lots of PL eruptions from the original (now unused) holes... this was good, just like squeezeout, but more pretty:


Since that photo was taken I have been sanding, filling and painting my way through paper, bondo and duratex. I still need to do handles and add corners and I am having lots of trouble with the SHIT veneer bubbling up like a wet newspaper when I duratex it When this happens, I get rid of the bubble by ripping off the veneer (with fingers or stanley knife), fill it with bondo, and repaint (you can see some of this in the 'logo' pic where 7 meets 6). This has made the job of duratexing the cab somewhat of a PITA! The side went on last thing last night, so earlier this evening (not 24 hrs ), I gave it a little voltage to see if I could hear any leaks (as I was expecting some due to the wood) - if there was anything major, I didn't want to spent hours (and hours... and duratex) getting it to look nice if it was going straight on the fire! As far as I could tell, it all seems airtight and it sounds just like the other 3 cabs Well, it didn't quite sound right initially, and I thought there was a MAJOR problem... lots of flapping and rattling... it was only when I put my head in the mouth of the cab (and my hair in some wet duratex ) that I realized that it was only the paper covering the final brace that was flapping in the waves.

With a bit of luck and a following wind, I should have this cab finished tomorrow, and I can then throw it on my stack... although I may have to test a V-plate configuration first Is there any advantage to having the 24" sub on the bottom (or top)... will it make any difference which way round I have them?

I have also got my speaker grilles for the Otops through, and by god, just holding them up to the Otops makes me realize how much better they will look with the grilles. I was originally going to bend the grilles, curving from left to right. I was going to use an arc of ply along the inside top and bottom of the Otop mouth to give it it's shape. However upon holding up the grille to the Otop, I was so impressed with the look, that I am very hesitant on that idea... I am unsure if it could look better than just flat grilles. Once I cut the grille to be curved, it will then be too short to go back to the flat option, so I am thinking of testing how it will look with the offcut. If it does look better, then I'm going to be very happy because flat just looks the nuts! I am stymied on this at the moment though, as I am waiting for more cut-off wheels for the dremel to arrive... hopefully the postie will have more presents for me tomorrow

That's you all pretty much up to date. Sorry for lack of posting, but this bubbling veneer problem has put me off building a little bit - it's making this final stretch a bit labourious (yes, that IS how it's spelt! ). Cannot wait to get my next sheet of BB... I have to build a owl house with it - don't ask - but the remains will be used for another pair of Otops

[88h88]

owl house

Nice work on the case and you've really worked around the problems with that shitty ply.

[escapemcp]

Nice work on the case and you've really worked around the problems with that shitty ply.

Almost! Panel 7 is looking a little streaky with the veneer lifting off - it is only lifting off a little, but in lots of places. I was thinking of sorting it out, but actually, I'm happy with it the way it is... it will be my little reminder of the shitty wood and the fact that I saved about a day getting it to look exactly like the others!! I may go back and sort it out some day, but I probably won't. The cab will usually be used in pitch darkness and it is hard to see it in the light let alone the dark! I'll post pics later on (the cab should be completed by close of play today )

Now I need a little help/input from you guys. I have got the grilles through for the Otops and I cannot decide how to mount them. I have two options. The 'standard' method:


Or my 'new' (I say new, but it's probably been done before!) method of bending the grille (which in turn makes it stiffer when mounted - a good thing):


As you can see, I chopped off a little too much of the test piece, so I had to combine the 2 bits to get the full effect, but I think you can get the idea!

So... which do you think looks best?? ANY input gratefully received!

Thanks

[88h88]

Mine are more the first that the second though I doubled up on foam behind the grille where the tweets are to try and combat any potential rattling. That said you probably won't be doing this because you're all yellow.

[Chris_Allen]

I would go full width with foam backing.

Dust is a pain in the backside.

[escapemcp]

I would go full width with foam backing.

Probably going full width... it just looks more 'pro'. Using the curved technique makes my cabs still look home build - they have to look pro if I am going to compete!

Dust is a pain in the backside.

+100 - especially when your storage area is also your workshop. Saying that, I'm probably going to skip on the foam backing (for now at least). I want the yellow tweeter array to show through, although I know that the cabs will probably look even better with the foam. It's an easy retrofit anyway I will be putting the tops under a dustsheet once the grilles are on, as they are grubby as hell at the moment!
Thanks for the input. Full face grilles it is! At least I could demo the curved grille look in case anyone else wants to try it. I thought it would look the nuts, but I think I was wrong!

[Grant Bunter]

IMO:
Flat.

And you need more screws in your arrays...

[escapemcp]

IMO:
Flat.

And you need more screws in your arrays...

Is 4 not enough?? I have gasket tape behind the arrays, so they bend slightly toward the top and bottom screws, due to the tape. There is no rattling. Will this be enough? Thanks

[Grant Bunter]

I've seen more than one post discussing rattling as things settle down in the cabs, and the solution invariably was that inserting more screws into the array sorted the problem.
I guess the rattles aren't occuring until high volume in those situations.

In each of the cases I've seen, there were only a small number of screws holding the array (even with gasket tape behind).

I'd seen it enough times, that, by the time I was building my DR250's, a screw went in every hole in the array. All your holes between each piezo seem to be filled in...