T48 Build Thread

[sine143]

I remember being right where you are on my first 2 24" cabs and putting them on end being likr oh shit

[miked]

Storing them will be interesting. It's not so much the 24" square footprint, but the 48"height. LOL! Once these are done I will sell the 2 18" direct radiator cabs I have. Stacked, they have the same footprint as 1 T48.

[sine143]

I live in a 430 sq foot apt and store 6 t48s.... I'll think you'll manage. esp since one t48 will match those 2 118s in output lol

[miked]

I remember those days very vividly, trust me. I had to carry the wood up two flights of stairs to my apartment. I used to "set up shop" in my living room. I would cover the TV/stereo/cable box and sofa with a plastic painters cloth and put two saw horses in the middle of the tiny room. In an apartment, neighbors don't very much like a circular or jig saw humming away at ten o'clock at night even on the weekends. It would take me almost as long to vacuum the sawdust off every thing as it did to cut the wood. Of course, I would cut all the wood in one shot so that I only had to clean once.

It took me almost 20 years to finally have a garage and a table saw. That's why even in my 102F garage, I am smiling when I'm out there building something.

[sine143]

4x4 footprint, stacks up to 6 feet tall is how I do it. otops go right on top and we're just hitting the ceiling

[miked]

I got in a solid "4 hours of work after a 9-hour workday" today. I am very pleased with the progress.

The backs on all four cabs are on. I used a jig, plus another trick to get them all square.

A back.


More.


And more again!


I used a full-length jig to ensure the back panel didn't poke out past the sides.


But how to ensure that the back panel, some of which are now slightly bowed, got pressed firmly against that jig? I've only got two hands...can't reach over all that length simultaneously...I need a brace or something...oh wait. Yeah, the 7/8 braces! After screwing the top to the back, I hammered one of these in at the bottom of the joint; perfect alignment!


By the way; see this? The screw hole above the handle hole, circled in red? DON'T do this. I was pre-drilling the screw holes and didn't notice this until it was almost too late. If I put a screw in there, look where it goes. Right into the handle hole. I caught myself at the last minute. Just wanted to point out that it is SO EASY to make a mistake. Take your time and look twice before drilling or cutting anything.


All four of the backs lined up with the side panel very well. But most importantly, they are even with the tops of the other panels. I like this pic mostly b/c you can see the even plies of the BB, but it does show the end of the back slightly "out of straight" with the top panel, but that it is even with the edge of the top. A flush-trim bit will square this up nicely, so no biggie.


So after putting on all four backs I couldn't do anything else to the cabs b/c I want the backs to cure fully before I do anything else. What else can I do? I hate to waste hard-to-come-by shop time. Oh yeah, I was going to put a bullnose on the seen edge of the 6/10 braces. So I did that.



Totally cosmetic, but will give the cabs an ounce more visual appeal since I don't have the skills to do the fancy curved 6/10 braces like I've seen on some other cabs.

Finally, what really pleased me is that the pile of panels that was sky-high 2 weeks ago is now really small.

These.


And the other sides (note they are pre-drilled).


And the bottom panels (not shown) are all that's left. Whew. Getting there!!!

[miked]

BTW, a question: Is there any good reason not to install the 7/8 braces until AFTER the bottom panel and panel 11 are on? I checked and they will fit in there just fine. My rationale is that they are the final set of braces and really should go in at the end of construction, after the back and bottom, so panels 7/8 get stressed appropriately. Hope that makes sense.

[PulseMan]

Hey Mike

Awesome stuff once again there pal.
The end is near...

PulseMan

[sine143]

The end is near...

I find myself starting to say that after I get the baffle piece attached... right on down to the duratex lol.

[Charles Jenkinson]

Sheesh Mike! And not a month has passed since you started these, and this very good build thread. Well done!

[miked]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I've really been working hard on them. I have had this build planned for months already and scheduled a lot of vacation days so I could work on them. With the drying time for PL, there's only so much you can get done in one session. The finish work will go faster. By the time I get a coat of primer on the 4th cab, the 1st one will be dry and ready for a 2nd coat. I learned a few things from finishing my OTops. Such as "Don't patch any screw holes or do and smoothing/sanding until after you true/round the cab edges." Just things like that. It will be interesting to see how far 1-1/3 gallons of Duratex gets me. I am planning on 2 primer coats of flat black, but we'll see how far the gallon of primer I have goes...might turn out to be just one coat.

If anyone could lend some advice on this question I'd appreciate it. I may get to the 7/8 braces tonight, but more likely tomorrow morning. Tonight is quarter round molding, panel 9 and securing the speaker wire along panel 9 and the back. An oh yeah, the casters. I'm dreading that part.

BTW, a question: Is there any good reason not to install the 7/8 braces until AFTER the bottom panel and panel 11 are on? I checked and they will fit in there just fine. My rationale is that they are the final set of braces and really should go in at the end of construction, after the back and bottom, so panels 7/8 get stressed appropriately. Hope that makes sense.

[miked]

It was not a terribly productive evening. The quarter-round and panel 9 proved to be more difficult than their diminutive status would suggest. Quarter-round on the handle holes is done as is panel 9.

Cool Photo of The Day.


If I could fit all 4 cabs on my bench, I'd have done so, just to get a pic of them all like this! Here's the other one.


Quarter-round (it's ugly in there...did not start that way)


Lessons Learned From Tonight:
Quarter round will crack in half, even if you don't shoot brads within 1"+ from the end.
3/4" brads hold surprisingly well when you are trying to pry off split quarter round molding.
There is almost no room to work a chisel to scrape off PL where the quarter round goes.
Stray brads sticking out of interior panels that don't matter, suddenly matter when you are trying to scrape off PL where the quarter round goes.
Stray brads are still sharp.
Don't forget to draw alignment lines for shooting brads into panel 9. I did, and it sucked.
When you go randomly shooting brads to secure panel 9, have the sense to stay away from the handle hole areas. I DID (at least) so all the stray brads sticking out everywhere inside the cab don't matter.

Not positive in what order the final assembly steps will be in. Most probably: Install the bottom. Install 7/8 braces. Make cutouts for wheels. Make wheel mounting braces. Install panel 11. Install second side. Install front braces. All subject to change, of course.

[sine143]

loooking excellent!

[hifibob]

Holy smokes! you are flying through your build! I feel slow lol. Keep up the good work my friend.

[David Raehn]

Considering the price of quarter-round, I think I'll just go all the way across the width. Still get four cabinets worth out of one stick....

I was dreading the thought of wheels for awhile until I just decided to do without them. I came across 20 5" caster wheels and I plan to make 2' x 4' caster plates to move these things around by the pair. My trailer has a ramp and most, if not all, of the venues we go to have at least a wheelchair ramp. I'll probably do a similar plate for the OT12s and carry them four at a time.