Davids for Tom

[gzc_stageTech]

Very nice build. The David looks like a complicated build. But your processes and tooling have helped me with my cabinetry as well.

Keep up the great work.

I'm looking forward to the finish and your review. Definetly beautiful cabinet work.

Chris

[subharmonic]

12 drivers with t nuts no locktight yet including pro ones. Just lock nuts

[Radian]

Question: when using the T-nuts to mount the woofers, do people use blue Loctite on the bolts or anything similar to hold them in place?

Waaay too much grip...even 222 (purple) is too much for a t-nut.

Stainless steel internal-tooth lock washers, and if you still have doubts about getting an air tight seal through the t-nut you can slather the threads of the machine screws with a healthy dollop of Elmer's rubber cement, let it completely dry, then install them.

The trick is to compress the driver gasket evenly and in stages. It will compress quite bit, but not entirely in the first pass.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Question: when using the T-nuts to mount the woofers, do people use blue Loctite on the bolts or anything similar to hold them in place?

Waaay too much grip...even 222 (purple) is too much for a t-nut.

+1. The purpose of tnuts is to be able to remove the bolt should it ever be necessary.

[publicIdaho]

Definitely did not want to use the red Loctite which is permanent, but the blue stuff just makes things a PIA to get out. There is purple as well I believe which is weaker still and designed for very small bolts.

Thanks for the info on installing the woofers.

Finally figured out how to get my break in done. Fun to watch those babies moving on the 20 hz test tone. Reminded me of the old days showing off my speakers on the Telarc 1812 overture - that could really cause some excursion! Definitely a "grill off" demo.

[publicIdaho]

Forgot my crappy old camera today so we have to settle for cell phone camera that I am still figuring out how to use.

First order of the day was breakfast, a big hardy one that led to the second order of the day, a nap.

Eventually it was time to head to the shop. After taking off the clamps it was on to the belt sander to get at that pesky PL Premium.

I cannot believe that stuff. I have never had anything stick on to my hands like that stuff. Even stains and dyes come out faster than this stuff. Amazing. Might have to clean my aquarium filters - that always seems to take everything off my hands and they are past due anyway...

Want a good belt sander? We swear by our 3 X 24 Porter Cable.

[publicIdaho]

Lots of pad sanding too. Every day we sand, a drop of oil in the sander inlet coupling. If we sand all day, we might add another drop after several hours. These air driven sanders are so superior to electric ones, lighter, more powerful, better quality finish. They take tons of air though - you need a big compressor our plan on taking lots of breaks to let your compressor catch up. You also need to keep up on your compressor maintenance. We sure wish our compressor could be moved out of the main shop - it is noisy and the intake filters clog up with all the dust we are creating.

[publicIdaho]

After, getting the edges leveled out and any excess adhesive removed, it was time to round over the edges. I went with a 3/8" round over, but kind of wished I would have gone to the full 1/2", but...

I glued my foot blocks over the pocket screw holes so I could not remove them. I made sure to mark their approximate locations so I would not hit them with the round over bit. If you want to wreck your tools, run them into hardened steal screws. Hit a drywall screw with a jigsaw blade or drill bit, kiss them goodbye, a carbide router bit is going to need sharpening if it survives.

[Tom Smit]

We sure wish our compressor could be moved out of the main shop - it is noisy and the intake filters clog up with all the dust we are creating.

Build a box around it. Add a remote inlet pipe for cooling and air supply.

[publicIdaho]

Notice on the photo above that the round over bit is not down all the way to make the full round over edge. For this size bit and the material I was cutting, it might not be necessary, but it is a good idea to make a couple passes and not take too much material at one time. All you need after going through this much effort is to have the bit rip out a big chunk of wood and ruin the edge.

The edges that stick down lower on the front and back are just about at the limit for where the guide bearing will run. Either finish the rest with the sander or run the router the other way so that the base is on the thin edge - but this is a dicey move.

[publicIdaho]

We sure wish our compressor could be moved out of the main shop - it is noisy and the intake filters clog up with all the dust we are creating.

Build a box around it. Add a remote inlet pipe for cooling and air supply.

We have done that in other shops, but it is a compromise and we would have to go through the outside wall. Most landlords are less than thrilled when you tell them you want to put holes in their building...

[publicIdaho]

For the bottom of the sides and the base piece, I went with a 1/4 round bit. Got to use the little router for this. It is a cheap Ryobi, but we kind of like them. I think there are three of these flush trim routers floating around the shop.

[publicIdaho]

After the rounding was done, it was time for the finish sanding.

First thing to do is turn on the lights. It took us a while, but we have finally come to the realization that we were not seeing our work well enough with the standard overhead shop lights to do the best job finish sanding that we could. We now turn on some bright halogen work lights and position them so that they are behind what we are sanding and can get so reflection off the wood to help see any imperfections. If you are sanding in the garage, you can get the same results by taking your work close to the edge of the garage but stay inside so that the bright outside light can reflect off of your piece. And your neighbors don't sneak up on you to see what all that racket is about.

Notice that there are a couple of pieces of smooth material under the speakers. Our assembly table table is not smooth, so there is a good chance that as you rotate the cabinet around, you will ding the side that is down on the table.

[publicIdaho]

I noticed a good example of this on the front of one of the cabinets. I took a picture after I had already sanded on it for a while. I hope it shows up. But scratches like this make a guy use bad words.

[publicIdaho]

Oh, saw another picture I shot and wanted to comment on it. Be very careful when coming to inside edges when routing if the edge you are coming up to does not get that router profile.

Same with using a sander with the raw edge spinning around like our air sander - that disk is pretty stiff and will sand a notch where you don't want it real fast.