Weatherproof Otop 15 Build . . . finally

[Grant Bunter]

Dave,
Your build to date just looks amazing!

Are you using screws as well as ABS?

[Hackomatic]

Dave,
Your build to date just looks amazing!

Are you using screws as well as ABS?

Hey . . thanks Grant! I'm having a blast, (except for the adhesive part)

Negatory on the screws. I've asked plenty of plumbing/ electrical/ industrial folks about the glue I'm using and they all seem to think each panel will meld and become one with the other. I hope they're right!

[miked]

Wow, looking great so far! Very impressive. And I got a kick out of your "this is what I look like when I use glue" pics. Ain't that the truth for all of us. Thanks for posting lots of pics. I'm really digging your build. It's something way different than the norm here.

ps
I can not only top your "I kicked the ABS glue can over" I can top, top, tippy-top it. When priming my T48s I kicked over a 7/8 th's full GALLON of black paint in my garage. I got ONE coat on ONE CAB before knocking it over. It spilled out so fast that at first, the circle was only about 18" in diameter but about 1.5" high...never seen anything like that. How the hell do you mop THAT up quickly? You don't. I grabbed handfuls of newspaper and attempted to keep shoveling the paint towards the middle. Liquid goes anywhere there's no barrier, right? Right.

So now I have a lovely 4' diameter black circle and streaks of black about 1" wide shooting out from it, exploding star style right in the middle of my garage. It looks like I do Satanic rituals in there or something. I spent $15 on a chemical "driveway cleaner" product that specifically had "paint" listed in the "THIS CRAP WILL COME RIGHT OFF!" section of the label. I followed the instructions to the letter. Result? I wound up with half a gallon of toxic, lung-killing talcum powder to vacuum up and it didn't do a damn thing to the paint. I think I created a powder version of Sarin gas or something.

The Moral of The Story: NEVER PUT AN OPEN CAN OF ANYTHING ON THE FLOOR. NOT EVEN WATER.

[jimbo7]

I've asked plenty of plumbing/ electrical/ industrial folks about the glue I'm using and they all seem to think each panel will meld and become one with the other. I hope they're right!

If you have the right glue for the job, it should do exactly that, hold like welded metal. I use to make acrylic skimers and sumps for aquariums and they glue I used was just like water and applied with a small syringe bottle.

[Hackomatic]

If you have the right glue for the job, it should do exactly that, hold like welded metal. I use to make acrylic skimers and sumps for aquariums and they glue I used was just like water and applied with a small syringe bottle.

Funny you mention a syringe bottle . . after the "spillage" incident, I ordered some Vestil squeeze bottles from Amazon. It should give better control of how much and to where the glue goes AND avoid having the precious contents somewhere they do not belong.

As an aside, and after reading about Mike's paint fiasco, I checked out the pattern made on my garage floor. Whereas Mike is making Satanic patterns, mine looks like the Virgin Mary . . .

[Hackomatic]

Quite a bit more progress today . . in fact, pretty close now to sanding them smooth for a coat of "Wildcat" red. I'll post a few more pics tomorrow. I did have my first WASTE sheet o' PVC today. By my measurements, and per the instructions, I measured 13-5/8" for the hole in the spacer ring. Then why in the Wide, Wide World of Sports did I set my router circle jig to 14-5/8"!? I do have a really nice looking circle of worthless PVC though. Might just hang it on the wall as a reminder. Routing a circle in PVC is a bit o' fun as well . . . The cutter pretty much melts its way through. It's like plowing a field . . you are turning the material over, but it's a molten stringy gob behind in the furrow. Lots of back and forth to clean out the groove.
I also discovered that the horn lenses I was so proud of initially are the wrong ones. I had the 4.52" dimension in mind of the Selenium HM 11-25s but somehow ordered the HM 17-25s. I looked at so many lenses I guess I got everything crossed . .
or maybe I'm just getting senile. Regardless, The Otop will get three JBL/ Selenium 202 CD drivers instead of four. Should be fine.


. .and now . . to the beer . . . . .

[miked]

Yeah, I've made similar mistakes like that. "Measure twice and cut once" doesn't work properly when your second measurement is incorrect. LOL!

Would be nice to see some interior pics before you seal them up. I'm assuming you padded the insides properly? What did you do for a rear cover/access panel? Did you make cleats out of the PVC to screw the rear panel to? If you'd post more pics, I wouldn't have to ask so many questions, you know.

[Tom Smit]

Then why in the Wide, Wide World of Sports did I ..........
I also discovered that the horn lenses I was so proud of initially are the wrong ones. I had the 4.52" dimension in mind of the Selenium HM 11-25s but somehow ordered the HM 17-25s. I looked at so many lenses I guess I got everything crossed . .

Oh, good. You're human, too!

[Hackomatic]

Would be nice to see some interior pics before you seal them up. I'm assuming you padded the insides properly? What did you do for a rear cover/access panel? Did you make cleats out of the PVC to screw the rear panel to? If you'd post more pics, I wouldn't have to ask so many questions, you know.

LOL . . Steady soldier! In my mind I was close . . but not as close as you perceived! I have not put any padding inside yet. I'm thinking of putting poly toward the front (per the instructions and the 10 lb. box I already have) and convolute foam in the rear. Before that happens, though, I'm gonna spray rubberized undercoating in all the nooks and crannies to finish the sealing process. Yes, to using PVC for the back hatch cleats . . and the back is also PVC as you will see in the pics that follow . . .
First pic is of my ghetto router circle jig, plowing the spacer . . all of $3 in parts to make it.

This is a jar of my special elixir I made to "caulk" the seams . . PVC wool from cuttings mixed with Acetone and MEK and some of the PVC solvent glue mixed in . . threw an eye of newt in there too, just to say I did it . .

Pic of the bottom showing the ports.

You wanted an inside shot? you got it . .

. . and another.

More to come . . .

[Hackomatic]

The phase plug is installed!

. .and from the front.

Preliminary fitting of the horn lenses . .

Gluing the spacer into position.

Backtracking to the build up of the phase plug . . .

But wait, there' still more!

[Hackomatic]

Gluing the first cleat into position.

Gluing THE LAST cleat into position.

and finally . . rough fitting the back panel . . .

Sorry the pics got out of sequence a little . . Anyway, that's where is is at the moment . . Closing in on it, but I hope it's not like finishing a house where the last bit of trim work takes as long as everything before.

Okay . . I'm proclaiming it is now definitely Beer Thirty!

[billkatz]

Inspiring work there - you'll have the best football stadium sound system around.

[miked]

Awesome stuff, man! Really digging all the pics. The cabs look GREAT. This build is impressive...it's really pretty incredible that there's not a shred of wood in the entire cab. Don't forget to put your screen behind the ports before you put all the stuffing in the cab...I had to cut away foam on two of my cabs b/c I installed it before mounting the crossovers and didn't leave room for them. /facepalm

[Hackomatic]

Appreciate the accolades, guys . . It's been fun and rewarding and I can hardly wait to hear them. But that, unfortunately, is going to have to wait . . . Progress has come to a halt for a couple of reasons . . First, as Bill pointed out in his Titan thread, vacation time is over and real world commitments are officially back in the way. Second, it's simply too cold to paint the cabs. The Krylon plastic paint is pretty heavy duty as far as aromatics and must be done outside and above 50 degrees . . . Based on the current forecast of a high of 8 on Monday, it could be awhile!

[iamlowsound]

Looks good! How heavy is the box?

lowsound