Davids for Tom

[publicIdaho]

OK, one more go round on Sketchup and found my mistake. Definitely need to get better at using that thing.

Back to the board stretcher...

[publicIdaho]

A good breakfast seemed to help the brain this morning.

Got the sides stretched out yet again. Practice is making me get pretty fast at this.

[publicIdaho]

While the glue was drying, started in on the woofer access panel in the back panel.

Decided to make it a few inches bigger than the minimum clearance to make it easier to get into the second access panel (the angeled one in panels 7 & 9) to install the woofer.

[publicIdaho]

Cut the opening with the jig saw, accuracy on this is not critical.

[publicIdaho]

I felt a little guilty describing my method for creating the router guide for the other access panel discussed earlier. It is really a pretty dicey procedure.

So, I have the chance to show you a safer way to put together a router template.

I started with a pretty good sized plywood scrap, about a foot longer than the opening size I was cutting out.

Cut it to 15" wide - the same as the width of my back panel.

I put the hole I cut out in the back panel over the scrap ply and traced around. Next step was to cut out the hole in the scrap guide. I went about 3/8" bigger, but looking back, I would go about 7/8". More on that later.

[publicIdaho]

I wanted to go with about a 3/4" overlap again, so I needed pieces that were 1.5" longer than the opening I cut out in the back.

Got some 3/4" scrap with nice straight edges and cut them both to my measurement.

Cut them both at the same time, the ends flush (easy to feel with your finger) so that the boards were exactly the same length.

[publicIdaho]

On the guide board, make marks that are 3/4" wider than the marks that were laid out on the back panel. Make them on each long side of the rectangle.

Find the center of the rectangle and mark the outer edges where the cut pieces will end if properly centered. Also, mark the center of the hole on the guide edge - this will help line up the router guide with the back panel.

Take the pieces that were cut earlier - they should be wide enough that your router will easily sit flat on them - and set the straight edge to the width marks and the ends lined up with the marks made out from the center.

Attach the straight cut piece to the guide board. I used pins, but you can screw it on too. Make sure to counter sink the screws.

[publicIdaho]

Attach both sides, and then get some longer straight pieces that go on the outside of the cut pieces.

[publicIdaho]

I had to cut out the rest of the guide that I did not get with the only slightly over sized cut out in the guide board. If I would have cut it 7/8" bigger, I could have skipped this step, but making the marks to line up where to attach the straight pieces would have been trickier.

[publicIdaho]

Mark the center of the cutout on the back edge, line up that mark with the mark on the guide board.

[publicIdaho]

My straight pieces were not very smooth, so I gave them a quick sand with the pad sander.

The inlet is cut out as before.

Holy cow was that bit dull! It has cut out a few too many bread board holes.

[publicIdaho]

Here is what it looks like with the guide board removed.

If you don't have a router with a bushing guide, you can make it bigger so that you guide off of the router base itself. Of course your guide board will be wider than the back panel, so you will have to do a few things differently on the alignment...

[publicIdaho]

So the glue finally dried on the side panel extensions and they were trimmed up and routed with the 22.5°. Getting too much practice at this.

Tested the pieces and it looked good.

So it is time to break out the PL!

[publicIdaho]

I used the internal braces as a guide to make sure the panel went were it should when screwed in.

[publicIdaho]

Here is a shot showing a regular drywall screw that I used to hold panel 2 vertical. These screws I counter sunk.