BillFitzmaurice.info

I started my Table Tuba tonight. It took me about 5 hours to get just this far. Several tool-related problems, running back to the store for supplies (after I dropped and bent my new 60 tooth saw blade... ) and general trial and error.

But here she is...








The other side panel is cut as well. I can't imagine how nice it must be to have to correct tools and a big workbench (not an old rickety 4x3 kitchen table). Some of my cuts are not perfect, but anything off by more than 1/16th of an inch was put back into the pile of wood. I hope I have enough with my 2 4x8 sheets.


More to come as progress is made.

chjade84 wrote:ISome of my cuts are not perfect, but anything off by more than 1/16th of an inch was put back into the pile of wood.

Why?
Why not use the wood since PL will fill a void up to 3/8 of an inch?

It's good to see some other people working in their basements with basic tools and makeshift workbenches. Although I'm in the garage now...it's so cold...

I just finished the building part of my table tuba last weekend:

And at this point I'm just trying to fill all the screw holes and sand it smooth. I still have no idea how I'm going to finish it yet though...

It's a fun (and frustrating) process. I would agree though, if it's off by a 1/16th it's not that big of a deal, just make sure there is glue filling the gap and it will seal itself shut. Some advice having just finished it, try to get stuff square from the get go. I'm on my second BFM sub and I still haven't done it quite right either time so when I lay my TT down on a cement floor it wobbles a bit. grrr

Actually, I used most of my two 4X8 sheets for my 17'' wide TT. I've got a long strip about 18'' wide left over, and a square piece about 2', but that's about it.

Another good tip is to double and triple check to make sure you drew the lines in the right places, and remember to glue your boards down the correct sides of the line...that is not a fun mistake to make...

Have fun!

Tom Smit wrote:

chjade84 wrote:ISome of my cuts are not perfect, but anything off by more than 1/16th of an inch was put back into the pile of wood.

Why?
Why not use the wood since PL will fill a void up to 3/8 of an inch?

Because I'm a perfectionist. At least I try to be.

Charles Warwick wrote:It's good to see some other people working in their basements with basic tools and makeshift workbenches. Although I'm in the garage now...it's so cold...

I just finished the building part of my table tuba last weekend:

And at this point I'm just trying to fill all the screw holes and sand it smooth. I still have no idea how I'm going to finish it yet though...

It's a fun (and frustrating) process. I would agree though, if it's off by a 1/16th it's not that big of a deal, just make sure there is glue filling the gap and it will seal itself shut. Some advice having just finished it, try to get stuff square from the get go. I'm on my second BFM sub and I still haven't done it quite right either time so when I lay my TT down on a cement floor it wobbles a bit. grrr

Actually, I used most of my two 4X8 sheets for my 17'' wide TT. I've got a long strip about 18'' wide left over, and a square piece about 2', but that's about it.

Another good tip is to double and triple check to make sure you drew the lines in the right places, and remember to glue your boards down the correct sides of the line...that is not a fun mistake to make...

Have fun!

Looks good! I drew both sides of all my lines and scribbled them in a little with a pencil so there's no chance of me placing the boards on the wrong side.

I want to finish mine with an exotic veneer, but I'll probably just sand it and maybe some varnish.

Well I've run into the first hiccup in the plan. The sub isn't here yet so I've been cutting the remainder pf the panels and fitting them to each other without fastening them in place. My problem lies with panel #10 (the front panel where the horn mouth is) and it's about 1 1/4" too long. It's cut to the exact length in the pan (16") and it is flush with panel #9 which is in the right place according to the lines drawn out in the beginning. The side panel is the correct length, 29 3/4".

To make things worse, the sketchup model says 15 7/16" for the length so that's no real help either.

I mean I can always trim 1 1/4" off to make it fit, that's no problem, but is there something I'm missing? Did I do something wrong along the way?

chjade84 wrote:Well I've run into the first hiccup in the plan. The sub isn't here yet so I've been cutting the remainder pf the panels and fitting them to each other without fastening them in place. My problem lies with panel #10 (the front panel where the horn mouth is) and it's about 1 1/4" too long. It's cut to the exact length in the pan (16") and it is flush with panel #9 which is in the right place according to the lines drawn out in the beginning. The side panel is the correct length, 29 3/4".

For one thing panel 9 doesn't extend to the side edge. Consult your Sketchup model on that. And as is the case with all panels the length shown in the plans is a bit oversize to allow for trimming to the exact size required.

I see that now.

Ok, that takes a little more off. As long as you don't see anything very obviously wrong I think I'll be fine.




Only the last brace and optional cross brace left to cut. I just should have bought the driver earlier...

I got my driver from MCM today. They somehow sent it to the wrong address of a company with a very similar name, but several miles away. Fortunately my phone number was on the packing slip so the nice people there called and told me they had a package for me. That means tonight I can continue my build - finally! UPS says my amp from John will be here on Thursday, so hopefully I can have the box assembled for the weekend.



The MCM 55-2421 is a lot heavier than I would have imagined. That's a good thing though.

Progress... a little bit at a time.




I got the next panel on, but didn't take a picture of it.

The amp came today, just a WF-100k. I can start breaking in the sub tonight while I finish the rest. Where does everyone get 20hz tones for this? And I read somewhere the voltage to do the break in at, but I forgot it. How many volts was it?

chjade84 wrote: How many volts was it?

10

I found a tone generator. NCH ToneGenerator. Very nice, does everything you'd want (at least everyting I'd want) and it appears to be free. There's a licensed version you can purchase, but it seems it's fully functional as a free version. I can't find anything about limitations or trial expiration. Anyone used it before?

http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/index.html

What are the purposes of the different waveforms in relation to audio?

SigJenny is a simple free tone generator app. The freeware app Audacity also has a built-in signal generator.

Well, it's all together! I still need to sand it down, get all the excess PL off and such, but it's all together drying right now. I didn't have any clamps that could reach to the middle and I needed to go get more salt for the water softener so...

The little box on top is for the amp.

Congratulations!

Get yourself a sharp 1/2-3/4" hand chisel to remove the excess PL. Works like a hot knife through butter. Give the PL a few extra days to cure, extra heat helps. I used a hair dryer pointed into the mouth, with a blanket draped over the whole set-up.

Hmmm that's a good idea.

How long should I wait before I hook it up? The tube says it cures in 24 hours but I don't want to push it. I also don't want to wait to see how it sounds. So you see my dilemma.