Titan 39 Down Under

[Titanium Hand]

Gday. I'm building two T39's, 19 inches wide, 20 1/8 deep Lab 12 loaded built from 12mm Arauco. Its my first build. I've added 5/8's to the depth in order to accommodate an additional Panel 5A plus some weather stripping to seal it up nice and tight(User submitted mod.) as I felt the hinged method afforded me too much room for error.

I cheated a bit by having the external panels cut to size at the timber supplier (Mr Plywood) and had the remainder of the 3, 4 x 8 sheets cut to 18 inch widths. I feel that I may require additional timber for the bracing.

Using 4 double sided circular saw sleds, to take care of the angled cuts with accuracy along with an old protractor and sliding bevel. I took my sweet time and comfortably cut all the internal panels with ease over the weekend, without making any mistakes. (obviously I didn't spend the entire weekend cutting, had to still go about my daily responsibilities you all know the drum )

Today my gear; PL jacks etc all arrived from SpeakerHardware care of ShipIto, both parties a pleasure to deal with. One final dash to the hardware netted me a $25 jigsaw, 4 175mm Quick action sliding clamps @ $5.98ea, 4 3 inch G-Clamps @ $6.02ea, 2 by 1 foot steel builders square @ $12.95, Packet of 20mm Chipboard screws $3.80, Super Araldite (epoxy) $10.02, 3.6m length of 70 x 35mm framing timber $7.35 (for gluing jigs, anti warping etc.) and a jumbo roll of baking paper from aldi for $2 something.

Made a start mid afternoon. Glued the top panel (1) for both cabs and set about preparing the baffle (2) and baffle backer. With the new jigsaw I made light work of the circular cut outs. I've chosen to build 2 and the BB together to prevent errors. I would have had the drivers trial fitted and hurricanes epoxied in position ready for the morning but......

My screws are too long for the single baffle which thwarted my attempts! Oh well, I still got both BB's drilled and trial fitted. The plans profess that single is fine (I probably can't spare the wood anyway) so will get some more screws at sparrows fart tomorrow. I'm photographing each step so that i can upload a visual chronology of my progress, just need to get some more panels glued up to free up some time.
Please chime in any time with tips that may assist me with the build cheers

[88h88]

Good luck and all I'll say is you'll be impressed with the end result... What driver are you popping in there?

[bassmonster]

Good luck and all I'll say is you'll be impressed with the end result... What driver are you popping in there?

I'm building two T39's, 19 inches wide, 20 1/8 deep Lab 12 loaded

Good luck on your build! Remember to not skimp on the PL.

[Jon Barnhardt]

A couple of tips fresh off the build of my T39 lab modded subs:

When you install the baffle piece (panel 2) - glue the back ring (or two, depending on method) to it before gluing to the side (panel 0). Otherwise trying to line up everything after that panel is glued to the side is a major pain...

I modded the bottom (panel 10) to extend the entire length of the bottom side and shortened the back (panel to accommodate this. This seamed easier to get "sharper" corners and negated the probability of being a 1/16" off on the bottom when standing upright.

Don't forget to run your speaker wire to wherever you are putting your speakon connectors before you glue the final side...

I also had to change the measurements for the final upright braces in the mouth to recess them another inch so they did not cover the hand holes I made into the front of panel 10.

Good luck!

[88h88]

Good luck and all I'll say is you'll be impressed with the end result... What driver are you popping in there?

I'm building two T39's, 19 inches wide, 20 1/8 deep Lab 12 loaded

Good luck on your build! Remember to not skimp on the PL.

Well aren't I just skip-reading everything today?

I have a pair of 22" wide T39s with Lab 12s and they're immense. Seeeeeriously impressive stuff.

[Jon Barnhardt]

Here is the first of mine (I used arauco on this instead of birch. - probably won't do that again...)




EDIT: oops, posted the wrong pic, but I don't want to hijack the thread anymore than I already have... If you are interested you can see the final pic here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/allnightproduc ... /t39-1.JPG

[DanielNY]

Here is the first of mine (I used arauco on this instead of birch. - probably won't do that again...)




EDIT: oops, posted the wrong pic, but I don't want to hijack the thread anymore than I already have... If you are interested you can see the final pic here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/allnightproduc ... /t39-1.JPG

Uh Ooohhhhhh..... Did you install the t-nuts on panel 5a for securing the access panel? I see your panel 2/5a braces in place so if you haven't done so already try to figure out a solution before you continue.

Also as a note, in my original modification I also made panel 1 the full depth of the cab.

[Jon Barnhardt]

Using screws on this pair. Didnt like the construction of the arauco from the get go, but needed a pair for end of October gigs so not taking much to make them pretty or wasting extra hardware. Will build another pair out of birch afterwards and scrap these. This one turned out to be built in under 6 hours and hoping even less for its mate as I need them ASAP... As long as they are airtight I will be happy as they won't ever be seen...

Edit: actually if it wouldnt be so hard to salvage the driver I would glue the access panel shut

[DanielNY]

Doesn't look like a bad build, I've seen worse. Sanding, bondo, and duratex work wonders to fix cosmetics. As for the t-nuts, it isn't too late. Get two t-nuts on the upper lip and two on the bottom lip of the access opening. If your bracing has a big enough pass through you could get at least one t-nut on either side, measure carefully and line up the access panel and drill through both panels at the same time to get them perfectly lined up.

[Titanium Hand]

Thanks for all your input guys.

Great tip regarding pre-laminating panel 2 with the baffle backer. I just finished gluing them a moment ago, after the most monumental screw up of all time....
After spending ages preparing 2 and the B.B. to full width, and clamping, screwing, sanding to ensure correct angle and driver fit, I set the saw sled up to trim the B.B. down to 15'...only I had the saw around the wrong way and cut the bastard about 3 inches in the wrong direction through the driver mounting hole! and wrecked the one sled I built to last

I moved on now and sacrificed the timber set aside for the big mouth brace. i figure I'm behind schedule now but you get that. I could have have made additional baffle rings from the cut out in panel 2 and utilised the bolts i got from Leland but had enough of the Jig Saw for one day. Get this; full thread bolts to replace them cost me $0.66 each! What a jip. Serves me right for being lazy. I can get a tap for $8 if I go over board with the epoxy on the hurricanes so at least I picked up that knowledge.

Tee nuts are only 0.10 each, would Eight do me for panel 5 and 5A?

I'm going to have a crack at the photos now.

John, your cabs look great to me. Was it the ease in which Arauco warps that put you off it? I have found it incredibly soft, easy to overtighten even chipboard screws with the wrong torque setting on the drill.

The Labs look pretty sweet, CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THEM

[Jon Barnhardt]

John, your cabs look great to me. Was it the ease in which Arauco warps that put you off it? I have found it incredibly soft, easy to overtighten even chipboard screws with the wrong torque setting on the drill.

Thanks. I don't like the softness and the ease in which it warps. I don't feel it will stand up to mobile life like birch will. Also I don't think the finished product looks as nice, but that is just me...

[LelandCrooks]

Auraco sucks for big cabs. I'll use it on internal panels, external is BB or nothing.

[Titanium Hand]

Yep, Arauco is certainly a soft, soft wood.

I put in a pretty decent arvo since my last post. Getting all 16 Hurricanes epoxied in seemed to take for ever. I was drilling a 5mm hole to start with but after bolt number 5 stripped out, I decided to make it a bit easier on me and used a 6mm drill instead... After drilling out the offending bolt that is
Gluing my first panel 2 was a bit of a challenge, I dry fit it with a clamp from speaker hole to panel 1 and another from speaker hole to the side, just add glue to make it interesting and she was sliding all over the place.
After a hasty re-evaluation I employed two guide boards and 5 clamps to see it square up nicely. The second time round was a whole lot easier, darkening my set out lines helped too.

Everything I've read so far states that you can build everything apart from attaching the final side without screws. I'm doing my best to avoid screws where I can.
Am I risking the strength / integrity of the build by removing clamps only 8 to 12 hours after applying PL?

The plan is to set both panel 3 first thing, followed by cutting the bracing. I marked them all up earlier, if I hadn't screwed up the baffle backer I would have had the perfect amount of wood So I'm going to have to raid Mr Plywood's off-cut supply tomorrow to get enough for the 4x 7-8 braces. I anticipate increased productivity tomorrow

[Jon Barnhardt]

Sometimes a screw here or there will greatly aid in the build process. I use brad nails everywhere so I can continue on faster without waiting so much. Everyone has their own method though.

[LelandCrooks]

I use screws when I need to pull a panel into place that's warped. Otherwise brads. 8-12hr clamp time is more than adequate.