Twin T30 build - Xmas 2011

[beofservice]

On Thursday my son and I went to Lowes (in Atlanta) and bought 3 sheets of Arauco 5-ply ($29 each). The 1/2 inch comes with one side sanded. Though we didn't need the wood to be finished that nicely, the other options were only 3 or 4 ply so we went with this option. We sorted through about 20 sheets and took the 3 least warpy ones.

I had purchased the two BP102 kits from Speaker Hardware the previous week. The stuff shipped in in just about 5 days even though it was near Christmas. I loved being able to purchase all the parts at very reasonable cost from a single source. Surely I would have neglected to order something and then gotten stuck in the middle of the build.

We had the Lowes guy perform the rip cuts on the big panel saw. I had built cut sheets using the application at http://www.delphiforfun.org/programs/cutlist.htm, though ultimately I had to use the application and build the sheets by hand in order to get most efficient use of the wood. Note that you can easily get 2 T30x18.5 out of just 3 sheets of plywood (30+18=48). One rip cut gives you a 30" and a 17.75" inch piece. I had them trim the 17.75 to 17.5 to make sure all the parts are consistent.

Off and on yesterday we cut out the sides and top/back/bottoms plus piece #1. I prefer to use my hand held circular saw over the table saw as the table saw is of poor quality and too small to handle large stock. I use a guide for the circular saw made from peg board with a piece of steel glued onto it. All the cuts are nice and straight and the pieces square (so far). Last night we drew the part placement diagram onto 2 of the sides. Next we will cut out the access panels and glue up piece number 1 on both boxes. Soon I will see if I have enough of the right clamps...

Pictures to follow.

[Titanium Hand]

The circular saw and Bill's sled are brilliant tools. I was blown away by how accurately it worked. Sounds like a great father son project, bet your son is pretty excited about blasting the freshly made Subs? Best of luck with your build

[doncolga]

agreed...I used just a circular saw and it went beautifully. I've got twin T30's too with 3012 lf's. Awesome project, especially father/son.

[LelandCrooks]

Building with your son. Priceless.

[beofservice]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

We'll see how much "father" and how much "son" we end up with. "Son" went back down to school yesterday evening so he could go dancing at a club last night. Splinters under the fingernails and saw dust down the shirt have a hard time competing with that. I think he is excited about the expected end result, but doesn't seem to have that "I built it myself" drive (as I do).

Oh well, if I end up doing most of the rest myself I'm OK with that, but I'm providing the opportunity whether he takes it or not.

BTW Don, when I drive by your exit on I16 (as I do once a month or so) I think "That's where that guy with the two Tubas lives". For whatever that is worth.

Gary

[doncolga]

BTW Don, when I drive by your exit on I16 (as I do once a month or so) I think "That's where that guy with the two Tubas lives". For whatever that is worth.
Gary

Well thanks man!

[beofservice]

Cut access holes, glued up parts #1, #2 for both cabs last night. Parts are on nice and straight, though the part lengths are a little imperfect. Not enough to worry about as small adjustments can be made to make the parts line up. I'm using my $5 yard sale brad nailer to affix the parts to each other while the adhesive dries. Works great!

When I tried to use my circular saw with my sled to cut the 21 degree angle on the end of #2 I found that I would need a different sled to do angle cuts. In fact I would technically need a different sled for each different angle I wanted to cut. As I rotate the saw for the angle cut it reduces the distance from the edge of the guide to the blade. If I tried to use it on the sled that way I would have cut a quarter inch off the edge of my sled.

Three solutions presented themselves: 1) make a new sled. 2) Don't put the saw on the sled, but use the edge of the sled as a guide, and just measure to where the cut will take place. 3) Try it on the table saw.

The table saw was another yard sale find. I bought it for $25 about 5 years ago. It came with several sharp blades (worth more than $25 right there) and the motor is tight and works fine. It is one of those "Ohio Forge" (from Ohio, China) units that you get at Harbor Freight or similar. The biggest shortcoming of this saw is that it is just too darn small. That works out well for storage, but cutting 18" plywood is a challenge. There is only about 8" of table between the front edge and where the saw blade contacts the piece. The base of the saw is quite small too, and not very heavy. That means with a big panel jig you can easily move the saw around on the table where it is sitting if you are not careful to guide the jig onto the saw cleanly and smoothly. Basically, it is a hand full trying to cut 18" stock on the dinky little thing. The previous owner had built a custom saw table and had the saw installed in the middle of it, which pretty much solves all of these problems. However, I had absolutely no place to store something that big, so didn't buy it. None the less, I managed to wrestle part #2 through the table saw and put a 21 degree cut on the edge. The cut was a little raggedy for the first 3-4 inches, but nothing PL can't fix. If this all sounds like some sort of OSHA nightmare it was, (though I was wearing my safety glasses and hearing protection)! Please do not write to lecture me on saw safety. I will use a different method in the future.

Saw a Behringer 3400 xover with built in limiting on CL this morning. Called the guy and will buy it if we can sync up our schedules before he sells it to somebody else.

Gary

[Tom Smit]

Maybe if you made one of these things might work better. http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Proje ... ep-By-Step

[Gregory East]

Saw a Behringer 3400 xover with built in limiting on CL this morning. Called the guy and will buy it if we can sync up our schedules before he sells it to somebody else.

Gary

I had one of those. The limiter isn't anything you'd want to rely on. It died and wasn't worth fixing. ymmv.

[beofservice]

Maybe if you made one of these things might work better. http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Proje ... ep-By-Step

Nice. Yes, I need something like that.

I used method "2" (described in the previous post) last night and it worked well. I clamped the guide onto a scrap board and made a cut, then measured the distance to the cut. Then I did the math and drew a line on the real stock. Cut was perfect.

Ran into a new problem though. I'm working on part #3 so need to cut the hole for the driver. I'd purchased the jasper circle jig from Speaker Hardware, but last night found that it does not work with either of my Ryobi routers. I will use a compass and sabre saw tonight, but I had been hoping to move beyond that fairly unsatisfactory method for this project.

Two possible solutions to this but neither within the time frame of the build. 1) Sell one or both routers and buy one from the list of supported routers (listed on the Jasper packaging). Or 2) modify the Jasper device to accept the bolt pattern of the Ryobi foot.

[beofservice]

[/quote]I had one of those. The limiter isn't anything you'd want to rely on. It died and wasn't worth fixing. ymmv.[/quote]

I picked it up for $60. I had read the specs before purchase and it seemed like it would do the job. After reading the actual manual I see that the limiting, though processed for each output individually, is controlled universally by one level set, and is not what one would call "hard" limiting. Well, at least I got it cheap.

Thanks.

[beofservice]

Got some help yesterday afternoon building panel 3. Sawing the hole with the sabre saw at an angle worked well as far as providing a good bearing surface for the t-nuts. Used a bolt to pull the nuts into the holes, but the washer at the bottom of the stack left circular dents in the wood. Applied a little water to the dents last night, then light sanding this morning pretty much fixed it up. Swapped to a bigger washer on the second piece so no dents there.

Put in panels 4, 5 today. So far the Arauco has been great! Hardly warped at all. Not much clamping necessary with straight wood and the brad nailer... If I'm having any trouble is is due to some cuts not being 100% perpendicular (piece not 100% square). When gluing up the next part to an imperfect cut you either have to leave a gap and fill it with PL, or put the part on a little slanted. Or else try to sand the part square with it already installed. So far I have only had to deal with just a little offset (1/8 inch?) so I just glued it up as is.

Pics some day. I promise.

Gary

[beofservice]

Finally some pics...

As we didn't finish the build over the holiday the pace has been somewhat slower the past week. Still we are only two large pieces (the bottom and side) away from having all the big parts done. Oh, and half a dozen smaller pieces - braces and corner reflectors.

Pics are too big to upload here. Please see: http://imageevent.com/beales/other/speakerbuild
(hopefully that will work)

[doncolga]

Very nice man!

Our Lowes does not have arauco last time I checked, but I've already got a stack of BB.

What sizes are those sheets?...if 4x8 that seems quite a deal.

Donny

Finally some pics...

As we didn't finish the build over the holiday the pace has been somewhat slower the past week. Still we are only two large pieces (the bottom and side) away from having all the big parts done. Oh, and half a dozen smaller pieces - braces and corner reflectors.

Pics are too big to upload here. Please see: http://imageevent.com/beales/other/speakerbuild
(hopefully that will work)

[beofservice]

Very nice man!

Our Lowes does not have arauco last time I checked, but I've already got a stack of BB.

What sizes are those sheets?...if 4x8 that seems quite a deal.

Donny

Yep. 4x8 sheets. I didn't notice our store had it at first, and the guy in the apron never heard of it. Then I looked at the stack right next to me and saw "Araucoply" was lettered on the edge of the stack. It is good stuff but still just pine, not BB.

The sanded side is not quite good enough for cabinets but PLENTY good enough for this application. The "bad" side typically has a few knot holes in the outer layer of veneer, which would need to be filled if used facing out. Otherwise it is pretty nice. The wood itself is very fibrous and fairly resistant to splitting. I mentioned in a previous post we went through about 20 sheets to get three with the least amount of warpage.
Gary