BillFitzmaurice.info

Sooo, I had a MCM #55-2421 lying around I had intended to put it in an autotuba, but I found the JBL GTO 804 cheap so I used that instead.. Which has amazed me heaps. Everyone compliments the sound in my car - nice!

So after pondering this for a couple of months I decided it was time to use the MCM for a table tuba as i'm starting to build up a decent home theater! I'm on a tight budget, so first things first - im going to build the sub first and replace the sub in my Philips 5.1 sound system.. The front speakers is not horrible but the sub is, so thats where im starting for now. The built in sub-amp in the receiver is good for a 15-20v, so I should be able to shake my building a little

I have a few days off this week, and I can really feel my builds picking up speed and precision - i'm getting a lot better!

Day one:

Drawing where all the panels are going. I had 2 sheets of 12mm radiata pine preripped at my local lumberyard as i didnt have means to transport it otherwise.. Good thing is that the panels are all 100% similar width


Panel 1 going on!


Trial fitting the driver - its a perfect fit!


Trial fitting


Baffle, panel 2, 3 and 4 done.. I love how fast panels are to mount when using the techniques described in the plans - i use a lot of scrap plywood pieces to get everything square!


Everything is perfectly square!



Panel 6,7 and 8 came on and a horn is forming!


Panel 9 was the last panel I fit as it was getting dark.


When I cleaned up after I was kinda amazed at how much I had gotten done in 4 hours!

Day 2 next..

Yesterday - Day 2:

This is where I left off monday evening.


Panel 10 and 11 going on.. When I shot the picture I noticed a slight warp in panel 10 so I quickly rearranged the scrap ply and added a bit more pl to the brace, next picture shows no warp.


Last 2 panels coming along nicely..


Another picture with all panels on.. Just missing the final braces.. I didnt shoot any pictures while I made these though..


Painting the back of the mouth lightly.. Going to paint it again later today!


Day 3 - today! Test fitting the mouthbraces.. I wanted to do a different looking brace than just a plain cross! I think it came out really nice..


So that was 3 hours on day 2.. Today is day 3, ill post more pictures tonight hopefully!

Nice work. The curved mouth brace looks great!

very nice, especially on the mouth braces

Thanks a lot guys.. Gonna put the side on later! More pics coming

Nice. That much done in 4 hours? I get about 2 panels done in 4 hours.

Nice curved mouth bracing too.

bassmonster wrote:Nice. That much done in 4 hours? I get about 2 panels done in 4 hours.

Nice curved mouth bracing too.

Hehe, Day 1 was 4 hours and day 2 was 3.. So 7 hours total before side is coming on

Looking pretty fantastic. You making sure those panels are slathered in PL?

Looks a bit too good to me.. no pl expanding at all .. but I guess u know what u do as uve built some cabs before..! Mine looks like hell inside.. but are awesome on the outside.. just like me..

Im being very very careful to use enough PL.. I've gotten pretty good at laying down a very consistent bead of PL and get very nice squeeze outs.. Ill do some close-up pictures tomorrow! After doing quite a few cabs i've come to realise that PL really last a long way - its recommended to pour on a lot, but a small squeeze-out is just as good as a huge one.. Did a leak test with light in a completely dark room today and there was none.. Put the side on earlier and I always use twice the amount of PL on the side to make absolutely sure that ill get no leaks!

^ Totally agree on the PL usage. If you're using a good table saw to rip the panels to the same length and have tight tolerances on panel fitment, using more PL than needed is a waste (and messy).

shawn_g wrote:^ Totally agree on the PL usage. If you're using a good table saw to rip the panels to the same length and have tight tolerances on panel fitment, using more PL than needed is a waste (and messy).

Exactly. After putting on the side i've found no leaks even though I only used a bit less than 1 tube of PL..

Here is a pictures of progress so far - been a busy weekend doing other things, so yesterday I gave it a few coats of Duratex - just plain coats no spatter or heavy orange peel.. Looks pretty darn good if I might say so myself!

Was thinking about putting it in the corner, but I just might lay it down and actually use it as a table with a glass plate on top of it..

Looking nice.

Nice! Excellent you became an authorized builder too!

Scott Brochu wrote:Looking nice.

bassmonster wrote:Nice! Excellent you became an authorized builder too!

Thanks guys. And yea, I'm in the planning phase of starting a sound company doing all different sorts of things eventually, so being an authorized builder is a perfect starting point.. Denmark is so small that i actually have exclusivity of the whole country