Estimated Average Construction Time for BFM Cab Designs

[metaverse]

Hello all,

I thought it may be helpful to compile a list of Estimated Average Construction Times for each cab based upon members of the BFM communities experience.

I am an example of someone who could benefit from this type of thing. I do not have a house, woodshop, tools or experience in woodworking. But I do absolutely love killer sound therefore I need to hire local friends of mine to do the construction for me. Its a royal PITA to attempt working out time + labor while negotiating a build with a friend of mine because they have no point of reference to go by. And again this is just an attempt to narrow it down a bit ... from an ocean of guessing to a river of estimated width.


EXAMPLE


Member : SoundInMotionDJ

BFM Cabinet Experience : Professional
[details: optional .....]

WoodWorking Skill Level : Professional
[details: optional .....]

WoodWorking Equipment : Professional
[details: optional .....]

Cabinet Built : BFM Titan39 w/ Said Driver

Quantity : 4

Jigs : [Yes/No]

Cabinet Finish : [details: optional .....]

Estimated Time of Completion Per Individual Cab : [details: optional .....]

Estimated Time of Completion Per Group of Cabs : [details: optional .....]

Amount Charged Per Cab/Group of Cabs : [details: optional .....]

Additional Comments : [details: optional .....]

[Jon Barnhardt]

I think this will vary greatly by tools available, level of experience, if you have built the cab before, and how you want it to look when your finished...

[thekl0wn]

I think this will vary greatly by tools available, level of experience, if you have built the cab before, and how you want it to look when your finished...

Keep in mind, I have zero experience manufacturing any of the BFM designs, but what's stated above is typically the case across the board. Some people read instructions/plans and understand what's going on. Others have a hard time after multiple reads. Some have full cabinet shops at their disposal, and others are running jig saws in their living room. Some have done fine woodworking before, and others have tied their shoes. Some are never satisfied and others could care less. And some people are faster/slower than others. I tried explaining that one to the ex one time, but she just didn't understand the concept. Wait... May have gotten off topic there. Anyway, it's all conditional. You could probably look through the build threads for some of the models you're considering, and see what others have to work with and gauge if it's about on-par with what you'd be working with and get a general idea, but that's about as good as you're gonna get for most projects.

[Jon Barnhardt]

And some people are faster/slower than others. I tried explaining that one to the ex one time...

[Ryan A]

It would be helpful, but the simple answer is that it takes what it takes. You don't want to plan for a certain time amount and then get rushed into finishing it in that time frame. I honestly have no idea how long it took to complete my cabs because I only do 2 or 3 panels per day so as not to burn myself out and cut corners, figuratively speaking. My guess is about 12 hours per cab, give or take. Obviously depends on experience and plan type.

[metaverse]

Right ... everyone is different however i'm assuming that if we had a handful of people who listed off :

- woodworking skill level (beginner , intermediate , proficient)

- experience building cabinets , etc

- tools

- time to build [x] cabinet

... we would atleast have averages to play with ... which is really all I was thinking anyhow. Average ball park figures.

[DJ Higgumz]

to give you a scale- i have a table saw, skill saw and all the necessary tools recommended. this was over the summer, i didnt have school, and it took me 4 days including the stressful leak chasing to complete, with carpeting. i have built another cab before, but you could say it was a what not to do cab, 3/4 mdf, car subwoofer, sucky glue. i could have built it in the same amount of time without the previous build, because of the great plans . those two are the only wood work i've done besides dodgy 2x4 coaster gokarts i built as a child! but i do alot of small engine repair, so i know my way around the shop. i don't mean this to be my life story, but so you can compare your expierience to mine

things i learned, no such thing as too much pl, and bite the bullet and buy duratex. one gallon covers at least 4 wide cabs.

[SoundInMotionDJ]

I have solid woodworking skills. I have a garage workshop that has a table saw, router table, miter saw station, and LOTS of big flat workspace to stage parts. I built lots of jigs and built cabinets in batches....and I tracked my time very closely. These times do not include "drying time" between build sessions. I did a LOT of building in a 60-90 minute session before work, and another 90-120 minutes after work. That gave me two blocks of time for the PL to firm up between build sessions.

When building a first batch of cabinets, I would work with one until I got to a "natural" stopping point...and then catch up the other three. This allowed me to build jigs and fixtures with the first cabinet and use those tools for the rest. From my rusty brain cells...the build times were:

First batch of four T39's took about 115 hours.
Second batch of four T39's took about 90 hours.

First batch of four DR200's took about 140 hours.
Second batch of four DR200's took about 105 hours.

These times are for a batch of four "fully finished" cabinets.

ANY plan to finish in less time that this should be re-considered....at least for the first batch of cabinets.

--Stan Graves

[metaverse]

I have solid woodworking skills. I have a garage workshop that has a table saw, router table, miter saw station, and LOTS of big flat workspace to stage parts. I built lots of jigs and built cabinets in batches....and I tracked my time very closely. These times do not include "drying time" between build sessions. I did a LOT of building in a 60-90 minute session before work, and another 90-120 minutes after work. That gave me two blocks of time for the PL to firm up between build sessions.

When building a first batch of cabinets, I would work with one until I got to a "natural" stopping point...and then catch up the other three. This allowed me to build jigs and fixtures with the first cabinet and use those tools for the rest. From my rusty brain cells...the build times were:

First batch of four T39's took about 115 hours.
Second batch of four T39's took about 90 hours.

First batch of four DR200's took about 140 hours.
Second batch of four DR200's took about 105 hours.

These times are for a batch of four "fully finished" cabinets.

ANY plan to finish in less time that this should be re-considered....at least for the first batch of cabinets.

--Stan Graves

Ok ... So using this post as an example ... I was thinking something like this:


Member : SoundInMotionDJ

BFM Cabinet Experience : Professional
[details: optional .....]

WoodWorking Skill Level : Professional
[details: optional .....]

WoodWorking Equipment : Professional
[details: optional .....]

Cabinet Built : BFM Titan39 w/ Said Driver

Quantity : 4

Jigs : [Yes/No]

Cabinet Finish : [details: optional .....]

Estimated Time of Completion Per Individual Cab : [details: optional .....]

Estimated Time of Completion Per Group of Cabs : [details: optional .....]

Amount Charged Per Cab/Group of Cabs : [details: optional .....]

Additional Comments : [details: optional .....]

[Grant Bunter]

Hello all,

I thought it may be helpful to compile a list of average construction times for each cab based upon members of the BFM communities experience.

Thoughts ??

I'm wondering if posting up such details may lead a novice to expect they can do x cab in y time, and stress if they are not getting there.
You can't throw in all the variables and expect results, in terms of time, to be the same.

My first build (for the same cab) was slower than my second. I tried not to stress over it. Each cab took as long as it took, and had different challenges.

[DJ Higgumz]

+1 instead of talking about it, build son, build!

[metaverse]

Not to sound rude but thats why I use the word "estimate" over and over again ... I am well aware that there are several variables involved.

I dont have a woodshop or tools or the experience or a house to do this in.

My first experience with BFM was basically hiring a friend of mine to do the construction for me and since we had no real base to go by it turned out to be a mess when it came to negotiating time + labor estimates.

Some day I will build but for now I have to hire my friends who I trust and are local to do the job therefore these types of estimates are much needed by people like me. This has nothing to do with "stressing because I didn't finish it in the estimated time of completion" : its not a competition.

Some estimates are better than No estimates , right? Right!

[SeisTres]

about 5 days for my t18 from bare wood to completed cab (no paint).

about three weeks for pair of t39's slims. With two coats of paint.

about 5 weeks for 2 pairs of them.

two weeks for each jack pair. (at this point i knew the process pretty well)

a cheap table saw, a router, jigsaw. Only jig i used on these cabs was the rail guide i built out of wood for my table saw. Some clamps and all hte necessary drill and screwdriver stuff.

Building the cab takes about 60% of the build, the rest of the time is taken by the finishing touches and wiring and all those "little" details.

[67baja]

My first THT took me a weekend morning til night. NOT a skilled wood worker, but very mechanical and "handy". I used a dewalt skilsaw, a drill/driver, a ryobi router, and an orbital sander. Finished with stain. Unlike a lot of people here, I didn't do 1 panel a day. I dedicate a whole day to doing a bunch of work.

Now I have way more efficient tools to do the job better: Festool track saw, craftsman table saw, 3 or 4 routers, 3 or 4 nailguns, pneumatic stapler, drill press, couple sanders, etc. I get obsessive about my hobbies Yay therapy

When I built my otop 12s, I didn't keep track of time but was convinced I could build half a dozen a week - or more. Again, that is dedicating full days, not just an hour a day.

[Grant Bunter]

Not to sound rude but thats why I use the word "estimate" over and over again ... I am well aware that there are several variables involved.

I dont have a woodshop or tools or the experience or a house to do this in.

My first experience with BFM was basically hiring a friend of mine to do the construction for me and since we had no real base to go by it turned out to be a mess when it came to negotiating time + labor estimates.

Some day I will build but for now I have to hire my friends who I trust and are local to do the job therefore these types of estimates are much needed by people like me. This has nothing to do with "stressing because I didn't finish it in the estimated time of completion" : its not a competition.

Some estimates are better than No estimates , right? Right!

Apples and Pears...
You asked for thoughts and I gave you mine.
You did not initially provide the information that only existed after my post.
That information was (in essence): I don't have the tools or the space so I had a friend build them for me.
That introduces a new perspective: What are the skills of your friend?
If you wanted a decent estimate of cost for someone else to build your cabs, contact an authorised builder, do your sums and see if your friend can help you do it cheaper!

I didn't have the experience (in building BFM cabs) either, but had some tools and acquired more to do the job.
As I said previously, each cab took as long as it took, and each cab had it's own challenges...