BillFitzmaurice.info

Hi All,
Got the updated plans from Bill recently and now proceeding cautiously towards "the breaking of dust".
Am now recovering quietly from a kick in the cardiac's. I've been following ewes for so many years, I'm again (after a 10 year layoff) about to burst into an enjoyable Southern Pacific Summer of speaker building activity.
I already have the birch 12 ply, 3015LF and other bits n bobs.

Some questions please for those that have already constructed this OTB15 enclosure as I'm costing out the project as we speak;

1. How much Duratex did you use; do I need to allow for? Very expensive down here from the Eminence Agent!
2. I want to use this both as a bass rig and, for full range. The NZ suppliers have APT:80 tweeter & horns at $125. Is there any advantage going to a APT:200 for keys - compatible with the plans?
3. I note the L-PAD option - sounds great. Is this just to tame the top end when used for Bass?
4. I'd like to have some foam attached behind my mesh grill to keep dust, dirt and gunk out. I've read about reticulated foam as the product to use. Anyone tried this yet or, have any suggestions?

No doubt I will have more need of all your experience in th following months so thanks in advance.
Cheers

The APT 80 and APT 200 use the same driver, the horn is different. The APT 80 has smoother response.

Grey Owl wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:15 pm
I already have the birch 12 ply


I'd like to have some foam attached behind my mesh grill to keep dust, dirt and gunk out.

12 ply is typically 3/4" .....should be 1/2" or 9 ply......unless things are different down under.

Use the thin foam that is used in window air-conditioning units. Cheap and works fine. That's what's behind the grills of my OT12s.

G'day.
While there's a few Kiwi's here, we don't see them around much.
Probably the "go to" person to ask any questions re supply and so on would be forum member Harley Dear, who has, in the past, been an authorised builder for Bill's designs. Maybe shoot him a msg and he might respond.

In the past, I have heard of New Zealanders shipping in a tub of Duratex from Cannon Sound in Sydney. Obviously, at that stage, it was viable, but check that out to see it's still the case, and let us know please.
Do a heap of coats in flat black first, and you'll use bugger all Duratex (and leave plenty for touch-ups over time).

Also not sure what it would cost to ship from Australia, but grille foam can be found at Cliff Electronics http://www.cliff.com.au/
Look under "speaker box parts"
They're also a great cheap source of anything Neutrik in the antipodes.

Unless you can find a place like that in NZ...

Hi Bill and Bruce.
APT: 80 noted thanks Bill.
Yup Bruce, just checked the ply. My faulty data - it's actually 12mm (half an inch) with 9 ply's.
Cheers

Thanks Grant.
Very helpful thoughts thanks.
Ps: I've got cousins in Barcaldine; not far from yours.
Cheers

Grey Owl wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:49 pm Thanks Grant.
Very helpful thoughts thanks.
Ps: I've got cousins in Barcaldine; not far from yours.
Cheers

No worries at all.
Barcaldine is quite close, only 85k's away.

The nearest Bunnings is 7.5 hrs away.

Let us know if we can help with anything else...

Happy New Year all,
My box of bits n bobs from Leland has arrived down here.
Will check out contents to see all arrved well - a tad excited I must say!!
Cheers

Have fun!

Ta muchly

Hiya folks from the Deep South,
There's been zero activity on my project since December. Daughter No.2 sold her house and a family of five moved in until about two weeks ago.
Set up house in my small attached 6m x 6m metre garage and two other bedrooms. My needs were subsequently disposed of. Grandpa I need your house!!
Actually after all these years of being just Us2 again, it was great having the kids here - noisey, invasive, nightly cry of "Grandma, Gpa's watching the news agin".... etc. etc.

CV19 means I get my garage back again as I've been quietly shifted through the garage outside door.
Stereo permanently setup, my radio sation playing what I want, my crap all over the place.
Read Bill's plans twice over each of the last 2 days so today's the day I start quietly proceeding.
All Leland's bits have arrived thanks. I've checked the inventory and everything looks to be present and accounted for.

For your info, New Zealanders have gone to Level 4, an initial 4 week complete compulsory nationwide lockdown, all schools closed, all businesses told to work from home or close up (except emergency and essential services), we have to stay on our own property and not leave our personal bubble - not even to visit friends or family etc. No parks, beaches, libraries, any social activity etc.
We can only go off property temporarily to a doctor, for fuel or groceries (all fast food outlets, restaurants, Macs, Burger King, Starbucks etc. ordered to be closed & shutup for the duration) and mantain at least a 6 foot personal distance from anyone else.
The position will be reviewed after the first 30 days and either remain in force or be amended.

So, a perfect time to get on with my project. I may need the BFM team's help from time to time. Keep safe out there brothers and sisters and see you on the other side.
Cheers
David

Gidday All,
Trust everyone is safe and well.
Well, the making of sawdust has been proceeding apace.
Quite a bit of scratching of the head, re-measuring, re studying, mistake making (thankfully none prior to cutting).
I was raised in the days of Imperial Measurement, well prior to New Zealand changing to the metric system but yesterday I had to stand up and walk away more than once muttering out of frustration. My wife left the shed! I was reduced to totalling up the 16ths, 8ths or 4ths then dividing them down to ensure I was in range.
Many years ago when building my Jack 10 I bought a set of Imperial steel engineering rulers 0-40inches and a roof square both with Imperial on one side and Metric to the other.
Ha ha - I've sometimes had to run both rulers against each other to give me the Metric equivalents and vice versa just so I could double-check my Imperial markout on the ply!!!
I've taken some photo's but not really sure how to load them up for you yet. My camera runs large format and I know there's a way to upload pics in a lesser format but haven't figured that one out yet.
Luckily for me, the weather here in Autumn has been fabulous and I trust it stays that way for a long time.
Cheers and speak soon,
Grey Owl

Got my front panel negative cut completely wrong!
Even thought about over night before I made the cut.
Lightbulb moment for me when I was asleep - "turn the panel over and cut it inside out you pillock".
Did so with much confidence; and it's stilll soooo wrong.
Bugger n blast......!!!!!!
Thoughts on rectificaion?????

I feel you on metric vs imperial.

Like you, I was brought up on imperial, but hadn't used it in about a qurter-century.
.. until I started making speaker cabinets from American plans.
Now I just stick to imperial. My metric tapes and rules don't get a look in.

Regarding the front, do you mean you made the angled cut reversed?
If I understand correctly, just put the opening on the other (left?) side of the cabinet.
The cabinet doesn't care what side the woofer opening is on.

You should really be looking at the CAD drawing in Sketchup and quadruple-checking everything before making any cuts. We've all been there, but Bill made those drawings for a reason and they helped me a ton (just in wiring alone!). I've found you need an older version of Sketchup to work properly. I'm using an old 2017 version 17.2.2555


And if you're mildly computer-literate you can upload pictures to imgur.com which lets you link a much larger pic to this forum