Fiberglass Open Baffle

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey guys.

Here's my most recent experiment with baffle building, and my first experiance with fiberglass.

The plywood and MDF frame:




Here's the frame with the wire mesh. The freehanded masking tape is my cut line:




Here's my mess:



Here's the baffle with a couple coats of resin and cloth over the mesh, and two coats of resin over the exposed wood. After trimming the excess dried mess off. I'm finished for the week so I reinstalled the driver to put the structure back in my room until I start sanding next weekend:

[Rodny Alvarez]

Looking good Bob!!!
You can sand the panels little bit, just to get the shine out, after that I will recommend to use something like Bondo, Duraglas or Everglass body fillers, this way you can reinforce the panels and it is better to sand the body filler, if you see any small pin holes you can use build up primer to sealed the holes and then you can paint it!!!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the complement Rodny, that's pretty close to my plan. The entire structure will get one more coat of resin, the fiberglass lower rear section will get one more layer of fiberglass cloth.
Basically, just to "build it up" so to speak. Too thin, and the wire mesh/fiberglass may add undesirable noises to the sound, so I'm trying to thicken up the wings by adding density.
After that the laborious task of sanding and filling. If this project turns out like I'm hoping, I might have the baffles professionally painted at an automotive body shop. If not, they're trash!

[Sonnie]

Cool!!! I can't wait to see the finished product.

At first glance I thought you were stuffing a huge fish... :raped:

[Bob in St. Louis]

stuffing a huge fish...

I suppose, as they say, "what comes around, goes around" is true. I told JohninCR (another forum) that his baffles looked like toilet seats.
I deserved that Sonnie!

I can't wait to see the finished product

niether can I Sonnie, niether can I

Bob

[Prof.]

Hey Bob...Nice work on the fibre-glassing..
Is it for aesthetic purposes only or is there additional acoustic value?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hi prof.
Both actually.
Cosmetically - I was tired of looking at flat PLY/MDF. Was getting board with them (no pun intended).
Needed something to "spice them up a bit", and was thinking something with some flowing lines would be nice. I did a little research on the net about DIY fiberglassing and saw that it wasn't too hard so that's the route I took.
Sound Wise - "Waveguides" as they're called are one of the methods of 'tuning' OB's. Baffle size and shape play a big role in the sonic outcome (not just SQ but bass output also). I've not been a big fan of most of the wings that guys have put on their baffles. Visually, it just reinforces that "hunk of wood with a driver in it" sitting on the floor thing, and I was wanting to stray from the norm a bit.
Still not sure if it's a keeper yet. It'll depend on what they look like when I'm finished. This weekend I'll be able to spend more time and make the determination whether I'll do the second one or not. If they turn out VERY nice, I'll pull a string or two with some friends in my industry and have them professionally painted.
Even if this experiment is a failure, I won't go back to 100% wood structures. I do think there are some merits to this "artsy,flowing,3D" baffle design thing.

Bob

[wig]

They look cool bob.Iv'e work in body shops and if I lived closer I could help you out with your stuff.If you got any questions or a problem fell free to pm me.anythink to help out. Later Scott

[davepete]

Any updates on these? I'm very interested to see how the fiberglass turns out. And more pics please!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey Scott. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Not sure how I missed your reply?
Yea, that'd be cool if you lived closer. I'd just pay you to finish them for me!!

Davepete, "life's little interventions" have slowed progress. Currently the second baffle is finished being meshed, awaiting the first coat of fiberglass. The last pictures I took are a little behind but since you want pics, I MUST show pics, right?!

Here you go dude!
(I love seeing other peoples build pictures too!)

Thanks guys.
Bob

[wig]

No biggie bob.we all get busy sometimes.I got all time in the world.what about those new silver iris 10''s Man does hawthorne audio keep us on our toes or what?I still think your style baffle is what I want.Probably a stop sign with a small baffel. Wig

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey dude! Yea, Darrel's not in a rush, that's for sure. But he doesn't have to be either. No board of directors to answer to. Just his wife Diana.
Darrel want's to make a name for himself and knows the only way that's going to happen is by having an exceptional product. Dave had the 10" for awhile know designing the XO. I've had the Sterling 15" Augie for a couple months. He just wants to make sure it's as perfect as it can be before he tells Eminence to start building.


Have you read Dave impressions of the Ten?
http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760

I'm not sure if I want to go with a pair of 10's for the rear surrounds or wait for the Sterling Silver version of the 15's come out. Then I'd use my existing 15's for the rear and the Sterling 15's for the new front mains. That way the 2 channel listening gets a boost too, not just the multi-channel part of the room.

I still think your style baffle is what I want.Probably a stop sign with a small baffel

Do you mean my last ones? The baffleless posts, or the one's pictured above?

Thanks guys
Bob

[wig]

I'm think the baffelless one. I want to make it so I can change baffels.I think thats what make these sound so interesting and fun to experiment with.