Only thing i forgot to mention yesterday, is that my crown ce4000 came in. kinda bugs me that the fan is a little loud. was expecting something whisper quiet. Its not overly annoying loud when its idling. but.... going to have to brainstorm on this way to try and find a way to deaden the noise
Here are a couple pics of the Amp and Sub. Also went to a couple garage sales this morning and the guy had 4 clamps for sale. got all 4 of them for 15 bucks. a lucky find
You mentioned you are a steel worker, do you also work with aluminum? You could always make an enclosure out of metal. I know one of the most expensive subs in the world, the Krell, is made out of aluminum.
Well, i'm trying. So far its going good. I screwed up one of my corners. It fell and knocked a chip out of it. I have no idea how i'm going to fix it. I am going to post a picture. do you think wood filler could fix that?
There is a wood epoxy that I have used a couple of times that works great. I just went to the garage and it's called Quickwood
I picked up mine at the Home Depot and it really works good and dries fast.
Went this morning and got a new piece of wood and recut the front panel because the first one was to big. This time i made sure it was right on the dot. Worked out great. I posted a picture (one with router bit) of the one i cut yesterday on top of the one i cut today, so you can see the gap difference i was talking about. So now as you can see, all of my pieces are cut and ready to try my hand at glueing
Figured i would start out with the front panels. Wasn't to sure how much glue, so i put alot on....Yep, it made a mess. Glad i had all of the extra clamps. Seemed so easy to align the boards with no glue, then with the glue on the thing was like a slip and slide. wasn't able to get it perfect, but its pretty close
Now onto the assemble of the box!!!!!! I originally wasn't going to use screws but figured what the . What can i use that will sand my box down and not screw up the MDF board???
Now i got to put my terminal in the back of the box. Add bracing, think i'm going to silicone the inside. And i got to figure out what i'm going to do for feet
You can add a thin layer of wood or even plastic or other material. It's one of those personal choices. What looks best to you. I gotta warn you though laminations are tricky too the first time.
Yes, do caulk the inside seams as soon as you have the box assembled and glued. Trying to caulk the box seams after bracing is installed makes for a mess.
You're doing an excellent job and your postings and pictures are good too.
You can add a thin layer of wood or even plastic or other material. It's one of those personal choices. What looks best to you. I gotta warn you though laminations are tricky too the first time.
Yes, do caulk the inside seams as soon as you have the box assembled and glued. Trying to caulk the box seams after bracing is installed makes for a mess.
You're doing an excellent job and your postings and pictures are good too.
Thank you! I am glad to see you have chimed in. Your thread was one of the motivators for me doing this build. I am definately going to caulk it first then brace. Hopefully i can get to that today.
The reason i say hopefully is because i just went out and got a 3/4 inch 4x8 sheet of Birch. I wanted to do a thin layer (1/4 inch) over the top but didn't know how i would accomplish the nice round over look i am wanting without digging into the mdf. So i thought i would either scrap what i have done so far and start new... or do like sub_crazy and glue a layer over what i have already done. I am not sure if this will look good because i already have a 3 layer thick baffle. this would make it 4.
I just went and put the baffle on the sub and took pics.
I am thinking that one more layer will look ok, maybe if i round over where the speaker goes?
And i should just be able to glue this to the outside correct? I can use short finish nails from the interior if need be.
I just looked back at your front baffle and you have 3 layers? If so, that's more than enough wood thickness to use a large roundover bit even a 3/4 inch bit.
You've spent valuable construction time on the current box project. I wouldn't scrap it and replace it with the 3/4 inch birch ply yet. Complete the MDF box. Do the roundover. Make some mental notes about those things you definitely want to change or think OUGHT to be changed. Use the box and driver for a while. Enjoy having the ultimate sub driver as part of your system. Then decide whether the box was correct size for the driver (in your opinion) THEN you can build your second box with your SECOND LMS!
IF you decide to start the Birch plywood box remember plywood has it's own set of construction problems especially getting the edge cutoffs without tearoffs. ALL plywood has some "voids" and may end up not being as air tight as MDF. Even sealing all edges sometimes leaves undetected leaks.
I had thought about using plastic but didn't have anything lying around. I am definatley going to make a new base for the router. the black plastic one Seems kinda cheap and not very flat.
You've spent valuable construction time on the current box project. I wouldn't scrap it and replace it with the 3/4 inch birch ply yet. Complete the MDF box. Do the roundover. Make some mental notes about those things you definitely want to change or think OUGHT to be changed. Use the box and driver for a while. Enjoy having the ultimate sub driver as part of your system. Then decide whether the box was correct size for the driver (in your opinion) THEN you can build your second box with your SECOND LMS!
IF you decide to start the Birch plywood box remember plywood has it's own set of construction problems especially getting the edge cutoffs without tearoffs. ALL plywood has some "voids" and may end up not being as air tight as MDF. Even sealing all edges sometimes leaves undetected leaks.
I just looked back at your front baffle and you have 3 layers? If so, that's more than enough wood thickness to use a large roundover bit even a 3/4 inch bit.
Yes i have 3 layers. adding the birch would made 4. The problem is trying to figure out how to make a good looking finish on the mdf. i noticed that mdf not being real wood isn't the best thing to sand on and i don't want it to look all fuzzy under the paint. If i did the roundover to it now, i have no idea as to how to put the thin wood covering around the outside keeping it with the curve. I wanted to stain it, but my wife wants me to paint it black to match the other stuff. So i was going to cover it in 3/4 birch, then do a 1/2 roundover out outside edges and around speaker, sand it extremely smooth, and either me paint it, or take it to a car shop and have it painted.
Weekend is almost over and i still have alot to do
Here is where i am at. Got the all of the birch cut to size for the overlay. It seemed like it was slower cutting than the mdf, but the blade did good. The only time the wood chipped was when i was at the end of a couple cuts and the wood twisted and fell off. But that was easily solved. after that happened i clamped down the side being cut to the horse so it couldn't fall.
The only problem i have noticed is that when i put the pieces of birch on the mdf (not glued), i noticed my top piece was a little short. i split the difference and you can see in the pic that i have a little ledge. Do i have to recut this piece or is there a way of fixing it when i do sanding?
Got a question, How did you guys do your holes for the speaker? did you just drop it in and screw it down?
I figured the only way this sub can go in and out of this box is to drop it and and tilt it over and let it kinda slide out. Cant see and way to pick it up out of the box.
Just noticed a thread called "LOUDEST AT SEALED DUTIES"
In it was this quote and below the quote was a graph illustrating the point.
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