Akula Posted November 7, 2022 Report Posted November 7, 2022 A couple of years ago, I bought a really beat-up no name quad box loaded with Eminence speakers, for very cheap. The monstrosity was made out of chipboard and held together with mould, and it weighed a ton, so I sold two speakers to a mate and built this cute little thing to house the other two speakers: It did get a grille eventually. Now, this little thing measured 650*650*350mm and weighed nothing at all - I could pick it up with one hand to chuck it in the car. It featured a weird convertible design where I could undo four screws and remove the back, turning it into an open-back. I rarely used that feature. It also has a switch to remove one speaker from the circuit, hence driving the one speaker really hard at a lower impedance. Kinda cool, but for the most part I'd want both speakers firing while playing live. I was happy with this cab up until I recently played through a massive oversized quad box, and was just amazed at the low-end response. My little cab is all about the mids and highs. Hmm. Something might be done... Stopped by Bunnings on the way home tonight and purchased a full sheet of plywood for $46. Plan is to build a new cab using entirely the existing parts of the old one, right down to the wheels. It'll be airtight and reinforced, and a fair bit heavier, being a few centimetres larger. Let's see how this one turns out. - Jam 2 Quote
Akula Posted December 5, 2022 Author Report Posted December 5, 2022 Righto. Cut all my pieces of plywood to size, and made a mitre around all edges using the router. I don't have a router table as of yet, so I used the plunge router and a straight edge. Results were alright, but a table is now next on my list of builds. Glue-and-screw construction. The pine pieces you see here will form a frame inside the ply box, adding mass and reinforcement. My box-making skills are nowhere near as good as my guitar-building skills, but then I build guitars far more often than boxes, something I wished to rectify with this exercise. Anyways, a few of the mitres got damages during assembly and didn't quite line up, but there will be trim around the edges when it's done. The most important thing was to get it airtight. Baffle and front fascia attached, solid and tight. - Jam 1 Quote
Bizman62 Posted December 5, 2022 Report Posted December 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Akula said: I used the plunge router and a straight edge. Results were alright, but a table is now next on my list of builds. I've got a workmate type bench with a replaceable centerpiece for either a circular saw or a router. The table is just MDF with a square hole and the centerpieces are made of sheet steel. It also has a clamp to lock the switch and wait! There's more: It also has an electric socket connected to a very safe looking red-green safety switch! So even though the safety button at the handle is bypassed there's a protruding red "Off" button right in the front. I also just recently saw a height adjusting system for a set router, might have been at Banggood. Can't tell if it's any good but until now I didn't now such things exist. Quote
Akula Posted December 9, 2022 Author Report Posted December 9, 2022 On 12/5/2022 at 6:56 PM, Bizman62 said: I also just recently saw a height adjusting system for a set router, might have been at Banggood. Can't tell if it's any good but until now I didn't now such things exist. Yep, and that's really the part that I need to figure out is the raise system. I can easily create a baseplate for the router which sits inverted, but I don't want to wrestle with the machine under the bench. I'll get round to it one day... Marked up two big circles on the baffle. And cut them out with my aged jigsaw. Also note the black panhead screws I used to fasten along the joins - these are inset from the edges so they grab into the pine framework, pulling all the plywood panels into a airtight cube soaked in wood glue. Every face sanded to remove those awful splinters, painted rattle-can black, and a quick thick coat of lacquer on top. Check out the old cabinet in the background for size comparison. Big stainless steel ball corners, black extrusion on all edges, road case handles, and locking castor wheels. This bad boy will travel extensively. Last things I need are a grille, jack plate, and to swap the Eminence speakers to this new cab. The old cab will be getting some Celestions. - Jam Quote
Bizman62 Posted December 9, 2022 Report Posted December 9, 2022 11 minutes ago, Akula said: I can easily create a baseplate for the router which sits inverted, but I don't want to wrestle with the machine under the bench. At the other workshop they had a plunge router attached under a small tabletop. They had hinges on one side so that they could tilt the table top on side for adjusting. Not my favourite, though! Triton routers have a built-in height adjusting screw accessible through the base plate which makes them very easy to operate as table routers as well. Oh, and the panhead screws make the cabinet look very serious! "You think I'm a weakling, huh? Take another look at these panhead screws!" Quote
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