Get one clamp at least. Buy a length or 2 of 1/8" or 3/16" dowel and a corresponding drill bit. Glue the joint, clamp it at 1 spot. Drill a hole about 2" deep. Put a healthy drop of glue into the hole and tap in a length of dowel (if you cut them into pieces slightly longer than the hole depth). Move the clamp to the next position and repeat.
Another option is to rent a brad gun and glue and pin it together. There are new guns out that just use batteries and are supposedly very nice.
Pete
Another option is to rent a brad gun and glue and pin it together. There are new guns out that just use batteries and are supposedly very nice.
Pete
life without clamps??? impossible.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
What abaut this solution?
http://www.hajdinjaklabs.com/hl/Photosx.html
Yoi make a groove on each of 2 pices you want to join and then use a pice off wood (2 times as high as the depth of the groove) and put it in between. Then glue the box together and tighten up with the thig that tazzy suggested in post 8.
Robi
http://www.hajdinjaklabs.com/hl/Photosx.html
Yoi make a groove on each of 2 pices you want to join and then use a pice off wood (2 times as high as the depth of the groove) and put it in between. Then glue the box together and tighten up with the thig that tazzy suggested in post 8.
Robi
Chris8sirhC said:
Why didn't I think of that. I also hate screws. Just the idea alone I don't like. But also they either split the MDF if you make the pilot hole too small or they spin freely if you make it too big; and I have yet to find the right size pilot hole.
You don't need claps for speaker building. It makes the joint a little stronger, sooo? The strongest stiffest place in a speaker is the corner. I do use clamps though but they're not necessary, even a weight is not necessary, but definately a good idea. Also using a "fat dog" as a weight is a bad idea.
As for the angles. You can figure that part out on your own I'm sure. Actually you can figure out all of this on your own, probably.
I'm not sure you can get results that would satisfy me with hand tools only. IME a router and flush trim but is a must for a perfect finish enclosure, along with square cut panels to begin with.
I cut four panels as accurate as possible on the table saw (get your supplier to do this) and the remaining two oversized by several mm (at least). I then glue a panel at a time in such a way that only the panel edge overhangs if at all:
1) bottom and front panel.
2) attach to oversized side panel.
2.5) *bracing goes in
3) rear panel.
4) top panel.
5) remaining oversized side panel.
As each panel goes in the box squares itself but this absolutely requires clamps to be perfect. I got away with two long and two shorter clamps for my sub. Once all panels are on you will have en enclosure with many overhanging edges which I then trim down with the router for a perfect finish.
Comprehensive images of how I put my latest sub together using this method can be found here: http://www.vikash.info/audio/xls10/construction.asp
The router I use cost only £20 and the panels you can have cut square at your supplier. As someone pointed out earlier, you can never have too many clamps, although I scrape by with four.
I cut four panels as accurate as possible on the table saw (get your supplier to do this) and the remaining two oversized by several mm (at least). I then glue a panel at a time in such a way that only the panel edge overhangs if at all:
1) bottom and front panel.
2) attach to oversized side panel.
2.5) *bracing goes in
3) rear panel.
4) top panel.
5) remaining oversized side panel.
As each panel goes in the box squares itself but this absolutely requires clamps to be perfect. I got away with two long and two shorter clamps for my sub. Once all panels are on you will have en enclosure with many overhanging edges which I then trim down with the router for a perfect finish.
Comprehensive images of how I put my latest sub together using this method can be found here: http://www.vikash.info/audio/xls10/construction.asp
The router I use cost only £20 and the panels you can have cut square at your supplier. As someone pointed out earlier, you can never have too many clamps, although I scrape by with four.
angshudas said:
If you have a circular saw then make one of these- http://members.aol.com/woodmiser1/sawbd.htm for cutting square panels. Very low cost and extremely accurate.
ericallan said:
I found clamps after all. But... My future enclosures will be 1m and a few cm and I only found 1m clamps. I bought one but now I kinda regret it. Because it seems to be of low quality, the rod is pretty thin, you can bend it with one hand and it is not even straight. Or is it supposed to be like this? It is slightly curved and when you tighten it the rod stretches. And above all, it cost 10 US dollars, not too cheap I think.
mr_push_pull said:
Good clamps are a wood (or MDF) workers best friend. However most wood glues such as Titebond, Elmer's Carpenter, etc. require only 5-15 PSI for maximum bonding so even cheap clamps can apply that much pressure. (Smoother surfaces require less pressure.)
Actually if you cut your pieces with a 45 degree miter and then place several pieces of masking tape about 3 or 4" apart along the joints, apply glue to the joints (and brush the glue with a cheap brush to cover all the exposed wood or MDF) then "roll" the pieces together and tape the last joint you will find that the masking tape alone will apply sufficient pressure to get a good bond. (I'm not recommending this as standard practice but I know a custom cabinet maker who does it regularly.)
The biggest advantage of good clamps is that the faces of the clamping surfaces remain in a contant plane and don't twist when pressure is applied. (This in addition to not breaking easily, not bending, having comfortable grips etc.)
A plane is a hand tool consisting of a long flat base (usually of metal, but some, especially very old ones, may be wood) with a blade protruding through it. The plane is run along a piece of wood and the blade shaves off thin slices. They're a truly ancient piece of technology, so I'm sure you have seen oneJennice said:
There are lots of ways of making 45 degree cuts (joints with such edges are called mitre joints). Quickest is probably to use a circular saw, many of which allow angle adjustments. Or continuing with the theme, you could use a plane!
While using 45 degree angles might seem like a good idea, in practice they just don't work well. It's quite difficult to get perfect joints even with the right tools. It's also difficult to get the proper amount of pressure applied for a good bond even with clamps, so you must resort to using the glues that expand in the joint and they are more expensive and messy to work with.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
That's a plane. More specifically it's a Stanley No. 4 smoothing plane - probably one of the most common planes in the world - from the mid-1800s. They are used for flattening and straightening solid wood. You can still buy new ones, ranging from $30 to over a $1000. There is a lot of different variations, including wooden bodied planes and japanese planes that have to be pulled instead of pushed.
With the right tools(a router and a 45 degree V cutter, a shaper with a straight cutter set to 45 degrees, a tablesaw with a decent blade, plenty of other options) mitered box corners are easy. But they aren't really any stronger and unless you do have the right tools to get them perfect, they won't look as nice. Mitered box corners + biscuits from a plate/biscuit jointer is a good solution for making sure your miters align while still using simple clamps(like bar clamps).
Thanks, guys 
So... unless I'm gifted with quite a few presition tools, I will get the best result from straight edges, in stead of 45 degree ones.
Some recommend plywood, others vote for MDF.
Is it a "religion" thing, or can anyone briefly explain the advantages of each?
From my (limited) experience, MDF is nice to work with, but by nature it doesn't have a nice furface finish, to say the least. (Nothing my spouse would accept, anyway )
any good ideas to give MDF a nice finish? This plastic "wood imitation" foil isn't my cup of tea).
Jennice
So... unless I'm gifted with quite a few presition tools, I will get the best result from straight edges, in stead of 45 degree ones.
Some recommend plywood, others vote for MDF.
Is it a "religion" thing, or can anyone briefly explain the advantages of each?
From my (limited) experience, MDF is nice to work with, but by nature it doesn't have a nice furface finish, to say the least. (Nothing my spouse would accept, anyway
) any good ideas to give MDF a nice finish? This plastic "wood imitation" foil isn't my cup of tea).
Jennice
Compared to plywood, MDF is, as you have said, easy to work with. It is very consistent, meaning that you can be sure that every panel has identical acoustic properties. It's also extremely dense, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
Some people like the 'natural' MDF finish when sanded and stained, but I don't like that myself. If you want it to appear like real wood then you can get some veneer made from the wood of your choice. Or you can free yourself from the tradition of wood and cover in any material you can think of... maybe even like this:
Some people like the 'natural' MDF finish when sanded and stained, but I don't like that myself. If you want it to appear like real wood then you can get some veneer made from the wood of your choice. Or you can free yourself from the tradition of wood and cover in any material you can think of... maybe even like this:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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