Flush mounting speakers: the whole story

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The goal of this thread is go through flush mounting procedures for both round and square driver frames.

A print article is available in audioXpress magazine.

Article title: Easy Driver Flush Mounting
by : Rodney Buike

Vol. 32 issue Number 6 of AudioXpress
June, 2001


Not everyone has access to the print magazine and I do not
know of a similar piece or the identical one that is available
outside of the subscriber base of AudioXpress. Even with that article I've found it hard to follow.

I do not intend to reprint the article but I'll likely describe it in detail and will hope that the details become more clear.

That piece by Buike is on square frames.

But this whole story thread can start with round ones.

The technique I know for making flush mounts on round drivers
uses a 3/8 in rabbeting bit with bushing in the router.

After the cutout is made with a hole saw or Jasper jig, the rabbeting
bit is run 1/8 deep around the cutout on the front baffle.

I believe that a variation on this is to use the Jasper to cut the
flush portion to depth and then reposition the jig to make the through cut for the driver itself.

Comments on flush mounting round drivers?
 
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loninappleton said:
I believe that a variation on this is to use the Jasper to cut the
flush portion to depth and then reposition the jig to make the through cut for the driver itself.

Well that's how I do it, but there must be a better way. I'd love to learn.

I mark the center of where I want my driver, then use a home made compass to draw a pencil outline of the outside of the driver as well as the cutout circle. Then I double check it all.

Next my DIY router rig is screwed into the center hole made by the compass (see below) then the router bit is set to the outside pencil line. The flush mount insert for the drivers is cut first - may take a few passes. Then I do the driver hole. Rarely have a problem with center falling out.

A bit tedious, but it works. But only for rounds. Certainly the skilled woodworkers here have better techniques.

Photo of Ryobi 2HP router and DIY circle jig:
 

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Rounds are easier and you can cover up the glitches.

But flush mounting square frames has everything showing.

My intention is to "re-imagine" the Buike technique with description.
I'll paraphrase what I can step by step. But it's late here. Best to start that another time.

I hope pinkmouse can give what he does.

Next time I'll post the parts list that's in the article.
That's a good place to start.
 
Re: Re: Re: Flush mounting speakers: the whole story

planet10 said:


That's where it is nice to have access to a CNC... especially for non-circular drivers bezels...

dave

The Fostex 206 and 207 are diabolical. what were they thinking? Has anyone ever flushmounted one of those? a good seller would be a machined wooden ring to cover that wonky frame.
The nicer drivers such as F200A or 208 sigma have much more sensible shapes. You'd think those would be the ones they'd get all artsy about.

BTW: nice circle jig with the threaded rods. I'll be making one of those.
perhaps a bit of steel angle instead of the wood to stop the hole from flogging out?
 
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To make an accurate template for an odd shape driver flange, you need to follow these steps:

1/ Make a pattern of the driver flange by screwing the driver to a piece of MDF or plywood and using a pattern follower bit (has a bearing on the end the same diameter as the bit itself) in the router. Router mounted in table would be the safest and most convenient. See top illustration in the pic below.

2/ Use this pattern to create a template. To do this you need a collar set for your router, with different sizes. The hole in the template will be bigger than the driver flange. See the bottom illustration in the pic below.
This template is what you will use to guide the router for the final step - cutting the recess.
 

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To use that template to cut the recess, you use a bigger collar, one that will space the router bit away from the edge of the template enough to give the correct size cutout. This can be a bit tricky, as you need to get the right combination of bit diameter and collar size. It will give very accurate results though.
 

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MJL21193 said:
To make an accurate template for an odd shape driver flange, you need to follow these steps:

1/ Make a pattern of the driver flange by screwing the driver to a piece of MDF or plywood and using a pattern follower bit (has a bearing on the end the same diameter as the bit itself) in the router. Router mounted in table would be the safest and most convenient. See top illustration in the pic below.

2/ Use this pattern to create a template. To do this you need a collar set for your router, with different sizes. The hole in the template will be bigger than the driver flange. See the bottom illustration in the pic below.
This template is what you will use to guide the router for the final step - cutting the recess.

I can see where I'll get a heacahe flipping around between images
back and forth.

This illustration depicts the first step from the print article.
The author some other details like spacing out the speaker from the
template with 2 each 3/8 washers at each screw point to avoid damage to the driver.

In the next new thread entry I'll write all the parts list.
 
parts list for making a square flange flush mount

Tools and parts

4 3/4 screws (or however many hold the driver to the wood.)
8 1/16 in washers
1/8 thick foam gasket tape
1/2 in MDF -- size depends on driver
Plunge router
Router table if available
Circle jig (or your preferred method of making speaker cutout)
Jig saw/ table saw
1/4 in straight cut router bit
3/8 in flush trim router bit
Router base attachment with 3/8 in guide
Drill


As you can see there are more parts than we've talked about so far.

I noticed something just while making this list: I thought it said
"3/8 in guide drill" rather than 3/8 in guide. I've been looking for a "guide drill." My bad.

Some issues that haven't been touched on yet are how to register
the jig on the baffle. The screw holes for the driver can't be used because the pattern is too big.

Also is there a way to avoid using MDF and get the right thickness?

Perhaps gluing up some masonite? I worked with MDF once. I don't care to do it again.
 
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Flush mounting speakers: the whole story

OzMikeH said:
The Fostex 206 and 207 are diabolical. what were they thinking? Has anyone ever flushmounted one of those? a good seller would be a machined wooden ring to cover that wonky frame.

Quite possibly minimum steel for the strength required. We have this pattern in the CNC, wouldn't be hard to turn that into a product. Take a bit of fiddling to turn it from a rebate into a cover plate, but that is something similar to something i was just plotting for finishing up a set if FH.

dave
 
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loninappleton said:


I can see where I'll get a heacahe flipping around between images
back and forth.

This illustration depicts the first step from the print article.
The author some other details like spacing out the speaker from the
template with 2 each 3/8 washers at each screw point to avoid damage to the driver.


Sorry for breaking in here and offering a perfectly reasonable and effective method (I've actually did this before). All this and with pictures too, that will give you a headache. :xeye:

The driver doesn't get damaged as the bearing of the follower bit only touches it, not the cutter. As always, it'll pay off to be careful and precise in the set up.
 
And put those goggles on too. :)

I just want to have all the info together in some reasonable form.

No criticism intended of your illustrations.

Also did not spell check very well. My bad.

My headaches are just having to deal with screens rather than some printed source. As noted, I have a print source but it just isn't clear. I'm not trying to be thick. But part of the technique from the print piece sounds like "insert flap "A" and throw it away"--
and that from an essay by Robert Benchley.

There is a video out by Gary Rugowski from Fine Woodworking on
router technique. That doesn't have this procedure in it either.

It's nuts.

If someone has a how-to in book form I'll get one.

That's why I'm hoping that a photo how to will appear from someone. The truth is, I don't even own a real router yet.
 
continuing the Buike method

To continue the discussion of the Buike method mentioned in the early part of this thread in #11:

The illustrations at post #7 give the first two steps in this method:

Use 1/2 in stock of MDF or other.

Mount the driver face down with the driver hole plug removed

The driver is spaced using the washers in sets of two. Shape the first piece using the 3/8 in flush trim bit around the edge of the square flange.

Mount the first piece to a second larger blank to make the template. Drill a hole at the edge 3/8 in and make a cutout with the 3/8 flush trim bit. This gives a cutout 3/8 larger than the first piece. this has to be perfect and smooth.

The next step is to use a 1/4 in. straight bit with a 3/8 in bushing on the bit. The bushing is not in the parts list which I will correct. Where it says 'router base attachment with 3/8 guide' means the bushing setup.

The text describes shrinking the pattern down to size using a 1/4 in straight cutting bit and a 3/8 in bushing to cut out the middle section which gives the original pattern plus 1/8 in. This would be the third blank used.

Buike gives the use of the 1/8 foam tape here. The foam tape is to insure the cutout is centered. The foam tape is lined around the pattern.

This is real close to what pinkmouse describes as it all comes together and MJL21193's diagrams as well.

The final result should be to use the 1/4 bit with 3/8 bushing to hog out the shape on the baffle?

I'd still like to see it done. ;)

The last part of Buike says to fasten the pattern with air nails or two sided tape. There has to be a way to register the pattern better than that without damaging the baffle.

That's all I have for now.

I hope there's some improvements from the regular router users here.
 
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Flush mounting speakers: the whole story

OzMikeH said:
BTW: nice circle jig with the threaded rods. I'll be making one of those.
perhaps a bit of steel angle instead of the wood to stop the hole from flogging out?

Thanks Mike. Yeah, the metal centerpiece is a good idea. I may do that too. But really, I have had zero problems with the wood. There just isn't any real wear.

I like John's rig - that looks like the way to go. I did make something similar with just a series of holes instead of the slot. Don't remember why I stopped using it. The slidey bit and scale on Johns rig are really nice.
 
Attention pinkmouse and others.

A tutorial on flush mounting is still needed.

But my question in here is:

After thinking this through and knowing how the pattern is made
how is the center material hogged out if the router base cannot
touch anything? How does the router travel across the center?
 
I've recently made a jig like panomaniac's. I used aluminium channel, 2 pieces for rigidity. The pin is 5mm steel rod, hammered then epoxied in. I attach a phono of it along with my test fit using an 8" driver (the smallest it can do unfortunately).

I will need to mount some awkward shaped and small drivers soon too :( . I plan to mabye make a template from thick card cutouts layered together, larger then the desired routing path, and follow it on the inside with the copying bush. No idea if it'll work or how successful its likely to be, but trial runs can be made :)
 

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That looks like an excellent jig for round cutouts.

I'm hoping that router deal turns up during the Father's day sales.

We've seen the pattern required for the square flange on drivers
but the only method thaty Buike has mentioned is to secure the
patter by means of nails or clamps.

How can register be maintained for the center of the baffle?

Normally an "X" is scribed to find baffle center.

How can the pattern be registered on a baffle not the exact size of the
pattern without damage to the surface.


Registering is here used like is in the printing trade: lining up
identical pieces to do work.
 
I'm losing my confidence.

The more I try to freehand flush mounts for square drivers, the worse they get.

I have to make one of those pattern templates. The outlay and time will be considerable.

Doing it by hand, I always overshoot the corners and I have no good control over doing the arcs of the sides either.
 
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