I've started my first project...

[Bigun]

After spending time on the forum with a hundred and one questions I knew it was time to get out the armchair and dust off some tools.

As of this evening I have managed to cup up a new sheet of Birch ply into little rectangles of wood. Enough for two boxes that one day should look like a pair of small Fonken's.

I found it was surprisingly difficult to cut accurately using a hand-held circular saw. Typical accuracy is only to within 1 or 2mm but given that the saw has a kerf of 2mm this isn't too awful. No doubt I'll manage to put something together with a bit of care but the final dimensions aren't going to be an exact match to the drawings. I'll try to focus on getting good contact between surfaces so that the joins are strong and air tight.

[germpod]

I caulk every joint, just in case, and if you do that then small gaps should just be cosmetic. I have not figured out how to get the final piece sealed for sure yet, since I can not get in there to caulk, I have just been lucky. No problems yet. Caulking the outside of the seam would work fine, but then that makes it so you can not stain.

Ed Robinson

[Bigun]

that's a good idea, I'll plan on that.

Well, one day into the project I'm learning how to use a friends router, how to make more wood dust than a continent of wood beetles. It pays to have good tools. I'm using a box of ceramic floor tiles to weigh down parts for gluing but despite the situation progress continues. I think it has a chance of working, and - it's going to be much better 2nd time around (if this pair works I have to make several more for the HT system)

[planet10]

What are those holes on the inside, side walls?

dave

[Bigun]

Originally posted by planet10
What are those holes on the inside, side walls?

dave

well, I got to play with this router and I just got carried away and made some holes. I started with some strange ideas of increasing Vb because the Fonken is quite inefficient user of space for small boxes but I don't think this saves much. Then I had an idea about a surface with odd holes in it being less likely to set up standing waves inside the box. In the end it just became a bout of madness - sometimes a man just has to make his mark.

I pulled out the wires from the back of my regular speaker and held them on the bare terminals of my new FE127 driver. I was quite surprised how much I liked the sound so at this point it would seem that any box will be good !

[planet10]

Originally posted by Bigun
increasing Vb... a surface with odd holes in it being less likely to set up standing waves inside the box.

You do get both of those, but at the expense of the rigidity of the side walls.

dave

[Bigun]

yeah I don't think it's worthwhile making them holes. I think the rigidity is still good mind, give the small size of the box (Vb=6 litres) but for the front speakers I can afford taller boxes and the rigidity will be more important then.

now if I could just find some wool/felt/foam stuff around here somewhere in order to line the boxes....

[Bigun]

Well I lucked out, it turns out that there's a place in my own backyard that caters to DIY speaker guys: http://www.loudspeakers.ca/

I was able to get the terminal cups and some batting. This batting is so light I'm not sure how it has any influence or produces any damping at all. It's white medium density spun poly-ester, man-made, holds its shape very nicely, is about an inch thick but seems to me to be more air than anything else.

[planet10]

Originally posted by Bigun
Well I lucked out, it turns out that there's a place in my own backyard that caters to DIY speaker guys: http://www.loudspeakers.ca/

I was able to get the terminal cups and some batting. This batting is so light I'm not sure how it has any influence or produces any damping at all. It's white medium density spun poly-ester, man-made, holds its shape very nicely, is about an inch thick but seems to me to be more air than anything else.

Q-components/McBride... that is the only place in NA i could find the cups i wanted (did you get the best ones? They are also the cheapest)

The polyfluff batting isn't the best. 1" thick should do thou instead of the 1/2" wool/cotton felt.

dave

[Bigun]

Hi,

I'm not that knowledgeable about the cups. I bought a small round one as this seems best size-wise and I wanted something that was both gold plated and that accepts both banana-plugs and can also screw down on bare wire.

I took the plunge tonight and set up my hand-held circular saw for the 45 degree corner cut. I had quite some trouble. I had to duct tape the blade guard out of the way - not something you could ever recommend (and there's a little groove in my work bench to remind me). I had to nail a strip of wood on the front of the box to guide the foot plate or it simply wandered off the corner. The saw didn't half groan through this job!

Still, it's done and the boxes survived ! I wasn't patient enough to put the lids on until I'd satisfied myself that the batten would do, so I'll hand finish the chamfer on those before I glue them in and then do a final sand to ensure the chamfer lines up nicely.

I do like this Onken design, it's been a lot of fun to build so far, more than I had expected. Unless they sound like cats fighting in an alley I'll most likely be happy with 'em.