Frugel-Horn Mk3 Builds & Build Questions

[Ed LaFontaine]

Moto,

I appreciate the comments. I think the quality of the veneered plywood from Lowe's (the big box store) is suspect. Some cross cuts were fine, other edges just seemed to fall apart. It was as if there was not enough adhesive or the veneer had been stressed by wind shakes or processing during manufacture. It was a $45 lesson...I hope there is benefit in sharing it for others.
I took my time with the cuts using a 12" blade w/stiffener washers. The Powermatic table saw is used often for glue line rips. The crosscuts were made on a sliding jig made just for the purpose.
On behalf of baltic (or russian) birch, the top layer is thicker, giving more to work with in easing the edge when sanding.

[Andrewbee]

10" Freud Diablo from HD that was $60.

Same blade I use, I liked it so much for the $ that I bought another.

I find plywood to be hit and miss if you don't spring for BB, Marine, or some other expensive ply.
I have bought some really nice looking veneered ply which was really poor quality, lots of voids and the same separation issues. Sometimes I think they do not use enough glue / pressure.

I bought some AC ply last time, its a lot cheaper, made for roof sheathing, one good side, one not so good (knots) but if you look you can find it with two good sides. It is certainly a lot denser than the pretty veneered crappy ply and has a lot less voids so far, often I don't see any at all.

I decided to try the AC after cutting up the plywood base of a pallet which was AC ply and had no voids.

It is not what would first come to mind as speaker material but from my experience its not bad at all.

[motosapien]

Originally Posted by Ed LaFontaine

Moto,

I appreciate the comments. I think the quality of the veneered plywood from Lowe's (the big box store) is suspect. Some cross cuts were fine, other edges just seemed to fall apart. It was as if there was not enough adhesive or the veneer had been stressed by wind shakes or processing during manufacture. It was a $45 lesson...I hope there is benefit in sharing it for others.
I took my time with the cuts using a 12" blade w/stiffener washers. The Powermatic table saw is used often for glue line rips. The crosscuts were made on a sliding jig made just for the purpose.
On behalf of baltic (or russian) birch, the top layer is thicker, giving more to work with in easing the edge when sanding.

Sounds as though you have the equipment sorted then. My local lumber yard ordered my BB ply and it was nice stuff.

[creosoteshadow]

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks like a convenient way to reduce plywood splintering. Avoid chipout when cutting plywood — Woodsmith Tips

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by creosoteshadow

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks like a convenient way to reduce plywood splintering. Avoid chipout when cutting plywood — Woodsmith Tips

this definitely works like a charm - just takes twice as many passes - tradesman grade table saws like the Delta RT31 have a separate counter rotating pre-scoring blade for this purpose

[kristleifur]

Thanks for the thread everyone, it's an inspiration. Can't wait to get started!!!

Regarding the ~5-degree angle cuts – Dad suggested I gain access to a tiltable table saw. I was thinking, if I can't – Use a router? Is it possible to cut the pieces a little long, simple 90° cuts, and then jury-rig a "tilt table" for a router and rip off the angle w/ a guided bit? I can picture it - use some kind of thin-ish scrap board as the router base, then glue a stick of the right height to the bottom of the temp. base, at the right distance to the cut, so creating a 5-degree offset to the actual workpiece. Any objections?

It could even be feasible to create more precise cuts this way - going for 4.8 degree angles on a lark.

[planet10]

Coniston^2 Build

dave

[kristleifur]

Got it

[chrisb]

your dad's right - by all means get access to the table saw - even the cheapest ones will have a tilting arbor, and you could probably cut the parts for most speaker projects in the time it takes to fabricate and calibrate a router jig (which needs accurate cuts itself - "there's a hole in the bucket dear liza - a hole" )

[kristleifur]

Originally Posted by planet10

It may be. Just be aware that the abrupt edge will bring new issues to the table.

Going back to this ... if you don't mind ... What about rounding over the edge? (Perhaps making two baffle pieces glued together back-to-back to create a rounded edge on both sides.)

Edit: Picture from Sketchup: Link to full size