First full ranger

[xrk971]

One of the key selling points was "Dollar Store"! There's one a few blocks away, so I got some sheets from them and traced out the plan. The fact that I can do this with a box cutter on my kitchen table was the second selling point. I would like to try a Pensil or Frugel Horn at some point with plywood but that would take more effort and involvement from my brother in law for his truck/tools.

One thing I'm not sold on is the looks of the Karlsonator. Both the foam core board and the front "shroud" are not exactly eye-catchers. Have you had any success dressing these up? I was thinking a grille could mask the front shroud.

Grill cloth works if you want a conventional look. I made a foam core homage to the FH3. It sounds quite nice and is about the same size as the FH Lite.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/227460-fh3-inspired-foam-core-mini-build.html

 

[blizznasty]

Did you use Elmer's glue to construct it? I noticed there are screws in the front. Are those necessary? For such a lightweight material, that seems like overkill.

 

[xrk971]

I used hot melt glue - the preferred glue choice for the initial tacking operation of gluing everything to one side following a tracing. The hot melt sets in 40 seconds so you can "finger clamp" the pieces in place. The final "capping" operation of gluing the other side panel to close off the box, I use white PVA or Elmer's glue. I actually add a bead of PVA to all the contact surfaces but leave a few strategic spots bare where I add a few drops of hot melt so that it tacks and serves as the "Clamp" while the PVA dries. Still put some books to weight it down while it dries. The middle panels don't have to be cut - just score them with a pen to bend the folds and angles.

More info on techniques on Foam Core thread.

I would suggest you post anymore questions in 0.53x Karlsonator thread so others can help.