Routing for non-round speakers

[soundengine355]

Hi All,

I'm using the FOUNTEK JP3.0 Tweeter and Peerless 832873 Woofer, just wondering how you would recommend routing for these two speakers?

Specifically the Peerless as its an odd shape

http://www.bmm-electronics.com/img/D...s-134nomex.gif


http://www.gmsound.dk/JP3.0R-Front.jpg

[Geek]

Well, the woofer is easy - you clamp 1x2's as guides where the flat parts are and use a rebate bit like any other hole.

As for the tweeter, can't you just drill and rebate normally?

Cheers!

[theAnonymous1]

I remember seeing a guide around here some years ago about how to route cutouts for any shape driver.

Sorry, I'm not even going to attempt to search for it.

[Pano]

It was in the "Everything Else" catagory, IIRC.

Not too long ago....

[ultrachrome]

I did this with my fountek a while ago but had to struggle to remember but I think it goes like this...

Lay the driver face down on a piece of wood and screw it down if possible. Trace the outline with the edge of your router and 1/4" cutting bit. Make sure you keep the router tight against the driver so the resulting cutout is to scale. This is the most critical step.

You'll end up with a blown up version of your hole. This is template 1.

Take template 1 and lay it over a second piece of wood and run the edge of the router around the inside of the cutout. Now you have a hole that is closer to the size of your driver but oversized by the width of your router bit. This is template 2.

Assuming you used a 1/4" bit, the resulting cutout will be 1/2" wider in each dimension. You'll need a 3/4" O.D. collar that screws into the base of your router and surrounds your bit.

Now use template 2 and run the collar around the inside of the hole with the cutting bit set at the desired depth.

I would cut the hole in the baffle before using the template to cut the rebate. For cutting round driver holes, I like the Jasper jig.

[roger_lew]

For truncated frame drivers I
1. Lay driver face down
2. Trace with sharp utility knife
3. Free hand with router
4. Clean up edges with utility knife and chisel

With a bit of patience they come out pretty well.


For small round drivers I use an adjustable circle cutter (like this ) on a cordless drill at slow speed and then proceed from step 3.

You just have to do some test fits on scrap wood to adjust the size before you commit to your final box. You can get some pretty tight fits, and I think it is easier than using a circle cutting jig.

On a side note hex wrenches serve as pretty good depth gauges for setting the router bit

[soundengine355]

I've noticed the designer of the speakers I'm building has not countersunk the woofer (But has for the tweeter), but instead rounded out the edges.

Wonder why that is? lazyness??

[DcibeL]

Originally posted by soundengine355
I've noticed the designer of the speakers I'm building has not countersunk the woofer (But has for the tweeter), but instead rounded out the edges.

Wonder why that is? lazyness??

Mostly laziness, yes.

There is not much benefit to be had from flush mounting a woofer, so if you don't have to do it, why bother unless the sole benefit is looks. However, even when looks are considered, depending on the frame of the woofer some may actually look better when they are not countersunk into the baffle.

In fact, without countersinking the woofer the acoustic centers of the drivers are closer together (for a standard two way as shown above), and may work to the designer's advantage.

[mcmahon48]

It could to try to align the voice coils for time phasing alignment is another possiblitity just a guess

[dlneubec]

Originally posted by ultrachrome
I did this with my fountek a while ago but had to struggle to remember but I think it goes like this...

Lay the driver face down on a piece of wood and screw it down if possible. Trace the outline with the edge of your router and 1/4" cutting bit. Make sure you keep the router tight against the driver so the resulting cutout is to scale. This is the most critical step.

You'll end up with a blown up version of your hole. This is template 1.

Take template 1 and lay it over a second piece of wood and run the edge of the router around the inside of the cutout. Now you have a hole that is closer to the size of your driver but oversized by the width of your router bit. This is template 2.

Assuming you used a 1/4" bit, the resulting cutout will be 1/2" wider in each dimension. You'll need a 3/4" O.D. collar that screws into the base of your router and surrounds your bit.

Now use template 2 and run the collar around the inside of the hole with the cutting bit set at the desired depth.

I would cut the hole in the baffle before using the template to cut the rebate. For cutting round driver holes, I like the Jasper jig.

This is the method I use. Here is a description with pictures to make it more clear.

http://www.exquisiteaudio.com/baffle.html