How long does it take you to build a set of speakers?

[AJ Bertelson]

I am doing the Proac 2.5 speakers.

The tools that I have now are

-Circular saw
-Router
-Drill
-Straight edge to keep the saw inline.

I started cutting out all the the MDF material last night(Board size is 91"X47"). I got about 50% of the pieces cut out last night and it was a pain in the but trying to keep everything equal(Totall work time was about 2.5 hours). Today I got to work and again and got most of the stuff cut out, still need to router out the holes. But today I spent about 1/2 of my time cutting material, 1/2 sanding it and trying to get it to line up then glueing only one cabinet together partially(Did the back, the top and bottom and the sides).

I figured it would have went together a bit quicker but is this the usual pace?

I would like to use a table saw but the pieces are so large.

[David Gatti]

I'm similarly equipped, and my project is expected to take about 6 months to complete! It is a 4-way, though.
www.geocities.com/gattiweb/delta

[Hybrid fourdoor]

Usually several months. Just a little here and there as I have time. Its a hobby, not my job I guess.

Plus I have learned that as far as I go, the faster I do it the more likely I am to screw up due to impatientence. Plus it makes me feel like I'm getting my moneys worth if it takes me a while.

[BrianGT]

I spend 8 - full saturdays in a row at my friend's house building my first pair of speakers, then another 2 weeks staining and applying polyurethane at my apartment in my spare time. This was my first time, and I was working with 2 other guys, sharing tools. I didn't have very good tools to use at the time.
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/thor
I was also in school at the time, so the entire speakers were done within a school semester, since the speakers were built to get special topics EE credit.

I am working on a new pair now, and I spent one full day to cut all the wood out for 3 pairs of these speakers (from 6 full sheets of mdf), and three days to mark them up and cut the holes for the biscuits, along with cutting out the window braces and routing the holes. These four days have been spread out over a couple of months. After I cut the wood, it sat in the corner of my room for 5+ weeks while I was mailing out gainclone kits constantly The three days were split up into 2 weekends.
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/focal-raven-tl
I am still living in an apartment, and work at friend's houses, so I imagine that when I have my own house and garage, the time will be much less.

I built my Jordan JX92s speakers in 1 week, with a beautiful raw mdf finish They stayed this way for 1 year, then I sold them to a friend:
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/jx92s

I spent 2 months of spare time building my Peerless TL speakers:
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/peerlesstl

Having the right tools makes the job much easier. I bought a good Delta contractors table saw, dewalt plate joiner (biscuit cutter), router with jasper jig and roundover bits after I built my first pair of speakers. For the first pair of speakers, I use my friend's father's old tools. Also, having a lot of clamps on hand helps a lot, as you can see from my Peerless speaker pictures.

--
Brian

[zx3chris]

i make tons of enclosures for cars (fiberglass or just carpeted mdf boxes) and i can usually get an entire box done in about 3 - 4 hours. Fiberglass stuff takes 50-100 hours usually (the latter if painting).

-chris

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Assuming no bracing, I can cut mdf for 2 enclosures and glue them up using butt joints and heavy staples (no clamping required) in about 45 min. I let dry overnight.

Another 10 min to cut 4 speaker holes and 2 terminal cup holes using either a jig saw or router. About 5 min. to sand so all seams are flush. Another few minutes if holes for a standard size port are cut.

Tools used:

Table saw with large homemade extensions and outfeed.
Radial Arm saw perfectly adjusted for 90 degreesrc.
Router and Jasper circle cutting jig, or jig saw.
Air stapler.

Using screws for assembly is pretty much something I wouldn't bother doing under normal circumstances.

[tktran]

If I am doing 90 degree butt joints (eg. ProAc Response 2.5 clones) I prefer to have the MDF supplier do the cutting. Very fast (while you wait), and cheap. Precision is very good and at least as I could do at home with a good table saw (+/- 0.5mm IME- even better if I'm cheeky and ask for a very precise cut eg. "This side needs to be 203.5mm please")

Another reason I try to minimise cutting is to avoid all that MDF dust in the workshop. (+ clean ups)

This saves a lot of trouble, especially when you are building several pairs of cabinets at once.

Besides they'll be plenty do do with bracing, glueing, damping, routing, veneering/painting...

[Hybrid fourdoor]

Originally posted by BrianGT

I am still living in an apartment, and work at friend's houses, so I imagine that when I have my own house and garage, the time will be much less.

Yes but now you have to work around the newest addition...the Wife!

My wife: Where you going?
Me: I'm gonna go work on my project.
My wife: Why don't you want to spend time with me?

[johninCR]

Originally posted by Hybrid fourdoor


My wife: Why don't you want to spend time with me?

Hybrid,
You've got to break her in correctly. Just respond with "Honey, of course I want to spend time with you, why don't you come help me?" It's a no lose scenario for you unless you're really doing it for some time alone and she ends up liking it and wants to be a permanent helper (highly unlikely).

[rabbitz]

Design 2 weeks....... build 1 week........ tweak up to 6 months.

Best bit of equipment is a good saw table and best tip is to cut all the same dimension panels at the same time on the one setting........ important to leave a sanding allowance on the front and back panels.