Ideas on how to make front baffle removable?

[tf1216]

Hi all,

I am trying to make my front baffle removable allowing me to use different drivers in the same enclosure.

The idea I am going with now calls for a long thin piece of MDF to be glued to the side wall allowing some hurricane nuts to be screwed into it.

I will then screw through the front baffle into the hurricane nuts which will be sitting right behind the baffle.

Hurricane nuts:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...umber=081-1082

Anyone have experience doing this or have better ideas on how I can do this?

Thank you!

Tyler

[BWRX]

Your idea would work well as long you use some type of gasket to seal the baffle to the enclosure.

[Lionel]

This kind of nuts are stronger than the "hurricane" ones :
Nuts

[mazurek]

Look at these pictures of the internals of the partsexpress premade cabinets with removeable baffles.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...04&ctab=4#Tabs

Some people say these barbed nuts work better than hurricane nuts (mine had a problem with spinning), alternately just use some epoxy when you put them in

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...umber=081-1092

[vinylkid58]

Hey Tyler,

How about something like the Barb-Sert:

http://www.spaenaur.com/view_pdf.asp?Page=C203

Or even better, try the A-W Insert which I believe requires a special tool for expanding the insert:

http://www.spaenaur.com/view_pdf.asp?Page=C183

Hope this helps,
Jeff

[SamL]

My diy UtopiaOW1 is with front removable baffle. Build that a few years ago so my memory is a bit scratchy.
Have a look at the photo (Not sure if none member can view it.) http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_album.php

I am using T-nuts and it is on the inner side. To make sure it stay in place I added glue to secure it.
Basically the front brace is the baffle stopper and is also where the t-nut will end up. Have a look at the photo and it give you a better idea.
The most tricky part is position for the screw hole and t-nut need to be 100% match for it to work. What I did was drilled the front baffle through hole first. Place the baffle it in position on the enclosure. From the same baffle hole, you can drill the precise hole for the t-nut. If you plan to build multiple baffle for switching driver, I recommend you to keep the 1st baffle as template. From there you can make multiple baffle without the need to re-measure.
A few hard learn experience. 1. Make sure you don’t position the screw too near the edge as you will not have enough space to mount the t-nuts. 2. Remember to account for the space used by the front brace, it is taking up space on the back of your baffle and will blcok your driver. If you thinking of building a narrow baffle, this is not the ideal option. The bigger the t-nut the wider the brace need to be and it will take up more space.
3. Don’t cover the back baffle until you finish all the work and ready to do the painting. Once you cover it, you will not be able to reach/replace the t-nuts or other bits you wanted to add.

BTW, this is my first wood work project since high school and that was 20+ years ago. I am sure others will have a better idea to do this than me.


Have fun
Sam

[Andersonix]

Tyler: Your design could use wing nuts and threaded rod, so you could change the cabinet coloration by tightening the whole cabinet along with the removable front baffle.

[lufbramatt]

I think it was Epos (es11?) who used plastic front and rear panels in thier commercial speakers, held together with threaded studs that ran the whole depth of the speaker, tightened externally. That way, the whole cabinet was put under tension acting like a kind of bracing.

[Zaph]

Here's how I do it. (in pictures)







The nuts are PE Hurricane nuts. I prefer these greatly over the inserts mentioned by Lionel. The inserts require a much bigger hole, and often there is not enough room without breaking through the inside cutout.

The screws are socket head cap screws from McMaster-Carr.

The baffle finish is Rustoleum texture coat, which is generally a hard and more durable finish than truck bed liner.

Not shown in these images: a strip of very low density weatherstripping foam. It compresses down to just about nothing, and provides a good seal without warping the baffle out.

[Jimmy DIY]

Take a look:

http://www.ezlok.com/knife.htm

http://www.ezlok.com/hex.htm

http://www.ezlok.com/fin_w.htm