routering faceplates

[chainenoble]

anybody know if the plactic face plates on tweeters can be routered.will the plastic chip or crack?any tips?

[stokessd]

I haven't done it, but I've seen the results of Danny Richie's kit where the tweeter is routered a bit to nestle against the woofer. Seemed to work perfectly. I asked him how he did it when we were talking about his kit with the ribbon tweeter. He said that he screws the faceplate down (with tweeter itself removed) and routs it when he cuts the woofer hole. I'm not sure how you'd do it on a dome tweeter that sticks out past the faceplate and isn't removable from said faceplate. I guess, I'd screw down a piece of masonite with a cutout for the dome and router through the masonite a well so the router shoe doesn't modify the tweeter dome. Also the dome would be covered with a cloth taped into place.


Sheldon

[sqlkev]

screw down the faceplate, cover the dome, and make sure not to leave any chunks in front of your router's base when you make the pass. A decent router with a good bit should eat through the plastic real easy.

[Cal Weldon]

I think I would only attempt this if the faceplate is removeable.

[Paul W]

Troels similar work with a router & waveguide shown here...

Waveguide router

[chainenoble]

thanks paul,that was the link i lost

[ocool_15]

So how come this isn't done more often? By having the speakers closer together it will help in using a lower crossover point. In a MTM like a d'appolito it seems to make the most sense.

It would make it harder to reuse in another project though. There must be some reason I'm not seeing that makes it prohibitive to do.
Dayton silk dome

Home Theatre speaker I am looking at doing

[kyrie48]

It's fairly easy when using tools you're comfortable with. I reshaped the bottom of a pair, to conform with 5.25" pincushion midwoofers. I marked the shape from the woofers, and removed the material with a Black & Decker "Wizzard"; using a very small sanding drum. Finished the smoothing/edge rounding by hand with finishing paper. Turned out great... and was much easier than I had "feared"!

TTYL

[gbyleveldt]

There must be some reason I'm not seeing that makes it prohibitive to do

On my Jamo 7.6's the tweeter is routered at the top and bottom in that MTM config. Removing the mid drivers you can see it was done by a router, it wasn't done when the tweet was made. If this is practiced successfully on a commercial basis, I think you should be ok...

[Shaun]

I've done it as follows:

1) Route out tweeter recess and hole.
2) Remove tweeter face plate and install in baffle.
3) Route woofer recess. Done.

I think it's important to consider how much "meat" you are chowing off. There are limits to how well this method works (which limits I'm glad I did not discover).