The "Elsinore Project" Thread

[jdkJake]

Another day, another day with the router, bowclamps and glue.

Made the same grooves as with the back panel (I mis-stated previously as dados are perpendicular to the grain vice grooves which are parallel to the grain). The first cabinet went together smooth as silk! One could not ask for better. Which, meant the second one would, of course, provide much heart-ache (Note, the "slightly bowed" comment above referred to one of the center braces). In any case, after much thought and the application of many clamps and home-made cauls to straighten the center brace, a second cabinet finally emerged.

In any case. still making progress. I even went Titebond III to get a few extra minutes of working time. Probably unnecessary in the end as the grooves make it so much easier. I left a few millimeters on each side that I will remove with a flush-trim bit. Did I mention how much I LOVE my router!

Finally starting to look like something plausible....

[jdkJake]

Still had a bit more time before returning back to work and the obligations of the real world. Constructed and installed the tweeter stiffening panels.

Also took a flush trim bit to trim the excess I left when I formed the assembly grooves. Boy, did that work well. Really turned out far better than I could have hoped for; a clean assembly and a clean finish.

[jdkJake]

Now that the cabinets are together, time to check up on how close I got with the overall cabinet measurements.

This is my first cabinet build, so, lot's and lot's of learning and rookie mistakes, even when measuring twice (or what seemed like six hundred times for that matter ).

Width is fine, even better than expected. As for length, well, I am shy by about 5mm overall on length. Ouch. I knew I might have took a bit too much on the final straightening runs. Oh well, it is what it is and not too shabby considering 14 boards were length-sized identically. At least they are all straight, parallel and perpendicular on all angles.

Time to move on to constructing the outer box (famous last words, right?). I suspect this will go far quicker as the router can seemingly resolve a multitude of sins. Both real and imagined.

Did I ever mention how much I love my router?

[tpate]

jdkJake, Looks like the build is going nicely. I don't understand your comment about building the outer box. If you add width and height to the cabinet it will change the sound of the finished product. Different diffraction because of different distances to edges. Or are you going to veneer over the end grains?

[jdkJake]

Originally Posted by tpate

jdkJake, Looks like the build is going nicely. I don't understand your comment about building the outer box. If you add width and height to the cabinet it will change the sound of the finished product. Different diffraction because of different distances to edges. Or are you going to veneer over the end grains?

So, in actuality, I am not changing the overall dimensions of the cabinet, just in how those dimensions are applied.

Since I am using 12mm ply, I need to double up on the layers to reach the desired thickness and overall cabinet dimensions. For the internal brace, back braces and sub-front panel, I have already done this and installed doubled up pieces. If you notice, I have not done that with any of the current outer walls of the cabinet, they remain at 12mm and still need to be doubled up in order to reach the final desired dimensions.

This is where I attempt to get clever . I figured since I need to double up on the 12mm ply, I may as well do it in layers such that the second layer can overlap the seams of the inner layer. My rationale is that this would greatly aid in making the cabinet air tight as well as increasing overall strength. The real beauty is that the outer layers can be applied using roughed-in dimensions, glued and trimmed to exact fit with my beloved router. Yes, I apparently need professional help for what is starting to become an unhealthy fascination with my router.

Anyway, that is the plan. I am committed at this point, so, we shall see how it goes. In theory, the final product will reflect Joe's design as intended (save for being short by ~5mm, Grrrr!).

[tpate]

Got it. Very ambitious. The front board is going to be 3/4 inch thick to match the wave guide thickness and set the offset for the tweeter?

[Joel Wesseling]

Originally Posted by jdkJake

So, in actuality, I am not changing the overall dimensions of the cabinet, just in how those dimensions are applied.

Since I am using 12mm ply, I need to double up on the layers to reach the desired thickness and overall cabinet dimensions. For the internal brace, back braces and sub-front panel, I have already done this and installed doubled up pieces. If you notice, I have not done that with any of the current outer walls of the cabinet, they remain at 12mm and still need to be doubled up in order to reach the final desired dimensions.

This is where I attempt to get clever . I figured since I need to double up on the 12mm ply, I may as well do it in layers such that the second layer can overlap the seams of the inner layer. My rationale is that this would greatly aid in making the cabinet air tight as well as increasing overall strength. The real beauty is that the outer layers can be applied using roughed-in dimensions, glued and trimmed to exact fit with my beloved router. Yes, I apparently need professional help for what is starting to become an unhealthy fascination with my router.

Anyway, that is the plan. I am committed at this point, so, we shall see how it goes. In theory, the final product will reflect Joe's design as intended (save for being short by ~5mm, Grrrr!).

Did you say you are going to install side panels after you get the final 24mm or miter the last panels togther to hide end grain?

[jdkJake]

Originally Posted by tpate

Got it. Very ambitious. The front board is going to be 3/4 inch thick to match the wave guide thickness and set the offset for the tweeter?

Yup. I am going to cheat a bit there and use a piece of 1/4 inch MDF glued to a 12mm piece of ply to get the final thickness. The MDF piece will be between the sub-front panel and the actual front panel.

[jdkJake]

Originally Posted by Joel Wesseling

Did you say you are going to install side panels after you get the final 24mm or miter the last panels togther to hide end grain?

No, the side panels will bring the final thickness to 24mm. They will be edge-banded. I will miter the top/front transition (to hide the end grain) and extend the front panel to cover the bottom cap completely.

A picture (below) is hopefully worth a thousand words.

[Joel Wesseling]

Originally Posted by jdkJake

No, the side panels will bring the final thickness to 24mm. They will be edge-banded. I will miter the top/front transition (to hide the end grain) and extend the front panel to cover the bottom cap completely.

A picture (below) is hopefully worth a thousand words.

Now I remember. I guess you could get creative with the edge-banding

It's weird but a router is a cool tool