| stevodude |
Hi guys/gals!.... there are just SO MUCH systems to aspire to!!!...
Been a lurker for a while, and have read pretty much every thread here, taken me about 6 months :-)
I want to build some harveys or larger frugal spawns, but I'll start with something simple first.
So I think I'll be whippin these up for my first speaker project, as they are basic rectangles and small. :-)
Based on Planet10 fe127 hifi fonken tuned floorstander MarkII, only it was done with 15mm material, but I could only source 12mm, but kepping the internal dimesions the same.
picked up some 12mm marine ply as best I could 3 out of 25 sheets with no knots front/back.
I have done a quick sketchup of the design, these are designed for full range single driver fostex fe127, and thats what I'm going to fit in them, but I also thought I might leave a curved top on it to add a tweeter at some stage if the highs did not get there with the fe127e's.
2 x fe127's on order, but I had some 100mm paper drivers with whizzer's sitting round I thought I'd throw them in till the fe's turn up.
sketchup of speakers:
Back:
front:
Exploded:
Gluing the holey brace in place:
Another angle:
finish will probably be nude wood, with some sanding priner? and a light stain with a couple of clear coats.
My edges are VERY rough as I used a circular saw to cut them out and a few peaks and troughs around the edges :-) I think my next version I'll take the cut list to my wood supplier and get them to cut them out more exact than what I've done so far. I could have used a straight edge clamped to the wood thinking about it in hindsight, but I just cut em out. might do that next time, but anyway, will have these glued together and ready for testing by the weekend. |
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| Foxx510 |
| I'm building my first fullrangers at the moment, and experiencing the same problems with getting neat cuts. I found this today, the sawboard which looks like a great idea, and will use on my next project. Your project looks great, don't you just hate having to wait to hear how they sound though ! :D |
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| zacster |
That does look like a good tool. I am going to build at least one pair of Metronomes in the fall and one thing I'm concerned about is getting the angle cuts to all be the same, so maybe the sawboard with an angled cleat at one end will give me consistent cuts.
Use a router with a pattern following bit and straight edge to take out the peaks and valleys, or at least the peaks. Or for square sided boxes, glue it up with the peaks protruding over the side and use the side as the straight edge, with a flush cut bit. |
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| Scottmoose |
| quote: | [i]
finish will probably be nude wood, with some sanding priner? and a light stain with a couple of clear coats. [/B] |
Nice work! You'll be shocked at the quality of sound you'll get from the Fonkens. Re the finish, this might be of interest to you: one of the late, great Terry Cain's favoured methods of finsihing birch (& marine) ply:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/show...866#post1247866 |
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| Brisso57 |
| quote: | Originally posted by zacster
Use a router with a pattern following bit and straight edge to take out the peaks and valleys, or at least the peaks. Or for square sided boxes, glue it up with the peaks protruding over the side and use the side as the straight edge, with a flush cut bit. |
Don't worry about getting perfect cuts with a saw. As has been said, use a straight cut or a pattern-following router bit.
Doug |
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| stevodude |
how brilliant is that!... a saw board...
just did a google and found a couple of sites but this was a good explination:http://members.aol.com/woodmiser1/sawbd.htm
gonna build one tonight and test it out on speaker2 :-)
that finishing technic looks tops! going to try that too.
spellings a bit off, posting on my pda :-) |
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| stevodude |
top bottom and middle points glued in, next is the center board for the port.
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| planet10 |
You don't realize how small these are until you stand next to them... 12mm material is fine... Chris & i sort of decided to standardize on 15mm for most everything so we could justify buying a lift at a time (and then they ran out of 15 for a bit) So we are now working thru a lift of 12.
Here is a picture of the original build of these for inspiration, now residing in NY, NY
dave |
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| Scottmoose |
| Now for speakers, especially floorstanders, those are cute. :) |
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| chrisb |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scottmoose
Now for speakers, especially floorstanders, those are cute. :) |
and compared to the "classic" Fonken, almost any member of this or the MLVoigt family are an easy build.
what this set of pictures doesn't fully reveal is the nice wrap-around grain matching the small enclosure size allowed |
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| Scottmoose |
| I thought I could see some matching going on there, but I wasn't sure. I guess these are one of your builds Chris? Lovely job, as always. |
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| chrisb |
Thanks, Scott
time for Dave to post some of his builds? :angel: |
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| Scottmoose |
:D
Better than I can manage though. Oh for a decent shop. |
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| stevodude |
update:
almost finished one box, just got to find some 1/2" cotton/felt carpet underlay or something.
I have plenty of polyester 'wadding' , I used to make my bass traps, it's around 10mm thick, and fairly light/hollow, ie you can blow through it.
ie like this stuff:
Will that do for stuffing, ie glue it down to the insides? or am I better off getting something more dense like carpet underlay to glue to the sides, plus some polyester wadding jammed in the free air sections...
Also what do people do if they want to remove the back and do some tweaking?, ie If I glue the lot together & find it's too muffled, I will need to remove the back or front to remove wadding, etc...
just clamped the front/back on to see how it's going to look before I stuff it & lose it up.
Bit fuzzy, but internals:
Back:
Front:
I guess if I don't glue the front on, but clamp it together with a few clamps and test it out, then I can adjust the fill till I think it's right, then seal it up when I'm done... |
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| chrisb |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
update:
almost finished one box, just got to find some 1/2" cotton/felt carpet underlay or something.
I have plenty of polyester 'wadding' , I used to make my bass traps, it's around 10mm thick, and fairly light/hollow, ie you can blow through it.
ie like this stuff:
Will that do for stuffing, ie glue it down to the insides? or am I better off getting something more dense like carpet underlay to glue to the sides, plus some polyester wadding jammed in the free air sections...
Also what do people do if they want to remove the back and do some tweaking?, ie If I glue the lot together & find it's too muffled, I will need to remove the back or front to remove wadding, etc...
just clamped the front/back on to see how it's going to look before I stuff it & lose it up.
Bit fuzzy, but internals:
Back:
Front:
I guess if I don't glue the front on, but clamp it together with a few clamps and test it out, then I can adjust the fill till I think it's right, then seal it up when I'm done... |
Steve, the problem with "tuning" a plywood box this small with the clamps still on, is that they'll very likely change the tuning of the box, possibly substantially.
You might be better off using packing tape - really! I think of it as adjustable, self-adhesive, disposable band clamps |
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| Brisso57 |
Steve what you need to do is make two front baffles out of sturdy but CHEAP material and screw them on, rather than gluing. Once you're through with the tweaking, just make two good fronts and glue them into place.
Do this to the fronts rather than the backs, so that if needed, you can alter the driver position.
cheers
Doug |
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| stevodude |
OK thanks for that, I think I'll try some duct-tape band clamps :-)
also should I put a 'notch filter' ito go with these box's?... |
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| chrisb |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
OK thanks for that, I think I'll try some duct-tape band clamps :-)
also should I put a 'notch filter' ito go with these box's?... |
FWIW, I'm not a big fan of notch filters at all, but YMMV - at the very least, I'd suggest listening to them both seriously and casually (background) for at least several days before deciding. If anything, in consideration of the high Baffle Step loss frequency such a narrow enclosure is likely to enjoy, you might want to consider a BSC fliter. No doubt other builders can point you to formulas or on-line calculators to assist, should the need become apparent.
Since I recall from your first post that the FE127's are "on order", ensure that they are well broken in (i.e. several hundred hours of not to gentle playing) before critically assessing the tonal balance, articulation and dynamics.
Out of the box, they can be less than you expected, and premature and excessive "correction" can ultimately take them to a dark and bad place. |
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| stevodude |
yea, that is correct from what I've heard, best to let em 'run in' for a bit, no problems here :-)
Drivers should turn up sometime this week, hopefully tomorrow... freight in this part of the country is somewhat dodgy. I can order stuff from Hong Kong that can turn up within 3 days, yet something from Brisbane ( a smidgen under 1000km) can take 2 weeks...
I basically will be doing a simple wool/felt dense underlay on the backing/walls and basic polyester fill, leaving the port area free, box up and test for a while, and while thats 'curing' start on my dual frugal horns :-) and probably some style of power tube woofers ie those 8 foot kind :-), but we won't go there yet, getting ahead of myself :-)
My parents are turning up later this week from NZ and haven't seen them for a couple of years, so I'm sure to have a yarn with 'the old man' in the shed about speakers/audio etc... bound to be some alcohol involved somewhere in the process... probably as soon as they get here :-) hopefully get them semi finished for some sound'n'beer testing :-) hehehe
And after some extensive run-in I might do the mods if needed.
I'm exited!... damn freight taking so long :smash: :smash: :smash: |
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| stevodude |
received my 127's on monday and wacked one in to see how they go...
Not very impressive on initial listen with single driver, but then I haven't packed the enclosure yet, so sounded thin, volume was limited compared to my cheapo desktop speakers, but front panel is not sealed properly yet, guess I should be patient and do the stuffing & seal properly :-) hehehe... |
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| chrisb |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
received my 127's on monday and wacked one in to see how they go...
Not very impressive on initial listen with single driver, but then I haven't packed the enclosure yet, so sounded thin, volume was limited compared to my cheapo desktop speakers, but front panel is not sealed properly yet, guess I should be patient and do the stuffing & seal properly :-) hehehe... |
yup, the box needs to be well sealed except for the port slot of course, and now the fun time of breaking the drivers in starts.
Wire them out of phase in the enclosures, and place them face to face with a heavy blanket or two draped over the entire cabinets. Put something very dynamic with lots of bottom* on the CD player continuous play, and run it for at least a week.
*Helen Reddy the Vegas Years is always fun :devilr: |
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| stevodude |
3 weeks and i've just finished dampening 1 enclosure :-/ slow goin here... probably be another month before I finish the other speaker...
can only end up doin a couple of hrs a week, and I'm a bit slow being my first speaker build. |
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| stevodude |
completed stuffing of one enclosure:
complete with some poly fill:
Tested one speaker with clamps, and actually sounded pretty good, so I will stick with the fill & complete the second one, then glue together & test for a while then do the finish to the wood.
the Poly fill looks denser than it actually is. |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
complete with some poly fill:
the Poly fill looks denser than it actually is |
My 1st reaction was way too much... some data from an unfinished experiment suggests that the polyfill is best if only between a point that is between bottom of the driver & bottom of the holey brace, and the port opening.
dave |
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| stevodude |
well I dropped the stuffing down with just a loose amount between bottom of driver and end of the holey brace. Anymore I can stuff from the terminals or the driver holes.
Glued the front on, and doing initial testing it actually sounds pretty darn nice, specially light rock, like John Mayer & Teh Cranberies starting to sound really sweet.
Gotta finish the other half now :-) well,I won't be for a few weeks as I gotta head OS, damn family stuff getting in the way of my hobbies :-)
Just finished off re-casing my burrbrown opamp Headphone amp for travel. 2x9v built in, a bit larger than most cmoy's, but just great sound with my ec3's, wife & 2 kids screamin on the plane next to me and all I can hear is boom diddey wah! :D :D :hphones: :nod:
Oh also just picked up 50mtrs of 13awg oxygen free low loss speaker cable, chunky man! hehehe, nice and fat coppery goodness...:cool: :cool: :cool: aparently this is the stuff they use for monster cable, but and 1/10th the price hehehe |
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| OzMikeH |
Way off topic...
Those the Shure E3C? nice headphones. I got a set of those, so good I had to re-record all of my music as lossless. I wear them ALL of the time on aircraft now whether I'm listening to music or not.
I found them WAY too sensitive to use on aircraft. The first stop on the seat volume was really noisy from the TDM, the second blew my head off! Make yourself a 6 inch extension lead with about 150 ohms of series resistance per channel
All of the earpads were hard to wear after a couple of hours except the yellow squishy ones which get very manky very fast. Take a few spare sets of the yellow foam plugs. Alanchan1024 on Ebay is the cheapest I have found.
And back on topic:
Is that Hoop pine ply or Birch? If it's hoop pine please detail what you do to finish it and how well it works.
If the FE127 is anything like the 207 they'll sound thin and harsh on an SS amp with huge cable. |
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| stevodude |
yea SS amp, but about 35 years old, and replaced some components, and the sound is on the warmer side for transistors.
Seems the sound from (mono at the moment) is pretty impressive, clear, punchy not what I'd call sharp, but maybe I just haven't listened to any high end gear to reference, but sounds great to me.
dropped some stuffing out of it, so it's a bit looser, but bass is still fairly accurate at the volumes I'm listening to 15x15W SS amp class AA.2 whatever that means...
Anywho, the finish will be 3 or 4 coats of clear polyester, with 350+ sanding, topped off with 3 or 4 coats of '4xcarnauba wax, 1xparaffin, 1xbeeswax' in a glass jar, put jar in pot of water and heat till all dissolvedm then add equal amount of solvent (paint thinners or oddorless mineral spirits -if I can get it), but also maybe try to get some citrus solvent for a nice smell?.
now mixing the solvent in and let settle and if any wax in not dissolved, place back in pot & swirl intill dissolved.
Applying the wax with steel wool or fingers & then buffing out immediately with a cotton cloth.
taken from: wax finish
also the idea from earlier in this thread, but this probably won't be done for a couple of months. also I put this in here so I can remember what I was going to do with the finish :-) |
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| stevodude |
finished one enclosure, but no finish on the wood yet.
Almost completed the second one, just have to stick in the dampening/driver & binding posts... not long now for complete stereo testing :-)
but sound is great, VERY detailed, good solid mid/bass, not pounding but clarity is great. top end in direct ear view is a tad sharp, but this is in a large workshop, so will be good to try out upstairs soon as second enclosure is completed ( probably by the weekend ), 2 lil children makes it hard.
Next up will be some sort of grill covers to keep my (almost 4yr old) fingers away from the drivers... |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
but sound is great, VERY detailed, good solid mid/bass, not pounding but clarity is great. top end in direct ear view is a tad sharp |
The sharpness will reduce as they break in, but it takes some cone mods to really bring them in line.
dave |
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| stevodude |
| yea I'll be running them in till christmas time, then I might do some tweaking to the cones. stay tunes for completed stereo-ness :-) |
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| stevodude |
btw my next enclosures will be the curved chang... looks wicked!...
heres a link to my google sketchup 3d image you can download and change: curved Chang Frugal BVR double horn
3dimage above doesn't have the tweeter I added.
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| stevodude |
Their alive!... MWWWwwaaaahahahahahaaa
well... sort of...
couldn't waituntill the weekend , so I waked in the sound deadening & stuffing in the second enclosure without any gluing, and as you can see clamped. :D
The sound is fantastic! after an hr or so of listening and a few brews :-)
now I'm pulling the second enclosure apart again and will give the same treatment as the first ( no finish on the wood at this stage), and give it a full run in it's proper environment (upstairs tv area) for a few weeks before I get to doing the finish.
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| gychang |
| quote: | Originally posted by planet10
You don't realize how small these are until you stand next to them... 12mm material is fine... Chris & i sort of decided to standardize on 15mm for most everything so we could justify buying a lift at a time (and then they ran out of 15 for a bit) So we are now working thru a lift of 12.
Here is a picture of the original build of these for inspiration, now residing in NY, NY
dave |
Dave, would the same dimensions work for FE107E? (4" shielded version?)
gychang |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by gychang
would the same dimensions work for FE107E? (4" shielded version?)
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Greg,
The box would likely need to be smaller... give me some time and i'll see if i can work something up... i know you have been searching for a home for those :)
dave |
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| Scottmoose |
| Here's one idea. Build the recommended Fostex reflex box, above a Chang style vent 600mm tall, internal. Instead of using the port on the Fostex design, a slot vent at the bottom-rear of the chamber, full internal width, 12mm deep & 60mm tall (including the thickness of the material). Like the rubbish drawing attached, though it should give you an idea of what I'm blithering about. Might need a little damping to kill the spurious resonance you can see on the extreme right of the graph. Doesn't control the driver as well as a horn would, but you'd probably need to go to a full-size horn to get LF excursion down within Xmax. |
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| Scottmoose |
| & the FR plot: |
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| gychang |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scottmoose
Here's one idea. Build the recommended Fostex reflex box, above a Chang style vent 600mm tall, internal. Instead of using the port on the Fostex design, a slot vent at the bottom-rear of the chamber, full internal width, 12mm deep & 60mm tall (including the thickness of the material). Like the rubbish drawing attached, though it should give you an idea of what I'm blithering about. Might need a little damping to kill the spurious resonance you can see on the extreme right of the graph. Doesn't control the driver as well as a horn would, but you'd probably need to go to a full-size horn to get LF excursion down within Xmax. |
Stop Scott, u trying to kill me?, the design seems too good to pass...
gychang |
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| planet10 |
When i get home i'll whip up a drawing... anyone suggest a name. A bit of whimsy please (ie working name for the FE167 Chang is "Chili Chang".)
dave |
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| gychang |
| quote: | Originally posted by planet10
When i get home i'll whip up a drawing... anyone suggest a name. A bit of whimsy please (ie working name for the FE167 Chang is "Chili Chang".)
dave |
Dave, brilliant, CC sounds better than CSC (Can't Stop Chang). My driver on deck is FE107 (4" shielded), wish I had 167 though.
gychang |
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| Scottmoose |
The response is mostly the same as the regular reflex box (which is basically what it is -I don't pretend it's anything else), but the end correction to the vent isn't going to hurt, especially as it should help direct the output at the listener. Plus, it makes a neat stand & an interesting looking little floorstander.
You can go madcap & do a doubled version of course -just shift the driver to the middle of the reflex chamber, reduce the depth of the slot vent to 6mm & add another at the top of the chamber.
Yes, I'm certifiable. Gibber. A curved front version might be interesting? Have the set of 4 -107, 127, 167 & 207? I don't like to bother Ron as he's so busy at the moment though. |
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| Scottmoose |
| Having thought about it, I'm probably not that insane -the frontal area wouldn't really be enough to load the driver well with the doubled version, so curving would likely be tricky. The single vent type should be a neat little box though. :) |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scottmoose
Here's one idea. |
Suzy Chang
on Frugal-horn site. 3D in the warehouse.
dave |
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| Scottmoose |
| :) Looks good rendered like that. |
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| gychang |
| quote: | Originally posted by planet10
Suzy Chang
on Frugal-horn site. 3D in the warehouse.
dave |
Oh my..., Suzy C is the one.
Dave, I know u r overloaded with volunteer work, but if u can dish out some numbers for either FE107E, or el cheapo or TB, would love to cut some plywood. (I have the drivers all wanting a box)
gychang
--
FE107E 4" SHIELDED FULL RANGE
8 ohm impedance
Znom 8 ohm
Re 7.6 ohm
Le@1kHz - mH
fs 80 Hz
Qms 2.56
Qes 0.45
Qts 0.38
Mms 2.6 g
Cms 0.0017 mm/N
Sd 0.005 cm2
BL 4.7 N/A
Vas 5.95 ltrs
Xmax 0.35 mm peak
VC Ø 20 mm
Sensitivity
1W / 1m 90 dB
Nom. Power 15 W
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Pioneer 4.5" el cheapo
# Power capacity: 20W/30W RMS/peak
# Sensitivity: 96dB (1W/1M)
# Impedance: 8ohm
# Re: 7.6ohm
# Le: 0.25mH
# Frequency response: 68Hz ~ 15KHz
# Fs: 68Hz
# Qts: 0.38
# Qes: 0.47
# Qms: 1.40
# VAS (liters): 8.7
# Xmax: 1.0mm
http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp...oduct_id=51-075
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TangBand W3-593SF 3" Driver
Power Handling: 12 watts RMS/25 watts max
*VCdia: 3/4"
*Impedance: 8 ohms
*Re: 6.6 ohms *Frequency range: 110-20,000 Hz
*Fs: 110 Hz *SPL: 86 dB 1W/1m
*Vas: .06 cu. ft.
*Qms: 4.99
*Qes: .67 *Qts: .59
*Xmax: .5 mm
*Dimensions: A: 3-3/16", B: 3-1/16", C: 2-1/4"
-- |
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| gychang |
oh, my... I knew I was in trouble when the experts named the cabinet...
looks simple to build, stylish, not too big (at least until we move to a mansion, although prefer BIG..)
Thanks, Scott and Dave as usual. Don't try to contact me this weekend, I will be occupied in my garage....
gychang;) |
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| peterbrorsson |
You all have to work yourselves through the alphabet to Suzy Q:D Not a CC but a CCR.
BTW, are there speakers with combustion chambers instead of compression chambers:cool: |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by peterbrorsson
Not a CC but a CCR. |
Creedance Clearwater Revival?
dave
PS: this one was named after my 1st serious GF. |
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| peterbrorsson |
| quote: | Originally posted by planet10
Creedance Clearwater Revival?
dave
PS: this one was named after my 1st serious GF. |
Hmm, would be sensitive to name my speakers at home in this way:) |
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| stevodude |
Now they are quite cute little numbers...
Anyway on filling the bottom cavity.
1. Will anything do? plain river sand, kiln dried sand what they call 'sydney sand'? or paving sand?, lead shot? - no idea where to get that, but can probably get paving sand from bunnings...
2. pour straight in a back hole, or in some sort of 'glad bag' clip seal bag or plastic bag...
3. I've glued them together so I will have to drill a hole in the cavity area on the back somewhere... - what should I plug it with, or how big a hole?... |
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| stevodude |
everyone likes photo's, specially me, so here's some typical 'enclosure on the grass' shots...
And finally in it's natural habitat... Funny I didn't even measure the height of the TV stand, but drivers just peak over the top :-) and yea, that's an OLD 80cm TV so the speaker do look small, but General TV listening vol doesn't need to be above the 1, and loud music listening around the 5 mark (being 0 as low and 10 as high).
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| chrisb |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
Now they are quite cute little numbers...
Anyway on filling the bottom cavity.
1. Will anything do? plain river sand, kiln dried sand what they call 'sydney sand'? or paving sand?, lead shot? - no idea where to get that, but can probably get paving sand from bunnings...
2. pour straight in a back hole, or in some sort of 'glad bag' clip seal bag or plastic bag...
3. I've glued them together so I will have to drill a hole in the cavity area on the back somewhere... - what should I plug it with, or how big a hole?... |
according to some of the NRA members of Hornshoppe Forum, copper clad shot (cyro treated, of course) would be the best. :angel:
In all seriousness, though, I'd probably fill only the bottom 1/3 or so of the void, and step the remainder. For my filling media, I've been quite happy with a silicon carbide sand blasting material. I'm sure there are any number of brand names available at industrial building supply or auto paint supply dealers. IIRC, the one I've used is called "SureShot" or some such. The local high-end audio dealer uses it for filling their speaker and equipment stands.
Drill a hole on the bottom of cavity and fill with glued in tapered wood plug, or simply add another layer of plywood /MDF before finishing the cabinet.
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
'enclosure on the grass' shots... |
aka "glam shots"...
dave |
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| planet10 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
Anyway on filling the bottom cavity.
1. Will anything do? plain river sand, |
I go to Home Depot, or Canada (flat) Tire, and buy a bag of either playground sand or potting sand, sun dry it on a tarp in the driveway (only works in the summer) and use that.
dave |
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| Brisso57 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
Anyway on filling the bottom cavity.
1. Will anything do? plain river sand, kiln dried sand what they call 'sydney sand'? or paving sand?, lead shot? - no idea where to get that, but can probably get paving sand from bunnings...
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Sand is sand. It's the extras that matter. You want it clean and DRY.
Wash it thoroughly, as you don't want any organic contents that could decompose and smell.
To dry it - if you're impatient - spread it on a tray and bake it. Otherwise solar power is slower but just as good.
(Just don't let the cat near it!!!)
cheers
Doug |
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| Nanook |
the key is to have it sterile, (play sand is, at least here in good old Can'uckland), regardless of what sand you use. Casting silica sand (high purity) is excellent but pretty expensive, sterile and dry.
Something in the order of $80/20kg, and apparently a known carcinogen :(
Even play sand should be dried, either in an oven or in a dry hot area..if you bake any sand at 500°F for 10 Mins or so, pretty much everything will be dead, and the sand will be sterilized. Boiling water can also be used, but will kill fewer organisms. |
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| stevodude |
| picked up a 6kg bag of 'red weipa' pebbles for $10 from local hardware/gardening store, its a form of bauxite rock thats used as a surface decorative cover in potted plants, the pebbles in the bag range from dust up to a few mm in diameter and quite heavy, I think these will do the trick. |
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| Brisso57 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
picked up a 6kg bag of 'red weipa' pebbles for $10 from local hardware/gardening store, its a form of bauxite rock thats used as a surface decorative cover in potted plants, the pebbles in the bag range from dust up to a few mm in diameter and quite heavy, I think these will do the trick. |
Well, technically, bauxite is Al2O3, while quartz sand is generally silica ... of varying purities.
Foundry sand (casting sand) is high purity silica sand. The purity is of no consequence wrt to speaker applications, and the only concern with regard to silica are particles fine enough to be respirable. So ... unless you manage to envelope yourself in a dust cloud for a considerable period, there is no danger. Relax and enjoy the music. :-)
Doug
(former foundry sand technician) |
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| stevodude |
Well, I didn't get a chance to take enclosures down for a finish yet, but...
thought I'd whip up some speaker grills as Saturday had some kids over, and they were sticking their ears right into the drivers, so sticking their sticky fingers in there is probably no far off...
took me about 1hr total finished.
found some 6mm mdf, cut 2 bits, clamped together and jigsawed out two holes ( for tweeter later on if I feel the need).
Rounded the outside edges with a mouse sander, quick spray paint with a can of glossy black (thats all I had, and it was still a dull matte black color due to MDF sucking the paint into it.)
cut a couple of pieces of stretchy black fabric I had from when I built my projection screen borders), stretched over and used a 10mm paint brush painted PVA glue on the backing and held fabric in place for a few seconds and held itself.
Cut up some Velcro into 1cm squares for holding grills in place.
slapped them on, easy... done.
I think they look a bit funny with the black only up high, but thats the way they are. *shrug*
when I get round to doing the wood finish I will use some grill lugs I have ordered, but I needed a quick fix and seems to have done the trick.
Close-ish shot
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| planet10 |
Those grills are cute...
dave |
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| gychang |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevodude
Well, I didn't get a chance to take enclosures down for a finish yet, but...
thought I'd whip up some speaker grills as Saturday had some kids over, and they were sticking their ears right into the drivers, so sticking their sticky fingers in there is probably no far off...
Close-ish shot
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Stevodude: you managed to make the cabinet very interesting from a bland rectanglular box, very nice.
gychang |
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| stevodude |
gee, I'm a bit of a slow worker here...
damn kids gettin in the way of my hobbies :-)
anyway, I've since pulled the enclosures down, and I am coating them slowly... about 1 coat per week at this rate.
have 3 coats of 50/50 white spirit/varnish, but still not enough, so probably do another 2 coats, and then melt some bees wax down and do 3 or 4 coats with some steel wool, hopefully will come up nice.
Then 1/3 fill base with quarz, and put speaker grill mounts in ( instead of the velcro I was using).
so these have/will probably take me just over 1 year to complete... hahaha...
mind you I've also JUST finished my cubbyhouse for my 2 little girls within the same time period :-), layed about 400 pavers, and drunk plenty of beer...
And I should have some finished photo's of fonkens in a couple of weeks, if anyone's interested.
I know everyone likes wood, so here's my almost completed cubby house :-) made completely from a house that was to be demolished. Only stuff I bought new was the concrete for the posts and the 4 round poles, the rest is old floorboards and 3x2 hardwood/pine.
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| stevodude |
well I'm done, and damn if I do miss that sound!....
The clarity is... incredible.
the average 'mate' would go 'they look ok dude, but how loud'... so these aren't your bragin box's, but man, throw on a bit of Sting live or even the old Phil Colins hahaha, and they are just beautifull sounding.
but on some modern 'rock' with average recording and they sound just like that, average...
put on some live accoustic live John Butler Trio and they sing like an angel :-)
updated pickies with 5 coats of polyurithane and some beeswax combo on some raw dodgy old marine ply hehehe
I did this so I can get an idea of what I need to do for my curvy changs :-) they is gonna be cut at the shop so it'd be more accurate and easier for me to laminate sand and coat with probably a few more ie 8 coats -plus a nice beezwax finish. |
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| stevodude |
I should have spent more time on the initial sanding, but overall they look OK, nice and shiney, good enough for my first effort I think. At east better than un varnished.
Drilled hole in the back bottom space and 1/2 filled with basalt rock (tiny/small/medium chuncks), I thought they would buzz, but causes no noise whatsoever, and gives them a bit more weight as they are quite easy to knock over ( my 1.4yr old has tested that theory). but now with another 2kg in the base, they are much more stable.
awaiting some speaker grill clips to mount, then its back into the lounge upstairs, then onto my swoopy chang's I think, which will be a bit longer than 1 year to build :-), sorry fellas, I can't build at the speed you guys do! but this time I'm going to get the plans cut by a cabinet maker.
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