With this specific Visaton driver, you use a router and make a hole that ignores the protruding struts of the basket. Then you take a file and cut 8 notches for the struts. Now you have enough meat left to use a screw of your choice. Finally trim the hole for free air flow, without weakening the 4 positions where the fasteners are.
You have to measure and adjust to your actual driver. Do not trust the Visaton data sheets, the just buy the chassis somewhere and often don't publish small changes in dimension that happen over the years. With such a small driver, a tollerance of +-1mm may ruin a cabinet.
Another hot tip: With such critical drivers, don't use the router on your final cabinet after adjusting it. Have an extra wood panel (from waste material) to test the actual dimension the router will cut. If this measures perfect, start working on the real cabinet. Thank me later...
You have to measure and adjust to your actual driver. Do not trust the Visaton data sheets, the just buy the chassis somewhere and often don't publish small changes in dimension that happen over the years. With such a small driver, a tollerance of +-1mm may ruin a cabinet.
Another hot tip: With such critical drivers, don't use the router on your final cabinet after adjusting it. Have an extra wood panel (from waste material) to test the actual dimension the router will cut. If this measures perfect, start working on the real cabinet. Thank me later...
For what its worth, I've ordered some small inserts and short bolts. I'll give them a try, thanks all.
You can use press fit threaded inserts from the back of the baffle.
Dont you guys watch YouTube you're supposed to use copious amounts of hot melt glue
If you have decent plywood and a lightweight transducer, there is no reason to use anything other than sheet metal screws. Make sure they 1/4” longer than your baffle thickness. If you use a clutched driver, you can redrive 25 times before having to worry about thread hole damage. Once you reach that point, come back and I will give you the solution for next 25 times. It will take you all of two minutes of your handiwork. You won’t have to drill new holes.
+1 on threaded inserts, where wood hole is first coated with a thin layer of Epoxy all around, using a toothpick.
If properly mounted, you will never have to remove such inserts.
If properly mounted, you will never have to remove such inserts.
Or you can use small wood screws and if the screw ever gets loose, just drill it out the hole a little bit, fill it with epoxy and start the cycle over again
I gave up T-Nuts long time ago. I need to be able to change things. At the end I learned I need to have double baffles with detachable fronts/backs. By detaching the rear I am allow to have a large opening where I can access the driver and use normal bolts and nuts. This works great for me on bass drivers, I see no reason why it shouldn't work on smaller drivers too however it means a different design prinsiple all together.
With any nut in wood.
Other alternative is polyurethane glue.
Not using any glue an you will regret it.
With pro assembly they often use that in combination with stapeling them as well.
I learned my lesson with t nuts from the JBL days, when it was common to have one spin on you from being previously cross threaded and seized. It just rips the teeth out of the t nut and it just spins behind the baffle, forcing you to drill out the screw head and hoping for the best ,(or least worst).
I now only use epoxied nut serts and haven't had one problem, ever. The beauty of these is how accurate you can get with placement, as opposed to t nuts, which have a flange keeping you from getting close to the edge of the driver cutout.
I know woodscrews work well if used properly, but they aren't very slick and sophisticated in terms of having a fine threaded fastener to allow very accurate torque on the driver. You always have wood particles left over with sheetrock or plywood screws. The wood crumbs come out of the backside of the screw hole, which can make its way into the driver VC gap if its exposed. I had 2 Audax drivers that were irreparable due to this, so I decided to only use fine thread screws with inserts.
Coarse threaded screws feel cheap and primitive to me. Sure, they work fine if you put them in and leave them, but they don't provide alot of warm and fuzzy feelings when you reuse them, plus they never hold their torque and generate particles going into the wood, plus you still should pre-drill them if you want a precise screw location without the usual little mountain of wood piling up around the hole after tightening it.
I now only use epoxied nut serts and haven't had one problem, ever. The beauty of these is how accurate you can get with placement, as opposed to t nuts, which have a flange keeping you from getting close to the edge of the driver cutout.
I know woodscrews work well if used properly, but they aren't very slick and sophisticated in terms of having a fine threaded fastener to allow very accurate torque on the driver. You always have wood particles left over with sheetrock or plywood screws. The wood crumbs come out of the backside of the screw hole, which can make its way into the driver VC gap if its exposed. I had 2 Audax drivers that were irreparable due to this, so I decided to only use fine thread screws with inserts.
Coarse threaded screws feel cheap and primitive to me. Sure, they work fine if you put them in and leave them, but they don't provide alot of warm and fuzzy feelings when you reuse them, plus they never hold their torque and generate particles going into the wood, plus you still should pre-drill them if you want a precise screw location without the usual little mountain of wood piling up around the hole after tightening it.
@b_force I used to buy t nuts with some type of glue coating on them, which liquefied and cured when pushed into the wood, sort of like a loctite pre coated screw. Those were great for really large, heavy LF drivers.
MDF is really the worst material to mount a heavy driver in with regular coarse thread screws. It has no structural integrity on the surface and tears right out.
The biggest problem with traditional t nuts is they can pop back out if you use a drill or other power tool to drive in the screws. The pressure you have to put on a Philip screw head with thr weight of the drill has the tendency to push the t nut back out if glue wasn't used to secure them.
MDF is really the worst material to mount a heavy driver in with regular coarse thread screws. It has no structural integrity on the surface and tears right out.
The biggest problem with traditional t nuts is they can pop back out if you use a drill or other power tool to drive in the screws. The pressure you have to put on a Philip screw head with thr weight of the drill has the tendency to push the t nut back out if glue wasn't used to secure them.
You are my freaking hero! Thanks for just making it reliable and heavy duty the first time.
I never found any popping out problems myself.
The main issue is that any type of wood moves, yes even MDF or plywood.
Which is enough to loosen the nut and reeealy ruin your day, or in some cases the entire cabinet or woofer, depending on which one you want to sacrifice to get the freaking thing out.
Sometimes when you're lucky and Murphy is on a tea break, you can grind the bolt off.
I won't use phillips (or posidrive) screws if I can avoid it. There's no reason to when you can get allen or torx head screws that don't need any pressure to be applied at all.
I only use torx or allen for everything, even other DIY things or stuff in/on/around the house.
Especially the cheap philips heads are the worst.
Once you turned them into like just a circle, it's fussing and cursing with a pair or pliers.
Slot screws are worse.
Here in Canada Robertson (square drive) heads are common. We use those except where the maker supplies them (MA has nice hex head screws).
dave
Glad you like my ghetto solution lol.
This principle comes from the constant need of modifications as I am never happy with anything and want to change drivers and combinations and what not constantly.
If I get sick of the horn I can make a new baffle and swap it to a normal midrange or just make it two way.
If I want a new bass hopefully the cutout and the bolts fit, if not I can adjust without having to start all over with a new cab. Also double baffles serves well as a resonator killer.
Maintainability, flexibility, upgradability and modificability are key to me.
Sometimes philips heads are all thats available. They're also usually much cheaper.
The other issue is when you slip just once on torx, allen and square drive, you can kiss the screw goodbye in terms of it slipping from that point on from damaging the head.
T nuts suck. They can easily pop out with any pressure from the top. They also don't always install exactly straight, so its easy to get a cross thread with them. That's when it all goes bad and the back teeth rip out, letting the nut spin in the hole.
In a pinch, the only t nut I'll use is the 6 pronged type. Those aren't too bad, but all t nuts are especially problematic in MDF.
I dont like MDF either, mainly because it dulls all your tools and gets into the motors of routers, drills and saws, baking itself onto the brushes and armatures because its basically just glue and saw dust.
Use whatever you like. I just have my preferences and.wanted to share them. I'm not going to argue about screws and nuts. I've got more important stuff to do with my little time I have left.
The other issue is when you slip just once on torx, allen and square drive, you can kiss the screw goodbye in terms of it slipping from that point on from damaging the head.
T nuts suck. They can easily pop out with any pressure from the top. They also don't always install exactly straight, so its easy to get a cross thread with them. That's when it all goes bad and the back teeth rip out, letting the nut spin in the hole.
In a pinch, the only t nut I'll use is the 6 pronged type. Those aren't too bad, but all t nuts are especially problematic in MDF.
I dont like MDF either, mainly because it dulls all your tools and gets into the motors of routers, drills and saws, baking itself onto the brushes and armatures because its basically just glue and saw dust.
Use whatever you like. I just have my preferences and.wanted to share them. I'm not going to argue about screws and nuts. I've got more important stuff to do with my little time I have left.