I understand. When the fence was in tact and functional I would set it then also check the nearest edge of a carbide tip on the blade, after eye balling it on centre, closest side nearest to the fence. I developed the happit of relying on a tap when I worked in metals and band saws. Id always rely on my tape and my caliper when setting up.
I haven't burned material in a long time.
The router bits are $20 - 40 a pop for my 1/4" here. I respect especially since it comes out of my pocket. Nothing is cheap in this hobby. Even rockwool went up almost 50 bucks since buying it a year or so ago.
Dull and broken tools are the fastest way to personal injury . Now I'm starting to sound like Hank Hill or something.
I always used my arm saw for cross cuts, usually everything under 5" or so I will throw on that.
Eventually I want to convert everything to dw. I had my drill apart, the cord pulled out, they used all the same # screws throughout the same drill. Bravo. That made fixing it quick and painless.
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I've cut up panels with a router, but a preferable method is to cut a little oversize with a Skilsaw then trim to size (and a perfect edge) using the router. And then only the two "inner" panels of a box have to be perfect; the others can be made oversize then trimmed to the first two panels. It's almost essential to have an extended router base for this.
Every lumber yard I been to usually charges per cut. The last time, last week. I was quoted $1.00 per cut. I remember when it was a quarter at this same yard. I just gave the kid 10 bucks and that was that.
I will do over the weekend. I waited to get a proper respirator this time. The router kicks more dust up than the saw. I don't recall ever having so many dust boogers
. My main concern is lungs. That's why I do most of my cutting outside.circular saw with either the straight-edge / clamps, or with a Kreg fence. I haven't cut anything that big in a while, but one thing I used to do to keep the situation stable if cutting away a large piece, is once you get a couple feet into the cut, stop and then clamp a couple scrap pieces top and bottom to the pieces separating at the very start, and then continue. Want to keep a heavy piece falling away from putting increasing amounts of tension on the thinning connecting material.
If it's a really, really big panel, well, get a Felder or Altendorf. If you have the room.
If it's a really, really big panel, well, get a Felder or Altendorf. If you have the room.
2 workmates of the same size can be useful at times. I went a bit further by adapting an idea trades people use. There are saw horses around that have parts that can clamp a length of 2"x4".They are pro stuff so very stable. They use 2 of them, add the lengths of 2x4 and fit an 8'x4' shoot of fibre board on top. One of these saw horse can also hold an 8x4 sheet on the side of the legs. I nocked up a smaller sheet version on a single saw horse.
It's pretty light weight and the saw horse legs fold in it's top section. I arranged for it to be the same height as the workmate. It's way way more stable than any hobby type arrangement I have looked at and easy to erect. The slot in the top - handle to carry it around.
Trades people do rough cut 8x4 sheet on one of these saw horses but the cut of piece closes on the saw blade at the end of the cut. Stips of timber such as laths can be used to prevent the part falling off. There will be videos around showing them used this way. I use roofing laths for this sort of thing as they are cheap and easily available in sorter lengths from DIY stores. The ones roofers use are rather long.
It's pretty light weight and the saw horse legs fold in it's top section. I arranged for it to be the same height as the workmate. It's way way more stable than any hobby type arrangement I have looked at and easy to erect. The slot in the top
- handle to carry it around.Trades people do rough cut 8x4 sheet on one of these saw horses but the cut of piece closes on the saw blade at the end of the cut. Stips of timber such as laths can be used to prevent the part falling off. There will be videos around showing them used this way. I use roofing laths for this sort of thing as they are cheap and easily available in sorter lengths from DIY stores.
The ones roofers use are rather long.
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As accurately as possible? With a jigsaw, I was lucky to achieve 1 mm accuracy, and needed a lot of wood filler or sealant along the edges. Using the factory cut edge of a sheet of MDF or a piece of particle board/vinyl shelving as a guide, I can trim edges with the router so only glue is needed for an airtight joint. Likewise if I then use those edges as the base to trim the adjacent sides flush. (I lay a piece of leftover MDF across those first two panels of the box, then adjust the router depth so I can trim the adjacent panels to be flush with those panels. Doing that would be pretty much impossible without the extended router base. Since extended router bases don't seem to be a common product, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it works.)
In production operations they use CNC routers to make panel cuts. However panel saws are used to break down big panels. These are expensive machines and onlu make sense if they are making sawdust 8+ hours a day. A sliding table saw is both safe and typically more accurate for straight cuts but still expensive and big! Using a Jigsaw for a straight cut will be dissapointing. As will a steel (not carbide) blade on MDF.
For speaker production I used a 5 horsepower 12" rolling table saw. And used a dado to make interlocking joints. The real magic was how strong the glue joints were. The wood/mdf would fail before the glue joints. I used an inverted router for driver holes. Another big expensive machine. This was after I gave up on the local shops who could not understand what airtight meant (and too often were late and poor quality). I'm glad I'm not doing that any more. Finding good woodworkers was not easy.
FWIW I got one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Circular-Com...show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews Not great but way better than a router or a jigsaw for straight cuts. Get extra blades.
For speaker production I used a 5 horsepower 12" rolling table saw. And used a dado to make interlocking joints. The real magic was how strong the glue joints were. The wood/mdf would fail before the glue joints. I used an inverted router for driver holes. Another big expensive machine. This was after I gave up on the local shops who could not understand what airtight meant (and too often were late and poor quality). I'm glad I'm not doing that any more. Finding good woodworkers was not easy.
FWIW I got one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Circular-Com...show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews Not great but way better than a router or a jigsaw for straight cuts. Get extra blades.
I have all my plywood boards picked out, two species of hardwood. I have two options for my baffle as well, some 1.50" maple I already had pre laminated for something else. Or 1" MDF. A decent kind, as far as that can be said.
Or the sometimes dreaded MDF 1". Easier to cut, dirtier to cut. Acoustical value vs. good plywood? I don't know.
I cut through the same material with my mini bosche router, I would rather not do it again. It over heated the bit, but more can go wrong then right if not carful. Power wise, it did well for being mini.
Imaged is the first go with the 1.50" material, cut in mini bites.
Or the sometimes dreaded MDF 1". Easier to cut, dirtier to cut. Acoustical value vs. good plywood? I don't know.
I cut through the same material with my mini bosche router, I would rather not do it again. It over heated the bit, but more can go wrong then right if not carful. Power wise, it did well for being mini.
Imaged is the first go with the 1.50" material, cut in mini bites.
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I remember through reads, a lot of people prefer MFD for its acoustic properties. How different can they actually be, without super bionic hearing to pick out differences. I used to grab mdf being how cheap it was, but don't recall any difference sq wise between the two. Baltic Birch is mentioned a lot. Its not easy finding the real deal 5x5' pieces here. Not to mention costs may of sky rocketed coming out of that region???
I plan to joint this new box the same, or straight 1x1.50" hardwood slabs. Very stong, much stronger then more typical holey mdf. Its over kill but less trouble.
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Plywood is strong but not uniform. And it can have holes inside. Its also dimensionally less stable and can be different depending on the axis. MDF does work well for speaker cabinets. Brace it well. It will be heavier (good actually for acoustics). If you want to "up" the game laminate two layers with a rubber base glue, like the stuff for laminates. The discontunity will seriously damplen the panels. We would use Formica for the outer finish. It also works very well since it has a different density. And the pattern options are endless. . .
Get a carbide bit for the router. Freud were the best option short of diamond bits when I was doing this.
Get a carbide bit for the router. Freud were the best option short of diamond bits when I was doing this.
Demian,
A technique you missed is when laminating two panels use different thicknesses for each. That way no common resonance.
One nice cheat for small cabinets is to use premade wood stair treads. They are laminated and need to be quite sturdy. They also can have a nice finish veneer. The limit is they rarely are more than 12” wide.
Typical https://www.lowes.com/pd/11-25-in-x...V3hTUAR1ZbQLXEAQYBCABEgIx1vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
A technique you missed is when laminating two panels use different thicknesses for each. That way no common resonance.
One nice cheat for small cabinets is to use premade wood stair treads. They are laminated and need to be quite sturdy. They also can have a nice finish veneer. The limit is they rarely are more than 12” wide.
Typical https://www.lowes.com/pd/11-25-in-x...V3hTUAR1ZbQLXEAQYBCABEgIx1vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Plywood from the local big box sellers is very unpredictable and can have gross internal defects, Plywood from a specialty supplier whose main business is supplying local cabinet shops may cost you a bit more, but it is well worth it. I have been buying from the same supplier for over a decade and I have never gotten a dodgy panel from them. When you consider the time involved in making something of quality, skimping on the raw materials is folly.
I used what I had available then and am finding its too chunky for the baffle. That is good to know on a needs to know. For baffle material .75 with .25 is nice. I made a plinth with the smaller stuff, its held up well look wise and function.
I wonder whats thes scoop on real 5x5" bb.
Oh btw its not from stores that stuff, when lucky I get it from a friend. I have bought ply recently from HD and Rona however, I found the better stuff at the later one. Not all that much better mind you. The prices shot the **ll up everywhere that's the only promise you get folks.
Projects there stacking up. I did nothing yet too busy with other things.
Do like the colour tones in that walnut one ^. Some Dutch oil is going to make that one pop, pop, so two pops. Those particular pieces are nice and consistent I didnt see a single void, I inspected cause yeah thats always a consideration, you don't want voids in speaker panels.
I wonder whats thes scoop on real 5x5" bb.
Oh btw its not from stores that stuff, when lucky I get it from a friend. I have bought ply recently from HD and Rona however, I found the better stuff at the later one. Not all that much better mind you. The prices shot the **ll up everywhere that's the only promise you get folks.
Projects there stacking up. I did nothing yet too busy with other things.
Do like the colour tones in that walnut one ^. Some Dutch oil is going to make that one pop, pop, so two pops. Those particular pieces are nice and consistent I didnt see a single void, I inspected cause yeah thats always a consideration, you don't want voids in speaker panels.
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I wouldn’t probably recommend using a hand router to cut wood, unless there was no other option. Then it would take multiple passes to prevent the bit from overheating.
I was just chatting with my dad about this, making compromises and learning to live without a table saw. We agreed that to use 4 x 4 beams laid out on the floor and work off of that works pretty well. A saw guide, then finish up with a router if the project needs that kind of precision.
For cabinets, I would use a flush trim router to clean up after assembling.
I was just chatting with my dad about this, making compromises and learning to live without a table saw. We agreed that to use 4 x 4 beams laid out on the floor and work off of that works pretty well. A saw guide, then finish up with a router if the project needs that kind of precision.
For cabinets, I would use a flush trim router to clean up after assembling.
I make a couple of passes with 3/4" plywood. I prefer the router too, for the accuracy. The clean sharp edges are great, agreed. I would probably take smaller bites with real hardwood. Its a 6A mini but it performs nice. I'm going to try making my first mortis and tenon joint for a brace out of rock maple. I just finished marking it up. The bits are nice and sharp, even new, I wouldn't attempt it otherwise.