Those drivers are beautiful & the bamboo cabs are stunning.
BTW, for those of us that are carpentry challenged; what's in the Parts Express box; CHR70 or is that the A10?
Jordan JX92s.
BTW: i am working on a big table that has suggested alignments for all the PE & Madisound boxes)
dave
BTW: i am working on a big table that has suggested alignments for all the PE & Madisound boxes)
dave
Chris gets credit for the boxes. Box is another in a series that has flowed from the Fonken. Drivers are my work on top of Mark's masterpiece.
dave
rather easier to draw than to fabricate - the rabbeting is particularly fiddly
what the photos don't show and what took rather a bit of bother is the perimeter wrap grain matching
It is certainly a lot easier for me to fix my mistakes. Chris does awesome work
The bottom matches too.
dave
Is that some sort of worm crawling out the black terminal on the back of the speaker?
If so that might be an indication that you have some very severe ground loop problem in your stereo system.
If so that might be an indication that you have some very severe ground loop problem in your stereo system.
Dave (Planet10),
One curiosity: the cutted edge of the front panel of the uFonken, (they are 45 degree in the drawings) have sonic reason or only aesthetic ?
Thanks,
Davide
The 45 degree cut is to decrease baffle diffraction. As far as i know.
And yes, the Fonken/Mar-Ken/Mar-Kel are not very easy to build 😛
And yes, the Fonken/Mar-Ken/Mar-Kel are not very easy to build 😛
These are in Smith & Fong Plyboo solid 3-ply Bamboo (Neopolitan) , with sides fronts & backs rabbeted into the top/bottoms.
The finish is 4 sprayed coats of ML Campbell Magnamx Pre-Catalyzed Lacquer 25deg sheen, hand sanded between coats.
On post veneered boxes, I use paper backed veneers and the old cheap trick of iron-on yellow glue.
Whatever the materials, I personally prefer a continuous grain matching wrap around the perimeter of the enclosure. Of course even with 4x10ft sheets this is not possible with largest of cabinets. With highly figured grain patterns the layout for desired results is rather tedious, and usually lower yield. .
With regards to the chamfered baffles, the larger the chamfer the better, which is one of the reasons that the "Prime" series of this topology has the multiple vents on each long edge. Cutting across the three layers of exterior side panel, spacer blocks and interior panel/front baffle allow for a much deeper bevel than for example the milli-size or GR (Golden Ratio) enclosure with the more conventional bottom mounted port slots.
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Trade name for a brand of bamboo plywood
Smith & Fong Plyboo | Bamboo Flooring & Plywood
not the most forgiving material to work with, but can make for very pretty cabinets
Note that the material used is the solid block core plywood, not the flooring material.
We've used bamboo veneer in custom kitchen work - not recommended.
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Dang! I thought it was a funny typo 😛
But yeah, bamboo seems like a b***h to work with. I've been chopping some bamboo-sticks with a machete once and it is a pretty hard material.
The outer plys are stranded bamboo, not the solid strip more commonly seen. This stranded ply is an awesome sheet material for loudspeakers.
PlyBoo is one of the major suppliers. PlybooStrand Bamboo Plywood and Flooring - Smith & Fong Plyboo | Bamboo Flooring & Plywood The soecif product used in the speakers in question: Plyboo Neopolitan Bamboo Plywood and Flooring - Smith & Fong Plyboo | Bamboo Flooring & Plywood
Here are a couple more.
Bamboo Plywood - Cali Bamboo plywood and veneer for kitchen countertops, cabinets, furniture, bars (fossilized is their brand of stranded -- these guys were the most helpful -- you'll note that they have a cut FE127 speaker as an example)
Bamboo Plywood (these are the guys that i thot i found out about the stranded variation, but they no longer have it listed)
SCS Indoor Advantage Gold-certified Bamboo Panels | Unfinished & Furniture-grade Bamboo Hardwood | Teragren® Picture & definition from their site.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Note that most, if not all, of these are FSC, so qualify as "green". Since the ply is made of renewable grass and not wood it is probably an easier process than wood.
Pictures of Fonken and uFonkenSE in the same material will follow when drivers are done. Chris is also working on a pair of these in a more conservative bamboo for Bud Purvine (of EnABL, groundside electrons & O'Netics fame) -- the 1st set (in vertical grain bamboo, are sitting in some Canada Post wharehouse in Ottawa, damaged but functional, and may come up for auction sometime)
dave
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Don't let that stop you. Pretty is just a bonus. The effort to make your own is what counts. One of the best in this in this thread is the FF85 in the 2 litre pop bottle.
dave
dave
Tropical bamboo certainly grows much faster than any tree used for production of conventional sheet goods, but considering the maximum wall thickness attainable and machining time required to fabricate the laminated block core sheets, I'd doubt its overall an "easier" process than say particle board or veneer / composite core plywoods.
Then take into account total travel distances from raw material harvesting through production / market distribution channels.
Don't get me wrong - even though it's a bear to work with, I love the look you can achieve, but let's not kid ourselves - "green" is one thing - carbon / energy footprint is entirely another
edit: even (most) trees are a renewable resource, just at
a
much
slo
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