Laminating cabinets

[AudialDelta]

Good job. Let us know how they do when you get the X-ove tweaked and drivers broken in.

 

[ToE]

Cal,

Those look great. Nothing like what I was picturing in my head...

But now I'm picturing a "drippy paint handle" finish with a pair of bristle covered subs underneath.

 

[Cal Weldon]

badman,

I don't have a router.

AD,

Thank you. The drivers are continuing to break in steadily. I will have to disassemble them to finish and then reassemble once done. The XO was working out better near the end of the day.

 

[Cal Weldon]

ToE,

They will painted flat black and then a texture coat to top them off. It would be really cool if I could implement the bristles to hide a sub. I already have that ball rolling but must fiinsh the box and grilles first, then decide.

Unless I do some scales or drips of paint that is. 😉

 

[badman]

badman,

I don't have a router.

Oh Cal....
I'm so sorry.....
With all the work going into these, I'd HIGHLY recommend finding a router to use, and making a subbaffle to enable flush mounting. Driver edge diffraction, especially with the high frequency crossover arrangements favored with the WRs, is a BIGGIE, and will be a big performance limitation, something you sure don't want in a project with this much effort. A different way to go, would be to aquire some felt, foam, or other absorbent material to mount to the baffle around the drivers, though this is obviously less attractive. I've sometimes thought that the barrier foam from parts express (or its big brother, 'black hole 5') would work well for this, the 'barrier' layer acting as a baffle plane, and the foam over it acting to virtually extend the baffle and suppress baffle artifacts.

Anyway, I highly recommend pursuing some form of creating a flush baffle plane.

 

[planet10]

Forgot, can you guess the inspiration for the shape?

Andy Graddon would be proud... they look like his tulips after a session in the rack.

dave

 

[planet10]

I'd HIGHLY recommend finding a router to use, and making a subbaffle to enable flush mounting. Driver edge diffraction, especially with the high frequency crossover arrangements favored with the WRs, is a BIGGIE

I'll bring some thick wool felt over when i come at Easter. It will obviate the need to flush mount them, and ameriolate the negative effects of the grills -- if you could figure out how to stiffen the back of the felt you could use it as grill frame.

dave

 

[doorman]

Nice work, Cal, but, err, I suggest a somewhat "scaly" finish, matching the fish motif. Perhaps the "Chinooks"?!
Good job, Don.

 

[planet10]

Cal,

Ruth says she likes them... asked how the shape affects the sound 🙂

dave

 

[Cal Weldon]

Dave, Don and badman,

They sound round and smooth like with no sharp edges to the sound, except maybe at the top end. 😉

I think the felt idea is a good one, not sure how I was going to router it with the truncated frames anyway.

Keep in mind these were a learning experience. I wanted to find out how feasible it is to laminate with only basic tools. The next pair are larger and a lot more involved with separate chambers, an open baffle section, built in amp and five drivers per cabinet etc. Perhaps I will spend a little more time with them.

Thanks Ruth, I like the shape too.

 

[SCD]

Callllllllllllllllllllllll.....................
Come to the island.................

I have a template for that driver. I can make it all good for you my friend.

Bring beer the view from my deck is great

 

[Andy G]

Hi Cal.

I would have used a few layers of thin bendable ply, laminated with pva glue.

That is how Tulip was done.

 

[Andy G]

Also "Windswept was done with multi-layer laminates

 

[Andy G]

I cheated on these though.. it's actually a sort of rectangular box behind the shaped baffle.

and yes, on this pic the darn tweeter is crooked :- ((

Thankfully, the baffles are removable and can be re-made when I get time.

 

[Andy G]

oh and btw.....

great job......

I'm so glad to see someone else having the balls to try different cabinet shapes 😀

 

[Cal Weldon]

Scott,
Would like to see your view.
I like good views, especially if they agree with mine 😉

Andy,
Your speakers are great. Imagination is a good thing. Your tulip looks like a bulb and mine's near ready to bloom. 🙂

I'm having fun with this and gaining all kinds of experience.

Got the first hand sanding and the final filling done today.

 

[Andersonix]

Cal: Have you thought of an alternate arrangement for your 2 woofers and one tweeter other than MTM?
How about putting one woofer above the other so the trucated sides are common and horizontal? Then place the tweeter to the side, in the crease between the woofers. Then make a mirror image for the other side. This way you avoid the comb filtering that a MTM inherently has somewhere, plus you get the advantage of having mirror-image left and right speakers for experimenting and solving more set-up problems (and asymmetric diffraction, if you're into that). Or am I talking out of my bum?
With a flat top and bottom cabinet edge in common with the edge of the outside trucations, it would give a tidy look when recessed. Does that make sense?

 

[badman]

Yah, I've often thought the same thing when I see MTMs, why have the excessive spacing? Because that's how it's usually done 🙁

 

[Cal Weldon]

Cal: Have you thought of an alternate arrangement for your 2 woofers and one tweeter other than MTM?

No.

Or am I talking out of my bum?[/B]

No.

With a flat top and bottom cabinet edge in common with the edge of the outside trucations, it would give a tidy look when recessed. Does that make sense? [/B]

Yes.

I like the appearance of them now.

I don't plan to recess the drivers. I have now roughed out the grilles. They are made of 3/4" material and will be close fitting to the frames except at the tweeters, and are heavily flared starting at the equivalent of the driver flange thickness. I am looking forward to listening to how that affects things.

Again it seems that a lot of persons wish the best for these speakers and that's great. What would I do without you guys? Problem is, I can't get past the fact that I'm playing around with a couple of 4.5" drivers and a little dome tweeter. These aren't exactly my style. I'm having fun and all but they're still small drivers in a small cabinet. 🙂

I plan to start the painting soon so will post more pics.

 

[SCD]

Cal:
You will have to post a photo of the little speakers in your garage so people really get a feel for how you like your music. BIG, real big

I think the 4 inch wheels and tube steel handles will say it all.