Hi Frankie. They are holding up fine. I don't see any problems with them at all.
One might be concerned that the stress on the glued joint where the curved sides attach to the frame and the baffle, might one day just "pop open".
What I forgot to mention on the build, was that before the last sheet was glued in place, I drilled a few holes through the 5 curved sheets into the baffle and the top and bottom plates, and glued some dowels in place just in case the curved sheets separated from the frame. A precaution as the curved sheets had to be bent quite sharp.
I'll be very interested in what plans you have and how you are going to construct your speakers. Please keep us informed.
Richard
One might be concerned that the stress on the glued joint where the curved sides attach to the frame and the baffle, might one day just "pop open".
What I forgot to mention on the build, was that before the last sheet was glued in place, I drilled a few holes through the 5 curved sheets into the baffle and the top and bottom plates, and glued some dowels in place just in case the curved sheets separated from the frame. A precaution as the curved sheets had to be bent quite sharp.
I'll be very interested in what plans you have and how you are going to construct your speakers. Please keep us informed.
Richard
I flush trimmed the sides with a timber guide about the same size as the baffle which you can see on the photo with the straps (though I cut the mitres off the one you see in the photo). Then I ran the router along the length of the timber guide and bit by bit plunged the router untill it was flush. The same process was used on the top (see photo).
Oh my goodness!! Thank you so much! I have put off projects like this for years because I couldn't figure out how to trim the curved panels to be parallel with the front face. Gaaaww...so simple!
Hi, I would like to share my first build with you, the Clearwave RBR. First many thanks to Jed for the design.
I have already purchased drivers for my next build but I thought it best to start with something not too difficult.
The components were purchased from Madisound with the crossover upgrade option.
I wanted to depart from the square box design and was inspired by the Theophany speakers I had seen in the local hifi shop which have curved sides. I designed the cabinets in AutoCAD ensuring the same internal volume as the original design, printed off the curved shape onto paper that I used as a template. I decided not to mitre the front baffle, as I will always use them with the front covers (kids and cats) and I liked the sharper lines.
I cut out the top, bottom and two middle curved partitions with a jig saw and joined them on top of each other with a couple of long screws. I then sanded them while they were joined together to obtain a consistent curved profile.
The frame of the cabinets were assembled with wooden dowels, screws and PVA. A fair amount of thought went into the order of the assembly, screwing the frame together to drill the dowel holes, then taking apart to screw and glue some of the parts and finally gluing the dowels in place and the frame as 3 parts. I was really concerned that the frame would not be square and true after assembly, which was important to allow the layers to join without being racked and the smallest chance of a gap developing between the layers.
There are 6 layers of 3mm MDF (pre-bent with a little water and a few very light kerfs cut with a knife). Each layer was then strapped and glued one, then two at a time to the frame with HEAPS of PVA. The first layer is also doweled to the frame.
Each of the layers were made oversize then routed to their final dimensions.
Inside each speaker has Intertechnik acoustic foam and a little Acousta Stuf fiber.
Wood veneer is locally sourced Rimu joined in 300mm wide strips with about 5 coats of low sheen polyurethane.
The stands are from 60mm O/D diameter 6mm thick walled steel pipe welded to 6mm thick MS plate. Holes have been tapped for steel spikes that I haven’t yet installed. Only one coat of paint with a couple more to go.
I'm not sure that this construction will scale up to a larger pair of floor standing speakers but I'm looking forward to starting the next pair.
Thanks for checking out my pictures. I think I have the “DIY bug”.
Just came upon this thread and absolutely love the project!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Just joined after googling DIY speakers .
So new guy here with first post . I’m super impressed with this build . I reallly like how you pulled this off ,and it’s simular to how they made my Paradigm Studio 100V5’s .
Really like how you used your router to level it all . Don’t know why I couldn’t figure it out till I seen your idea . Simple yet effective .
I only wish I had all the tools that I have now back in the day ,as I’d much rather build my own speakers nowadays .
Love to build a similar design to yours on a bigger scale , say 4’ tall . Not sure I could pull the veneer off though ,and would be tempted to spend half my life sanding them so they could be painted gloss black .
I’m glad I posted as this thread deserves to stay alive
So new guy here with first post . I’m super impressed with this build . I reallly like how you pulled this off ,and it’s simular to how they made my Paradigm Studio 100V5’s .
Really like how you used your router to level it all . Don’t know why I couldn’t figure it out till I seen your idea . Simple yet effective .
I only wish I had all the tools that I have now back in the day ,as I’d much rather build my own speakers nowadays .
Love to build a similar design to yours on a bigger scale , say 4’ tall . Not sure I could pull the veneer off though ,and would be tempted to spend half my life sanding them so they could be painted gloss black .
I’m glad I posted as this thread deserves to stay alive
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