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I'm planning on building 3 speakers over the summer and am probably going to go buy the MDF Monday or Tuesday. I don't have a table saw or anything so if I'm cutting at home I'm going to have to build a sawboard and use a circular saw. A friend who has homebuilt speakers of his own suggested just having Home Depot or Lowes cut the MDF for me, but I'm pretty sure I've heard negative comments about their accuracy before. Anyone have any input? Having everything precut at the store would save a lot of time but if they're known for doing a sloppy job of it I don't want to risk it.
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Originally posted by david06
Like anything, it depends if you get someone experienced or not. I wouldn't chance it myself, unless I knew the person making the cuts and his/her ability. -
You should be fine with a circular saw and a good straight edge/clamp.Comment
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David-
I first project speakers I had the MDF cut at Home Depot. I ended up with cuts that were too short and others too long (all less than 1/4 inch off) while others were where I wanted them. If you have a router and a flush trim bit you should be good to go with having HD or Lowes doing the cuts. I used my router to clean up the overlaps and the speakers look great now. Good luck with yours.
ConorComment
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Straight edge and circular saw. Anytime HD cuts for me it's +/- 1/2" of what I ask for, but I only have them rough cut for me.
Or maybe a friend has a table saw, start asking around.Comment
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I use them to cut sheets down to "trunk size". To get consistent dimensions from them, put a C-clamp stop on the measurement bar...that way accuracy is up to you and you can get multiple cuts with good repeatability. Some of the HD's here have started to keep a C-clamp next to the saw :WComment
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My circular saw is of such lousy quality (christmas gift from GF's mom), that I have trouble getting within +/- 1/8", so I was initially really interested in what Home Depot could do for me. They really couldn't do any better, but they could cut a good deal straighter and fairly square. Did I mention that my saw is bad?
Anyhow, if you can handle the dust (face mask, vacuum, etc- the stuff is nasty!), then I'd be an advocate of getting them to cut all of the critical dimensions oversized by 1/2 inch and using a router to trim them down to size.-Joe CarrowComment
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Take it from me, a former Lowe's employee.
The panel saws at Lowe's and Home Depot are very inaccurate. There are a lot of things to adjust on those saws, and over time they tend to move (thats assuming it was perfectly straight to begin with).
At the store I worked at, the biggest part is the rollers at the bottom of the saw. Those rollers are completely adjustable. If even 1 roller is too high the entire cut will be off. The arms that the saw cuts on are adjustable too.
So...just because he lines the wood at a certain distance doesn't mean it will cut exactly that length (within an 1/8th is usually the error). Those saws are great at rough cutting. But any finish cutting should be done by you...even if with a straight edge and circular sawComment
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With a good circular saw and blade (don't even think about using a dull or crappy one) and some care, you can make very accurate cuts. The only situation I can see where HD makes sense is if someone hasn't a vehicle large enough to carry a full ply panel. In that case having the panels cut an inch oversize to allow for sloppy tolerances, then trimming to size would make sense.Comment
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Check with a local cabinet shop or lumber yard you may pay more but you'll get someone who should know what they are doing instaed of what they are going to do after work or whats up at school the next day?
Also could someone explain to me about using a flush bit with my router? How do you determine what size bit you need? If i am using 3/4" mdf do i use a 3/4" flush bit or do i measure the largest overlap and use the bit thats closest to?
thank you in advance.Comment
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just because they work at a big chain doesn't mean they automatically don't "know what they are doing"Originally posted by dawg1161Comment
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Totally disagree. I've met some of the most experienced people (along with inexperienced) at Home Depot. Likewise, if you think the lumber yard employees know exactly what they are doing all the time, you are confused.Originally posted by dawg1161Comment
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What was i thinking, I know better than not to be sensitive to everyone. My mistake sorry if i offended anyone here in the forums.....I'll sit back and read from now on.Comment
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I had all the wood for 6 speaker boxes (~22x13.5x9.5) and two subwoofers (double layer 18x18x20 ID) cut at Home Depot, all within 1/16th of an inch. It was a ~2 hour cutting session. Before the guy started, I told him if he took his time to get accurate cuts I'd be "very thankful". I gave him a decent tip after he was done. I've never done any woodworking projects so my gluing and clamping were probably off more than that anyway. Either way, using a belt sander to improve the joints was inevitable. You can check out the progress and some pictures at AVS forums. Just search the DIY section for my posts: "A Tale of Two Subwoofers". I haven't updated in about a week, but this weekend I plan on doing some major updating on the speaker box progression with plenty of pictures.
I can't imagine doing all those cuts with a circular saw (or even a table saw), when it took the two guys and a planar saw a total of 2 hours.Comment
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If you get the big box store to cut your wood for you, don't overlook the staight edge you carry home with you: the "factory" edge of the sheet goods being cut up. That and a couple of c-clamps and you can cut as straight as you need. Take a few practice swipes at it before you cut "on the line".EdComment
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It can be like walking on egg shells sometimes!Originally posted by dawg1161
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Thank You....Dan B you are correct that picture shows all.....that will save me some time with my cabinets.Comment
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