Building a set of ZMB4 (Build Log)

[StewLG]

Yes, but I'm pissed/sad/angry currently. I was a bit careless on the router today when routing my pieces, and whaddaya know...disaster. I'm pissed at myself because I shoulda routed everything BEFORE I cut them up into little pieces, and now that decision has come to haunt me. Long story short, the piece dove headfirst into the bit TWICE, and I now have some divots that'll give my speakers some character....Bahumba. I don't have anymore wood so that's that.

Don't beat yourself up. With the possible exception of your instructor, nobody is going to look at your speakers as closely as you have, ever again. And most of the time they'll be a foot or two away, which hides most mistakes on this scale.

I had errors just like yours on my baffles, and after sanding and finishing, they're getting harder to spot:



See, lower left corner? Not too bad. And the flash is making it about 5x worse than it might be in other light.

Oh, and that's birch veneer after 1 coat of Watco's Danish Oil. We'll compare finishes at the end, eh?

[cyberspyder]

OK, sure...tracking your build on DIY audio as well...here's a tip for both of us: GO SLOWLY. Pace yourself, and crap like this won't happen. THINK about your every move, then do it.

[cyberspyder]

Dampening question

What about using this foam? I have loads of it, and it's soft :P .

Images not available


Brendan

[ThomasW]

Image not available

Since the baffle is painted you could have used Bondo to fill the gouged out area.

What about using this foam? I have loads of it, and it's soft

Need to see the surface not the side. If the top is open cell then it's fine to use. If the surface is closed (smooth) then it's not what you want.

[cyberspyder]

Actually, that's just the side. The cabinet will be oiled, so bondoing is not a good idea, as I don't feel like painting the speakers black.

Brendan

[Dennis H]

Man, Brendan, borrow a few bucks for a new piece of wood -- you only need a small piece so maybe get some others to share the cost for the rest of the sheet. Your workmanship is so totally excellent up till now that you won't be able to live with yourself if you let that one ugly piece slide.

Note to self -- always buy enough wood that I can screw up a piece and still finish the project.

[cyberspyder]

Ehhh, it's not that noticeable, besides I'm running low on funds, so functionally, there's nothing wrong, just the aesthetics. Whaadya expect? I'm still relatively new to woodworking, so mistakes are common.

April 29, 2008
-Sanded the routed edges today, along with the external surfaces. Rubbed another coat of oil onto my test piece.

Images not available


Brendan

[cyberspyder]

Quite a while since I've updated this...I had alot of school summatives to do, so this has been put on the back burner...but FEAR NOT! I will have it done before the end of the school year. Only have to glue these suckers together now:

Images not available

Brendan

[wackii]

Wow, they look awesome even without the finish. Excellent job. I can only wish I have tools and space like yours. Keep the pictures coming...

Al,

Quite a while since I've updated this...I had alot of school summatives to do, so this has been put on the back burner...but FEAR NOT! I will have it done before the end of the school year. Only have to glue these suckers together now:

Image not available

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

Glued together, and everything sanded smooth, true and square. Ready for tung oil application.

Images not available

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

June 9
-First coat of tung oil put on (seems kinda blotchy, but that disappears when sunlight shines on them), binding posts and port tube secured in enclosure, pics coming in a sec when I complete the front baffle tonight.

Brendan

[69Stingray]

Keep up the good work, can't wait to see the finished project.

[cyberspyder]

June 11
-Drilled my tweeter holes, drum sanded them, did some manual sanding after. It turns out 120 grit sandpaper with a tiny jar of Tamiya model paint fills up the tweeter hole EXACTLY. A bit of sanding, and I was left with some perfect holes. One thing I don't like about the Dayton tweeters is that the body is slightly flared, so it makes it harder to get the actual diameter. Also, tweeter recesses on the back completed an holes for drivers drilled. Second coat of oil put on, but no pics of that.

Images not available


Brendan

[stangbat]

Good tip on the tweeter holes. Of course I find this out after I've drilled holes and inset five of them.

[Hdale85]

Why didn't you make it so you could round over the edges after they were assembled?

[cyberspyder]

Why didn't you make it so you could round over the edges after they were assembled?

What do you mean? Like a waveguide for the tweeter, or are you talking about the roundovers on the cabinet? Cabinet wise, I could've but I think eine's fine. It's easier to sand the roundovers if you did it my way, as there are no other grain directions to worry about.

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

99% Done...

June 13, 2008
-Finally :B Still have to glue the cleats in, you can probably see the baffles are not fixed yet. First impressions: Alot of bass, hmmm, how to fix this? Will dampening improve this, as I didn't put any yet...and will sealing in the baffle decrease the muddiness?

Images not available


The finish looks spectacular in sunlight, but looks like crap under regular indoor lights. The tung oil adds alot of depth to the wood.

Brendan

[cyberspyder]

Hmmm...I just realized I haven't completed my log...dur. Long story short...after my exams I finished them up. The following pictures are a couple months old....sorta like a look back in time LOL. Finished assembling the dampening that will go in the speakers. Zaph's plans called for some Sonic Barrier...but ever the cheap-ass, I decided to use a mixture of carpet padding with two different densities, similar to the 3-layer approach. For the back and the top I layered two pieces of chopped foam padding with some denser open-celled padding to create a 1 1/4" pad. The sides and bottom were covered in a pad consisting of two sheets of chopped-foam. My homemade approach worked relatively well...absorbed the unnecessary bass frequencies and tamed down the muddiness...which left me with a pair of pretty balanced and neutral bookshelf speakers.

Image not available

General shot of dampening.

Image not available

2-layer stuff.

Image not available

1-layer.

Image not available

Best spray adhesive for open-celled foam...impossible to tear apart bond...foam rips first.

Image not available

Back and top done.

Image not available

Closeup.

Image not available

Current source (rockboxed Sansa with attenuator and JBL Power 20)

Image not available

Angle shot (temporarily home)

Image not available

Another angle shot (temporarily home)

Image not available

Beauty shot (temporarily home)

Image not available

Living on my desk for the time being.

I know I should get some stands...believe me, it's in the works...plans are to get a couple of cinder blocks and glue them end to end so that they make a column. Seal, then paint them, install some spikes at the bottom, and voila...homemade 'dead' stands. I hoped you enjoyed this thread...pretty rewarding and satisfying. Currently, they live on top of a set of cabinets with books stacked on top to bring it to the correct height.

Image not available

Image not available

Brendan

[here.now]

Beautiful work, you seriously have some killer craftsman skills.
How do they sound now that you padded them? Did it fix the muddiness and extra bass?

[peter_m]

Nice work there. I like the slightly retro look!