Tomdro Statements Build

[tomdro]

Hello Everybody,

I am almost ready to assemble the boxes for my Statements. Mine are rear ported without stands. The box height is 59" with 1" spikes for a total of 60". The extra box volume will require a 1/2" shorter port tube (Thanks, Curt).

I got a very good deal on some 3/4" Beech veneered MDF so I decided to use it for this project. I had some leftover solid Black Walnut sitting in the garage to use to make 3/4" X 3/4" strips to edge the panels. The front baffle has 1 1/4" X 1 1/4" walnut strips on the sides with 45 degree bevels instead of the roundovers, for looks and to reduce diffraction. I do not necessesarily recommend this approach as the cutting and gluing of the walnut took a tremendous amount of extra time.

I was going to stain everything medium walnut, but I am kind of liking the contrast between the light Beech and the dark Walnut. I will post pictures as soon as I can, so I can get your opinions.

Before assembly, I need to cut the speaker holes in the baffles. Can anyone direct me to a detailed post on how to cut the holes and what type of router bit to use? I have a plunge router and a Jasper jig. Thanks in advance for your help.

Tom

[DeathMonk]

I use a 1/4" spiral upcut bit.

As far as routing the holes out, it's easy:

1. Set your plunge depth to the thickness of the speakers flange
2. route the outter diameter of the speaker first at that depth
3. route the innter diameter of the speaker (where the cut will go all the way through) to use as a stopping point.
4. move the jasper jig in 1/4" increments in from the outer route until you get to the inner route.
5. cut down in 1/4" increments through the inner diameter until you route all the way though.

there you have your recess for the flange and the hole that the basket, etc will fit through.

[Jim Holtz]

Hi Tomdro,

Welcome to the Statements family and HT Guide. We'll be looking forward to seeing your build pictures!

Jim

[tomdro]

Thanks, DeathMonk, for the speedy reply and instructions. I will visit the Home Despot and get a spiral upcut bit. Nice to hear from you, Jim. Thanks for the awesome design.

-Tom

[ThomasW]

I got a very good deal on some 3/4" Beech veneered MDF so I decided to use it for this project.

I use a 1/4" spiral upcut bit.

If the Beech is going to be the finished surface you'll want to use a downcut cut bit so the veneer isn't peeled off the MDF.

[DeathMonk]

Good point, Thomas.. Didn't even think about that.

[tomdro]

Thanks, Thomas. I got the spiral downcut bit today.

[tomdro]

Here are some photos of my Statements project. I realize this is an unorthodox approach. It is labor intensive to this point but I will not have to buy and apply veneer. Any thoughts regarding the finish? I just ordered my speakers, etc. I just have to measure them before I cut the holes.
Tom

[BeerParty]

Any thoughts regarding the finish?

Depends on what sort of look you are going for. :roll:

Whatever you decide, make sure you try it out on a couple of scraps before hand, you wouldn't want to mess up these beauties. If possible, hold on to a few scraps that have both the Black Walnut and the Beech so you can see how the finish looks on both at the same time.

And if you want to look like a real over-achiever, you could follow Mark's example and post pictures of the different finishes.

[tomdro]

Good idea, BeerParty. I will glue up some beech and walnut scraps, try some various stains, and post pictures for comment.

[cacophonix]

The cabinets look good, and i love the idea of inlaid walnut. This was something that i tried when building selah's SSR, but the contrast didn't turn out as stark as i wanted. I used caramelized bamboo veneer with inlaid walnut. Should've used regular bamboo veneer.
Keep posting the pics ... i'm sure the extra effort will be worth it!

[tomdro]

Thanks for the kind words, Cacophonix. I like the contrast, too. I am going to post some samples including Natural. This is one area that the WAF will be in play, since these Statements will be in the living room in a music only system. I have a small theater room which, unfortunately, will not accomodate these speakers.
Tom

[tomdro]

Pics and Progress Notes

I have been making slow progress, but the bodies are assembled, the holes are cut, and the crossovers are built. Thanks to FroDaddy for the inspiration on the crossovers. The spiral downcut bit did a perfect job of cutting cleanly through the veneer ( thanks again, Thomas). I lost some photos of the construction of the bodies, due to my lack of computer skills. One thing I learned was to glue one joint at a time, if possible. I will be gluing on the backs next. Although I have overcome much of my fear of the router, I have never used a flush trim bit before. Is there anything tricky about going around the corners? I don't think I could have gotten this far without the excellent build threads on this site.
Tom

[savage25xtreme]

make sure when going around the bit is diving into the wood in the direction you are going, not pulling out. when looking down at my router my bit turns clock wise... so you want to go clockwise around the piece. going the wrong way on my last build (first build) resulted in one of the corners getting destroyed (a HUGE piece of MDF came off) and I get to redo that piece

Once I went the right way it worked great. if you are trimming where your bearing is on a veneered surface I think you need to add a layer of tape to keep the bit from touching the veneer.

[tomdro]

Thanks for the speedy reply, Savage25xtreme, I think I'll do a practice piece before the final attempt. Here are some more pics. The first one is gluing the bodies together-- all four corners at the same time-- don't try this at home!
I almost had a real fiasco. I did some stain samples, also.

[jyqureshi]

How did you make the baffles' edges darker?

[savage25xtreme]

Thanks for the speedy reply, Savage25xtreme, I think I'll do a practice piece before the final attempt. Here are some more pics. The first one is gluing the bodies together-- all four corners at the same time-- don't try this at home!
I almost had a real fiasco. I did some stain samples, also.

that would be a good idea. I bought some straight cut flush trim bits, now I wish I had gotten down cut spiral bits instead. how does that walnut machine? splinter much? If it splinters a lot I would definitely look into a whiteside downcut spiral bit. seeing as you will need to trim 1.25 inch on the front it would have to be something like the 1/2 bit which is not cheap. 8O

[tomdro]

How did you make the baffles' edges darker?

The edges are solid black walnut strips glued to beech veneered MDF

[tomdro]

that would be a good idea. I bought some straight cut flush trim bits, now I wish I had gotten down cut spiral bits instead. how does that walnut machine? splinter much? If it splinters a lot I would definitely look into a whiteside downcut spiral bit. seeing as you will need to trim 1.25 inch on the front it would have to be something like the 1/2 bit which is not cheap. 8O

The walnut machines well - no splintering on crosscuts. I bought a no-name Chinese 1/2" shaft flush trim bit with 1 1/2" straight blades. As I say, I will try a practice piece. Hopefully I won't have to spring for the Whiteside.

[savage25xtreme]

let us know how it goes. :T

[BeerParty]

Although I have overcome much of my fear of the router, I have never used a flush trim bit before. Is there anything tricky about going around the corners?

A couple of other suggestions when using the router:

1) When you are running the router bearing over your veneer, be careful how much pressure you put on the bearing. In one area of my build I pushed in too much and the router bearing crushed a small section of the veneer (I think the MDF behind it may have been a bit soft, so the veneer didn't have enough support). You'll need to use a light but firm hand on the router, it has to stay level with the edge.

2) When you are running the router base over a finished surface, you should probably put down something like painters tape to protect the surface. Otherwise a small chip caught under the router base could scratch the wood.

Keep the pictures coming!

[CZ Eddie]

Just FYI, but those pictures are too small. And yes, I'm clicking on them. They're still too small. Try for 640x480 or 800x600.
This isn't 56k modem days. Most people actually have high speed Internet connections. We don't have to save the bits. :P

[tomdro]

Just FYI, but those pictures are too small. And yes, I'm clicking on them. They're still too small. Try for 640x480 or 800x600.
This isn't 56k modem days. Most people actually have high speed Internet connections. We don't have to save the bits. :P

I agree with you, CZ Eddie. I was posting from my hard drive using the "manage attachments" feature which has a 100kb size limit. I will try linking to the pics on photo-bucket. Please bear with me, but this tech stuff is harder for me than building the speakers.

[tomdro]

let us know how it goes. :T

Well, not as well as hoped for. I tried the flush trim bit on my practice piece and it was tough going. I have about 1/4 inch of solid walnut to remove in one pass. I think I am going to try to plane down the walnut with a power hand planer. If I can reduce the thickness to 1/8 inch or less, the flush trim bit should do a good job. Any thoughts? I glued one back on and started working on the backs of the baffles.

[impala454]

Man that's about the prettiest backcut I've seen :T

[tomdro]

Thanks for the encouragement, Chuck. And thanks for the router tips, Chris. I think I finally got the pictures big enough to see-- Yay Photo-bucket!
-Tom

[Jim Holtz]

Looks great! :T

Jim

[ahaik]

Well, not as well as hoped for. I tried the flush trim bit on my practice piece and it was tough going. I have about 1/4 inch of solid walnut to remove in one pass. I think I am going to try to plane down the walnut with a power hand planer. If I can reduce the thickness to 1/8 inch or less, the flush trim bit should do a good job. Any thoughts? I glued one back on and started working on the backs of the baffles.

Tom, could you run the baffle through the table saw to trim the sides?
Thats what I did with the Statemets Monitors, the curly maple is pretty taugh too.

[savage25xtreme]

1/4 inch is a lot of material to remove.... I would not have tried that with a straight cut bit. but I think the whiteside I linked above would give great results. However I'm sure the planer or even a sander would work too just keep it square.

the back of the baffles look great, be sure and use some sanding sealer to keep them beautiful for a long time. :T

[tomdro]

Tom, could you run the baffle through the table saw to trim the sides?
Thats what I did with the Statemets Monitors, the curly maple is pretty taugh too.

That is a good idea. I should be able to get pretty close with the table saw on the back I haven't glued yet.

[ahaik]

That is a good idea. I should be able to get pretty close with the table saw on the back I haven't glued yet.

On the one you glued you can clamp a guide and use the circular saw, just make sure to set the blade a little shallower then the thickness you want to cut, just in case your hand slips.

[savage25xtreme]

On the one you glued you can clamp a guide and use the circular saw, just make sure to set the blade a little shallower then the thickness you want to cut, just in case your hand slips.

and clamp a straight edge to it to follow.

[tomdro]

Hello again,
I had a lot of Spring chores that took me away from the project, but I'm back at it and getting close to completion. After trimming down the baffles and backs on the table saw, the final trim with the flush trim bit went well.
I stuffed the boxes with 2" fiberglass insulation. I installed the crossovers on the lower braces(they just fit).

[tomdro]

Here, hopefully, are some more pics.

\







I am just about ready to apply the finish which will be Minwax Polycrylic sprayed with an HVLP spray gun.



I decided to make some "feet" for stability since I didn't opt for a base. I did a tripod design with brass pipe fittings.

[john trials]

Nice looking cabinets!!!!

I thought I was going to be the first with 'outriggers' on my Statements...you beat me to it. I don't like the look of the wide base on most Statements, so I've machined some outriggers out of aluminum.

In other posts about the Statements, Jim has recommended cutting the lining back from the woofers about 1.5 or 2".

[tomdro]

Thanks for the tip on the fiberglass. I look forward to seeing the aluminum outriggers.

[soundemon]

With the way you've got the fiberglass insulation beside the mids TL's, has the upper woofer got airflow space to "see" the port at the bottom?

[LuncHwagon]

Those cabinets look awesome, as I was reading I was getting hoping you were going with a clear finish. That walnut is going to darken very nicely with a clear finish.

Additionally, although you've made it past this point, for folks reading this thread: If you have a veneered piece that you are routing, you can use double sided tape and a scrap piece of wood (, to "sandwich" the stock. So essentially, you are working through the scrap piece. This tip works well to minimize splintering or tear out.

[tomdro]

With the way you've got the fiberglass insulation beside the mids TL's, has the upper woofer got airflow space to "see" the port at the bottom?

Yes, I removed some of the insulation for that purpose.

[tomdro]

as I was reading I was getting hoping you were going with a clear finish. That walnut is going to darken very nicely with a clear finish

Yes, I'm going with a clear finish. I put on some minwax wood conditioner before the picture was taken which darkened the wood a little and brought out the grain.

[DancesWithBeers]

That turned out really great.

[tomdro]

Project Completed



The results have exceeded my expectations. I have not heard better speakers, period. Thanks to Jim and Curt for sharing their support and design and making state-of-the art music reproduction available to all of us. Listening to the Statements effortlessly reproduce the full musical spectrum with detail, balance and bass slam, is a real thrill. The sound is big and clear, filling the whole downstairs of the house, not just the "sweet spot". Now how can I upgrade the rest of my equipment. I am only running 80 WPC at this time-- the speakers seem relatively efficient. Maybe an Emotiva XPA 2 ? My recently retired Sterophile class A rated speakers, are no comparison. They simply are not in the same class as the Statements.

Tom

[Jim Holtz]

Listening to the Statements effortlessly reproduce the full musical spectrum with detail, balance and bass slam, is a real thrill. The sound is big and clear, filling the whole downstairs of the house, not just the "sweet spot". Now how can I upgrade the rest of my equipment. I am only running 80 WPC at this time-- the speakers seem relatively efficient. Maybe an Emotiva XPA 2 ? My recently retired Sterophile class A rated speakers, are no comparison. They simply are not in the same class as the Statements.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the very kind remarks! We really do appreciate it! ops:

Your craftsmanship is exceptional! The Statements are beautiful. :T

May I ask what speakers the Statements replaced?

Jim

[tomdro]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the very kind remarks! We really do appreciate it! ops:

Your craftsmanship is exceptional! The Statements are beautiful. :T

May I ask what speakers the Statements replaced?

Jim

My old speakers were the Triangle Celius ( I think Sam Tellig got a little carried away with the class A rating)

[jyqureshi]

These are absolutely beautiful Speakers...I envy them