Tweet
Well, I have been working on this build for about two months now. It has been a series of firsts for me since I have only previously built a 20" cube sealed subwoofer. First time using a radial arm saw, first time using a router, etc. So far it has been a lot of fun with only a few mishaps (MDF being the victim).
I started by spending a good afternoon making test cuts on pieces of scrap plywood to make sure the saw cut square. Once I felt comfortable with that I went and began ripping the sheets of MDF to size. I figured with my girlfriend's help we would have no problem doing full length rip cuts using my radial arm saw (wrong! - mishap #1). It turned out to be a little awkward and the saw blade actually became bound about 1/4 of the way through the cut. I gave up on that and just decided to make the long cuts with a circular saw and a 8' fence piece. This worked better, and since I made all the cuts with 1/2" excess it didn't matter much that I didn't set the baseplate of the circular saw at a 90 to the blade (mishap #2). I squared everything up on the radial saw and left 1/4" excess on one side of the baffle and the top piece that would be flush trimmed later.
I then went ahead and used my new Hitachi plunge router and Jasper circle jig to cut all of the speaker openings. I was pretty happy with the outcome at the time, but I will go into this a little further later (hint: mishap #3).
I then transferred the holes to the inner baffle piece using a flush trim bit and did a 45 degree chamfer on the backside. No problems here. Hopefully this will help the woofer breathe. 8)
Finally I used various hole saws and a 45 degree chamfer bit to create the mid brace. This along with some 1.5" wide pieces of pine will brace the cabinet. By the way... R.I.P. 2 1/2" hole saw from Lowes. MDF along with my woodworking skills seems to spell quick death for these things.
Continued... :T
I started by spending a good afternoon making test cuts on pieces of scrap plywood to make sure the saw cut square. Once I felt comfortable with that I went and began ripping the sheets of MDF to size. I figured with my girlfriend's help we would have no problem doing full length rip cuts using my radial arm saw (wrong! - mishap #1). It turned out to be a little awkward and the saw blade actually became bound about 1/4 of the way through the cut. I gave up on that and just decided to make the long cuts with a circular saw and a 8' fence piece. This worked better, and since I made all the cuts with 1/2" excess it didn't matter much that I didn't set the baseplate of the circular saw at a 90 to the blade (mishap #2). I squared everything up on the radial saw and left 1/4" excess on one side of the baffle and the top piece that would be flush trimmed later.
I then went ahead and used my new Hitachi plunge router and Jasper circle jig to cut all of the speaker openings. I was pretty happy with the outcome at the time, but I will go into this a little further later (hint: mishap #3).
I then transferred the holes to the inner baffle piece using a flush trim bit and did a 45 degree chamfer on the backside. No problems here. Hopefully this will help the woofer breathe. 8)
Finally I used various hole saws and a 45 degree chamfer bit to create the mid brace. This along with some 1.5" wide pieces of pine will brace the cabinet. By the way... R.I.P. 2 1/2" hole saw from Lowes. MDF along with my woodworking skills seems to spell quick death for these things.
Continued... :T
Comment