Horio's Wavecor Ardent Build

[Horio]

Horio and Steve, are you building this together on the same location?

We are building seperately and on opposite ends of the country. I wish we were building together so I could learn a few things from Steve.

I went to the hardwood store and bought 3 sheets for Baltic Birch plywood and a sheet of 1/2" MDF yesterday for the cabinet rears. I also picked up the Festool MFT yesterday and so far I'm impressed.

[technodanvan]

That's a really clean setup Horio. Do you like the hose support?

[Horio]

I really do like the boom arm. It's a bit expensive for what it is, but it really does keep the hose and cord out of the way. I was always getting caught on things before I bought the boom arm.

[Steve Manning]

Making some progress on the many holes that need to be cut ......

My cheap version of Horio's boom arm ... made a big difference not having to pull chips and sawdust out of the cuts.





Test fit looks good .....



Woofer holes done.

[JonMarsh]

Looking very good, Steve! :T

[Horio]

Looking great Steve! Some real progress on the driver cutouts.

[meb46]

Very nice... great to see another build of this calibre underway!

[Steve Manning]

So many layers .....

So many layers, so many holes. Only a few more to go though.

[dar47]

Very nice Steve! You made it through that tough mid cut!

Take lots of pics on your facet cuts please.8O

[Scottg]

-very nice!

Having "dabbled" in a bit of bamboo ply, I'm guessing lifting that baffle stack is hernia-inducing. 8O

[meb46]

Ha... now thats a true statement "hernia-inducing"... Bamboo is heavy stuff, but its seriously good on Speaker Cabinets and pretty good to work with. No substiture for over head crane though...

[meb46]

And just in case anyone asks... yep, 36m Ferry/Yacht behind it. Now proudly finished and delivered to a Client in New Caledonia...

[Steve Manning]

Thanks Darrell .... I had to make three router templates just for the mid range cutout. I have a driver flange coming from Madisound just to make sure everything fits as it should. Amazing that a square hole is so much more work than a round one. 8O

[Steve Manning]

The one good thing though .... the more holes I cut the lighter it gets. :W

[5th element]

All you people with your large space for a workshop and your impressive equipment within...that boom arms gives me ideas though...

[technodanvan]

All you people with your large space for a workshop and your impressive equipment within...that boom arms gives me ideas though...

Right? I've got a room the size of a single stall garage that needs to be both an office and workshop. Pretty sure that Festool setup is going in it...someday.

[Horio]

Awesome progress photos Steve. It's great to watch a pro at work.

[bobyoungren]

Awesome work Steve.
Looks like you picked the right man for the job Horio.

[JonMarsh]

Thanks Darrell .... I had to make three router templates just for the mid range cutout. I have a driver flange coming from Madisound just to make sure everything fits as it should. Amazing that a square hole is so much more work than a round one. 8O

BTDT, have the movie rights... yes, it's a whole different ball of wax!

[Steve Manning]

Fun with dados was on today's agenda ....



Test fit with some BB ...



All the routing finally done and getting ready for glue up.

[dar47]

Nice, who needs CNC when you have a Steve.:W

Although I was quite proud of how we tweaked that dado in between the mid and woof on the model, :B

I got to build something again this summer, I'm getting the itch again but this is fun watching you two have at it.

[Horio]

Nice, who needs CNC when you have a Steve.:W

My thoughts exactly!

Looks like the glue will be hitting the bamboo soon! Looking forward to seeing how Steve knocks out the facets.

[Steve Manning]

Here ya go some of that glue .....

[Steve Manning]

Although I was quite proud of how we tweaked that dado in between the mid and woof on the model, :B

That dado was a bit tricky since there was not much meat there to work with .... I had a little bit of chipping where the two dados intersected. I also made the dados a little longer so Horio has some slop if he needs it.

[TEK]

Hmm, I do not not remember that to be a problem.
I figured out why. I made the dado cut before the driver cutout.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?41695-My-Wavecor-Ardent-with-center-build/page3

[BobEllis]

Hmm, I do not not remember that to be a problem.
I figured out why. I made the dado cut before the driver cutout.
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthr...er-build/page3

A Homer Simpson "DOH!" moment. I did it in the same order as Steve and had the same concerns. I should have paid more attention to your thread, TEK.

[Steve Manning]

Just something to be careful with during assembly .... once that shelf is glued in place it becomes a none issue. I think if I were doing this for myself I might have used biscuits in that location ..... so many ways to skin the cat as they say.

[JonMarsh]

You guys are having too much fun! :W

[Steve Manning]

You guys are having too much fun! :W

Fun is trying to figure these crazy facet angles .... 8O

[Steve Manning]

Decided to give Bob's method a whirl for cutting the facets. Not the fastest method but it gets the job done.

[dar47]

You forgot to mention, patience and care! A thing of beauty your not going to want to give them up Steve.

[Horio]

Looking sweet! How does the bamboo hold up with the hand planes? Any tearout issues?

[Steve Manning]

You forgot to mention, patience and care! A thing of beauty your not going to want to give them up Steve.

Your right Darrell.

[Steve Manning]

Looking sweet! How does the bamboo hold up with the hand planes? Any tearout issues?

Not too bad initially, though the lbl takes the edge off pretty quickly so some tear out starts popping up, it's a fine line to walk when you get close to the end because the last thing you need is tear out on the last pass. I'm going to do some sharpening tomorrow morning and see how that does. The bulk of it is done with a power planer though .... I'd be there all day if not. 8O

[TEK]

Yeah, love seeing those facets popping up.
I did mine with a track saw, finishing the last bit with a japaneese saw. I did however miscalculate so thar I made them 55 degrees instead of 45. Thus, mine are a bit more «dramatic» then the original design.

[BobEllis]

Bob's method is to use a power plane - goes MUCH faster.

[Steve Manning]

Bob's method is to use a power plane - goes MUCH faster.

That was step one ... I was just using the hand planes at the end of the process for a little more control.

[BobEllis]

OK, your pictures were misleading, Steve. It seems slow, until you compare to the time it takes to build, set up and test a jig on scrap before risking the real thing.

[Steve Manning]

OK, your pictures were misleading, Steve. It seems slow, until you compare to the time it takes to build, set up and test a jig on scrap before risking the real thing.

Looking at the pictures I see what you mean Bob .... the power planer is kind of hidden in the corner of the last picture. I may be a glutton for punishment but not that much. 8O

[CraigJ]

Steve, you are quite the craftsman and it is interesting to watch you build Horio's Ardent baffles. You make the bamboo look easy to work with, and I'm sure it is just an illusion. Thank you for sharing your build.

Oh, the Bosch power planer was super easy to spot next to the Milwaukee palm sander;

[Steve Manning]

Steve, you are quite the craftsman and it is interesting to watch you build Horio's Ardent baffles. You make the bamboo look easy to work with, and I'm sure it is just an illusion. Thank you for sharing your build.

Oh, the Bosch power planer was super easy to spot next to the Milwaukee palm sander;

Thanks for the kind words Craig ..... I am finding this bamboo a lot nicer to work with than the stuff we used on the Minerva builds, very high quality. I'm certainly finding sharp, quality tools are a must with this stuff as well. It's still prone to tear out even then. I'm just hoping to do justice to the Ardent builds already done and that Horio will be happy with the results.

[JonMarsh]

OK, your pictures were misleading, Steve. It seems slow, until you compare to the time it takes to build, set up and test a jig on scrap before risking the real thing.

I guess it all depends on what you're comfortable with - jig was a snap to me. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a big sliding miter cut off saw around when it comes time to build that jig.

Then too, let's not forget other techniques- I did the bevel facets on the Isiris with a DWS780 12" compound sliding miter saw and a Japanese hand saw to finish little tiny bits, plus a DeWalt 5" orbital sander... that went very fast. No jigs, no muss nor fuss... but if I'd screwed it up, of course I'd have been singing the blues... sort of like a high wire act without a net.

But I'd warmed up by doing all the work for the top module of the Isiris with the DWS980, which if I recall correctly doesn't have a 90 degree angle anywhere...

[Jerrym303]

Amplifier question

Hi folks,

I have it on my long-term project list to build these speakers. For now, I am settling in the rest of my system after being in storage for 6 years.

I may change amps in the meantime and wanted to ask about the amount of power needed to make the Ardents sing. Specifically, a local seller has a refurbished Mcintosh MC-2120 that is rated at 2x120, but tests at 2x180 before clipping. Is that enough?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Steve Manning]

Well sharpening the tools helped some with the tear out issues, though not completely, plywood does not do well being planed. Now since these are going to be painted that's not a big deal, the tear out can be filled, if you want to leave them natural that's another story.

So I went ahead and made a sled for the table saw to accommodate that exercise. Darrell, I can see where that 14" sliding saw worked out so nicely for you and Ben! None the less things worked pretty well for my old 10" Craftsman. It took me a couple of revisions to get it to work as I wanted, but it gives me 3 axis to adjust the setup which came in handy.










And we now have two finished baffles ....

[Paulie]

That sled is awesome!