'Singularity' Build Log

[Mikerodrig27]

I generally like my templates to hang over the edge just slightly. That way I can use my fingers to push it up from the baffle. If the template is square and I am cutting a circle, I will clock the template to let the corner overhang. I use a 23 gauge nailer. The holes are so small that you really can't see them. When you fine sand the baffle, the dust will just fill the holes.

I tend to use a clamp to hold the baffle down as well as I am milling the holes. 23 gauge nails don't have a lot of strength for holding the work piece down. However, they have a decent amount of shear strength. With the clamp holding the piece down, the shear strength keeps the piece indexed.

If you are going to use tape, a good idea is to use a piece of scrap tape as a tack cloth to clean the dust on the surface. Clean the twp surfaces until the tape doesn't have any dust on it. The guy in the video used a dowel but I prefer a credit card. It contours and has a smaller surface area so applies more force. As anyone in the audio hobby knows, credit cards are also handy... Also, don't move the router too fast and check to make sure your bit is sharp. I have scraps of MDF to test hole sizes. I use the actual driver to check the hole.

P.S. if you ever ship something, use a credit card to make the tape stick to the cardboard. It is a life changer.

Best of luck!

[technodanvan]

Update!

It's really hot. Like, REALLY hot.

Didn't do much this morning, just trimmed the trim and cut a chunk of plywood into a template. 8 3/4 is perfect for the driver. ALMOST messed up then, as I loaded my pattern bit up and started cutting, only then did I realize the bearing was too high - it JUST started biting into an area that shouldn't be cut when I pulled back. New pattern bits will be here tomorrow, so I'm stuck waiting. Hoping to get at least one baffle attached tomorrow but it'll depend on when the bits arrive.

BTW - decided to just use 18 gauge nails to hold the template in place. I'll mix some sawdust and a little glue together to fill in the holes.

[technodanvan]

Sits a little proud due to the integrated gasket. Should be about perfect once mounted though. Unsure I'll be able to use 10-24 inserts on this like I wanted to, the mounting holes are pretty close to the edge and I'm not sure I have enough room. Could go without since it's decent ply, or might try a smaller insert.



Just gotta sand the cabs so the baffles fit level - one of them is fine, the other is a bit screwed up so it'll take some effort. Also debating what adhesive to use; typically I just use wood glue but that seems a bit messy considering the trim. Might try epoxy this time.

[technodanvan]

Well, progress was made. I had to rout off some of the trim on the second cab and try again, but it seems to be okay. Top of the cabs were lined with some spare foam I had lying about; it doesn't look pretty but it works. I stuffed the middle two sections of each cab with about 1.25 pounds of filler and ran some Teflon-coated wire from bottom to top. Slapped on some glue and the baffles; one is done and the other is clamped up right now.



Ordered some final bits and baubles (including more stuffing) from PE for this and another project. A small paint booth (tent) arrived today to hopefully help with the painting steps that I am totally not nervous about at all. Hopefully I can get the last routing done this week and begin sanding and whatnot. Need to order some sanding sealant still, I decided I'd try using that once the whole thing is sanded then sand it again, then prime and paint. Guess we'll see how it goes.

Anyone have any input/tips on painting in 100+ degrees and 5% humidity with rattle cans? I think I need to get a box fan to suck air under the paint 'booth' at least.

[theSven]

Ordered some final bits and baubles (including more stuffing) from PE for this and another project. A small paint booth (tent) arrived today to hopefully help with the painting steps that I am totally not nervous about at all. Hopefully I can get the last routing done this week and begin sanding and whatnot. Need to order some sanding sealant still, I decided I'd try using that once the whole thing is sanded then sand it again, then prime and paint. Guess we'll see how it goes.

Anyone have any input/tips on painting in 100+ degrees and 5% humidity with rattle cans? I think I need to get a box fan to suck air under the paint 'booth' at least.

What tent did you get? I just got my spacers painted this afternoon in the garage with temps at 84F with 45% humidity. I used spray cans for the inserts. The paint dried very quick which was nice and I could get 2 coats on in 20 min rotating between the stacks I concocted. I would ensure sure you have good ventilation and put some plastic down on the ground and spray it with water to keep the dust down. I'm still learning the painting trade myself

[CADman_ks]

I might have a little bit different situation, but I had a need to have a full time finish room in my work shop, and I had the space, so I put up one of these:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AQLCI0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



If you have the space, these work really well, and are sturdy and cheap! It works well for keeping all of the airborne dust off of everything, and I actually have a fan that I can put in the zipper end that pulls air thru the room to filter out some of the stuff I'm spraying...

[theSven]

I might have a little bit different situation, but I had a need to have a full time finish room in my work shop, and I had the space, so I put up one of these:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AQLCI0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you have the space, these work really well, and are sturdy and cheap! It works well for keeping all of the airborne dust off of everything, and I actually have a fan that I can put in the zipper end that pulls air thru the room to filter out some of the stuff I'm spraying...

Nice share CADman_ks! I would have to use that out in the yard, my garage isn't big enough for that. That is a great option to have on my list though.

[technodanvan]

What tent did you get?

I went with something designed for the purpose: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011L3DVVO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Need to make a turntable yet, but based on the dimensions I ought to be able to rotate it inside the booth.

[theSven]

I went with something designed for the purpose: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Need to make a turntable yet, but based on the dimensions I ought to be able to rotate it inside the booth.

I went with a lazy Susan from Lowe’s which Steve was using. It can hold a good deal of weight and I put a board on top for bigger pieces to rotate. It’s would fit in that tent nicely too.

[technodanvan]

Never would have thought Lowe's would have something that would work. I found one on Amazon for a decent price supposedly good for 500 pounds.

[Steve Manning]

This is more or less what I have, https://www.amazon.com/VersaSpin-360...00216383&psc=1

I bought mine at Woodcraft a number of years ago. I don't remember how much weight it's good for but it's come in rather handy.

[Steve Manning]

I went with something designed for the purpose: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Need to make a turntable yet, but based on the dimensions I ought to be able to rotate it inside the booth.

I had looked at these, I wish they came in an extra larger version ..... a bit small for larger projects.

[CADman_ks]

I might have a little bit different situation, but I had a need to have a full time finish room in my work shop, and I had the space, so I put up one of these:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AQLCI0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you have the space, these work really well, and are sturdy and cheap! It works well for keeping all of the airborne dust off of everything, and I actually have a fan that I can put in the zipper end that pulls air thru the room to filter out some of the stuff I'm spraying...

For anyone interested, this was the maiden voyage picture of my spray room. The fixture in the middle allows me to spray 2 complete sets of cornhole boards at a time, and maximizes my drying time. The trays are on slides, and have locking turntables on them. So, I can pull a tray out, and spin it around, and basically stand in one position to do the whole thing.

I got that flooring from my daughter's house, when they refinished a bedroom, and it doesn't look like that now! LOL.

It has definitely saved me a LOT of time having a separate "room" to do finishing in...

[Steve Manning]

For anyone interested, this was the maiden voyage picture of my spray room. The fixture in the middle allows me to spray 2 complete sets of cornhole boards at a time, and maximizes my drying time. The trays are on slides, and have locking turntables on them. So, I can pull a tray out, and spin it around, and basically stand in one position to do the whole thing.

I got that flooring from my daughter's house, when they refinished a bedroom, and it doesn't look like that now! LOL.

It has definitely saved me a LOT of time having a separate "room" to do finishing in...

Very nice CADman, especially for the price. How big is your shop to allow you to have this in place?

[theSven]

For anyone interested, this was the maiden voyage picture of my spray room. The fixture in the middle allows me to spray 2 complete sets of cornhole boards at a time, and maximizes my drying time. The trays are on slides, and have locking turntables on them. So, I can pull a tray out, and spin it around, and basically stand in one position to do the whole thing.

I got that flooring from my daughter's house, when they refinished a bedroom, and it doesn't look like that now! LOL.

It has definitely saved me a LOT of time having a separate "room" to do finishing in...

WOW!!! Now I have garage envy! I could put that in my yard and break it down when I don't need it, but that would be a very ideal setup for me. Thanks for sharing the photos, they are very inspiring to see and realize this is an affordable reality.

[CADman_ks]

WOW!!! Now I have garage envy! I could put that in my yard and break it down when I don't need it, but that would be a very ideal setup for me. Thanks for sharing the photos, they are very inspiring to see and realize this is an affordable reality.

Thank you!

Sorry, I wasn't super clear on how this works. I have a 42' x 72' shed, which is uninsulated and an unconditioned space. Inside that shed is my wood workshop which is 21' x 23', and is fully climate controlled. The spray room then, sits just outside of the wood workshop in the unconditioned space. I can spray in there even when it's cold outside, but then I move them into the conditioned space to cure at a reasonable temperature. In the summer time, or when the temp is above about 70F, I simply leave them in the finish room to dry...

[Steve Manning]

Thank you!

Sorry, I wasn't super clear on how this works. I have a 42' x 72' shed, which is uninsulated and an unconditioned space. Inside that shed is my wood workshop which is 21' x 23', and is fully climate controlled. The spray room then, sits just outside of the wood workshop in the unconditioned space. I can spray in there even when it's cold outside, but then I move them into the conditioned space to cure at a reasonable temperature. In the summer time, or when the temp is above about 70F, I simply leave them in the finish room to dry...

Very nice and very jealous.

[technodanvan]

Well, cutting is basically done and I have something resembling speakers. I need to rout one more thing but otherwise it's just sanding at this point. My favorite!

[Mikerodrig27]

Looks great! How hard was it to get that glue off?

[technodanvan]

It wasn't bad, I ended up just using Titebond III. I just ran a chisel lightly up each run and it came off pretty easily. Downside is it took a little HDF with it, so I have to sand it all down smooth. You can see on the top of the left speaker where I already did that in a test run. Hopefully will be back at it tomorrow morning to do the remaining sides.

[technodanvan]

I took the day off so I could take advantage of some relatively mild weather this morning. Finished routing the baffle corners and wrapped up sanding down to 400 grit on all surfaces. Then I started Phase I of the three step process I devised to finish these. Since I'm not an expert - and really barely an amateur - I have no idea if this will work. Guess we'll see!

[technodanvan]

Hmm, I guess portrait pictures were a bad idea, nothing I do seems to fix them.

Anyway, they're already dry so the next step is sand to 400, tape up the baffles, then prime and paint. :unsure:

[technodanvan]

Last thing I did today was go to Harbor Freight looking for an expendable table of some kind for painting. For $18 (it is absolutely not worth more than that), I think this clamping table will work wonderfully. I threw together my turntable and I'll be ready for some painting real soon. Also picked up some of those rolling furniture movers in anticipation of the arrival of the Ardents, but they have seen some early service moving around the Singularities.

[technodanvan]

Setting up for painting tomorrow morning. Couldn't find any clearcoat that I liked so I think I'll try without.

[Mikerodrig27]

I am excited to see how the painting turns out! Good Luck!

[technodanvan]

Thanks Mike! I'm pretty nervous about it, they already look pretty good without the paint.

[Mikerodrig27]

You've got this. Worse case scenario, you can sand the paint smooth and do it again. Whar product are you using?

[technodanvan]

The spray booth probably should be assembled by two people but I managed to get it up by myself, with the table placed and the first speaker setup. The booth felt bigger than I thought it would be, but it still fit in my garage so that was preferred due to the heat.







Materials being used are Rustoleum products, both a primer and high gloss enamel.

[technodanvan]

The primer went on pretty okay. It took about 2.5 cans to do, but it came out relatively even. I noticed I was getting overspray on the uncovered part of the floor a bit, but it swept up fine. I found the seams in the HDF are really noticeable up close but there isn't much to do about it now. The dark color of the paint will probably help obscure them a bit.



The paint did not go on evenly. One side looked good but the other was terrible. I think the first half of the can sprayed better than the second half. I used about 2 cans in all then decided to stop. Given how it was going on I decided I would probably need to sand and paint again anyway. I also found that the overspray was sticking to the floor now, so I need to come up with another plan for the second speaker. I'm considering removing the table and placing the turntable directly on the floor - I might be able to completely fit inside the booth then, and close the door flap.



My house smells of paint now.

[technodanvan]

Today went a hundred times better. Putting the speaker near the floor resulted in more even paint coverage and much reduced overspray. I also used less paint this time, and it almost looks good enough to leave alone. If the first one turned out this good I might have convinced myself to just leave them both alone and call it done. So, perhaps this was a good thing.

I think the plan will still be to sand them both down and put a final coat on them. I'm a bit concerned about the tape, I pulled it back a bit in one spot and it appears the primer was thinner than the paint as there is a very thin line of white that is visible. I'm hoping that will just sand out. Might have to re-tape everything.

[Steve Manning]

Today went a hundred times better. Putting the speaker near the floor resulted in more even paint coverage and much reduced overspray. I also used less paint this time, and it almost looks good enough to leave alone. If the first one turned out this good I might have convinced myself to just leave them both alone and call it done. So, perhaps this was a good thing.

I think the plan will still be to sand them both down and put a final coat on them. I'm a bit concerned about the tape, I pulled it back a bit in one spot and it appears the primer was thinner than the paint as there is a very thin line of white that is visible. I'm hoping that will just sand out. Might have to re-tape everything.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]31451[/ATTACH]

Taping off areas you don't want color is a royal pain. You don't get the tape in the right place, bleed through, ridges .... this is all so familiar for some reason.:W

[theSven]

I found shaking the can for more than a minute helped give a better spray. I had that issue too where the second half sprayed better. Then the next can I shook for a get 2 minutes and it was even the entire can.

Have the parts at the right height for spraying is also a good move. I experimented with that when I sprayed the Calliopes. I found with the hvlp I had keeping it up higher I could get good coverage and see where I had low or high spots. My biggest challenge was lighting. I need to have better lighting for this next pain job.

[technodanvan]

Well, it's been a few months and I finally got a bug to start wrapping these up. Back in August I was pretty displeased with how the spraying went so they had to sit in a corner a while. Fast forward to now and I sanded them down, applied some Zinsser B.I.N. primer, then rolled on some interior paint. Only problem now is trying to fix the area where the primer (and sometimes the paint) penetrated the 3M painter's tape I used. I also need to order some new binding posts because, as Jon had found out a while back, the ones I had aren't compatible with the Dayton plates. This is actually fine because the plates I have are black and now I can swap them out for aluminum/nickel, which should look better with the green. Other than that, it's just assembling the filter and they're about done.

I suppose I should find a use for the nearly full gallon of paint I purchased. Don't know why I ordered so much but here we are.

[theSven]

Progress!!! Looking forward to seeing you post a photo of these cabinets completed.

[Steve Manning]

Getting there Danny ..... must be warmer out there in Vegas than it is here if your getting some painting in.

[technodanvan]

Well since I rolled the paint on I just did it in my office. That said, the door was open while doing so since most days are in the 60s here.

[technodanvan]

Welp, all done.

[theSven]

Looking good! Are the stuffed and fully assembled now? How do they sound?

[JonMarsh]

Ditto!

[technodanvan]

Fully stuffed and ready to rumble! And rumble they do...they dig quite deep, which they should given it's an 8" driver in a giant box. They certainly can't play as loud as I sometimes like my music (or at least, they aren't happy doing it) but within their range they're quite good. I tried some vocalists, classic rock, and a little modern hip hop and I came away with positive experiences. They aren't quite "head in a vise" tight but they sure aren't as open as most speakers I've listened to though.

I have also not tried them with the ACA/B1 combo yet, as was the intention. I need to order another set of RCAs and speaker cables from Blue Jeans Cables before I can do so. Based on their subjective sensitivity compared to the Ardents I think it'll be a good pairing.

Of course, then I need to find a place to put them. They're kind of intrusive in my office.

[JonMarsh]

Are you going to measure an in room response for those curious among us?

[technodanvan]

Sure, I'll give that a go when work allows. Might be a week or two, unfortunately.

[theSven]

Nice update. Looking forward to the measurements.

[technodanvan]

Are you going to measure an in room response for those curious among us?

Shown: both the Ardents and Singularities. Same mic/listening position, though the speakers remain where they were shown in a previous post because they're all heavy (and I'm lazy). Volume knob was not touched. Singularities roughly 2m from the mic, Ardents probably 2.5m. Comb filtering was invited!

Which is which? :W

(it's not really a secret, when you consider the sensitivity of each of them)

[Efalegalo]

Any chance the tweeter on the Ardents is connected with reversed polarity?


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