OK, I've been looking into building new speakers for some time now. I started out with building the Audax HT system that was popular some time ago. I plan on finishing the center channel and then selling the set to fund the 4Ts (I never bothered building the center, as my space dosen't have the room for it, and the imaging of the mains are so incredible I've been super happy running a ghost center).
Anyways, after consideration I decided to go with the 4Ts. They seem to be a good bang for the buck, and I like the design. I was thinking about the Statements, but I have a small HT and I wasn't sure about the open back for the mids. I may try doing a monitor set for another room, but that'll be later.
Although there's nothing wrong withj square box enclosures, I've always preferred curved cabinets. So I decided that I would make my speakers as a curved set. Looking at construction methods for this, I then decided that I'd get the best results doing a translamination with MDF.
After looking at a lot of different translam builds, I saw a couple of issues. Those that cut the parts at home had issues lining the pieces up, and ended up having to do a lot of cleanup. You can drill for dowels, but most who did that did so by measurements, which still resulted in the parts having some slight variations.
Another option some have done is to have someone do a CAD design and have the parts CNC'd. This means that the parts can be perfectly identical, and have holes made to allow dowels as guides. However, I can only imagine that having 130+ pieces cut from 5-6 sheets of MDF would be costly, and I'm on a budget.
So, I came up with my own solution that I haven't seen done before. I've seen methods that were close, but not quite the same.
It all started with the paper template/ design. I decided that I'd fix the height of the speakers and make no adjustments there. Therefore, the cross sectional area of the template needs to match the area of the original design. Using graph paper, I made a template that is one side of the speaker, making sure that I was as close to one half of the total internal area needed. I then transferred that to a MDF template.
The template is drilled with holes so that dowels can be used to align the pieces. However, I didn't want to just drill holes directly into the MDF and use that. The concern is that the holes will eventually wear and the holes won't be drilled accurately. So, I bought some drill bushings that will ensure that the template can withstand the 130+ pieces being drilled. The drill and the bushing is a fairly tight fit, so it also helps to make sure that the drill is square with the surface of the MDF.
Using the template, I make the first initial hole. I use a cut piece of 1/2" dowel to lock the template in place, and drill the second hole at the back of the speaker- again using a dowel to lock the template in place. So, I drill each hole and use a dowel piece to make sure that the template doesn't flex and cause the pieces to have different sizes.
I buy full sheets of MDF, but I have them cut down into 1/4 sheets. For each 1/4 sheet, I can fit 7 standard pieces. For the sub enclosure, I can fit the pieces of I have the sheets cut into one wider section. Otherwise, I can only fit 4 pieces per 1/4 sheet.
Anyways, after consideration I decided to go with the 4Ts. They seem to be a good bang for the buck, and I like the design. I was thinking about the Statements, but I have a small HT and I wasn't sure about the open back for the mids. I may try doing a monitor set for another room, but that'll be later.
Although there's nothing wrong withj square box enclosures, I've always preferred curved cabinets. So I decided that I would make my speakers as a curved set. Looking at construction methods for this, I then decided that I'd get the best results doing a translamination with MDF.
After looking at a lot of different translam builds, I saw a couple of issues. Those that cut the parts at home had issues lining the pieces up, and ended up having to do a lot of cleanup. You can drill for dowels, but most who did that did so by measurements, which still resulted in the parts having some slight variations.
Another option some have done is to have someone do a CAD design and have the parts CNC'd. This means that the parts can be perfectly identical, and have holes made to allow dowels as guides. However, I can only imagine that having 130+ pieces cut from 5-6 sheets of MDF would be costly, and I'm on a budget.
So, I came up with my own solution that I haven't seen done before. I've seen methods that were close, but not quite the same.
It all started with the paper template/ design. I decided that I'd fix the height of the speakers and make no adjustments there. Therefore, the cross sectional area of the template needs to match the area of the original design. Using graph paper, I made a template that is one side of the speaker, making sure that I was as close to one half of the total internal area needed. I then transferred that to a MDF template.
The template is drilled with holes so that dowels can be used to align the pieces. However, I didn't want to just drill holes directly into the MDF and use that. The concern is that the holes will eventually wear and the holes won't be drilled accurately. So, I bought some drill bushings that will ensure that the template can withstand the 130+ pieces being drilled. The drill and the bushing is a fairly tight fit, so it also helps to make sure that the drill is square with the surface of the MDF.
Using the template, I make the first initial hole. I use a cut piece of 1/2" dowel to lock the template in place, and drill the second hole at the back of the speaker- again using a dowel to lock the template in place. So, I drill each hole and use a dowel piece to make sure that the template doesn't flex and cause the pieces to have different sizes.
I buy full sheets of MDF, but I have them cut down into 1/4 sheets. For each 1/4 sheet, I can fit 7 standard pieces. For the sub enclosure, I can fit the pieces of I have the sheets cut into one wider section. Otherwise, I can only fit 4 pieces per 1/4 sheet.
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