[Ron]

Jay,

  Sorry to hear about the problems caused by your defect router bit. Over the years I have encountered similar problems myself using a router so I know how frustrating it can be. The repair you did looks good.
Appears you are close to having the cabinets ready to paint. Have you desided yet on the paint? Also, if you
plan to use a 3/8" or 1/2" radius for the cabinet edges ? Looking good.

[lacro]

Hey Jay,
 Looking good! Glad your repair worked out. I won't tell anybody about it .
I do have a suggestion if your going the do a radius on some or all edges. I suggest you do most of the filling and leveling BEFORE you cut the radius. I did the radius first, and I am finding out the long board sanding is leveling the MDF nicely, but is slightly flattening the radius

Larry

[Captainhemo]

Thanks guys,  glad the secret is  safe

Ron,   I thought I'd do a  3/8"  to start with and see how it looks.  I can alays go over it with the 1/2"  if need be.
Larry,   that's a good point,  Ill  do most of the   sanding before I  do the roundover.  Will also make sure i  run the bearing downt he  edge without the screws  ( I read your post regarding that )

One thing  I'm  a bit concerned about is  access to the crossovers.  Once I glue the front baffles on,  it is going to make accessing the crossovers pretty much impossible.  At this point I'm wishing I had  only screwed the rear panels in place so they'd be removable  but I'm afraid  that's no longer an option.
Should I be  consdiering  only installing the front baffles with screws or even considering mounting the  crossovers on the   back of the speaker with some kind of removable covers  ?
Any suggestions  ?

jay

[lacro]

Thanks guys,  glad the secret is  safe

Ron,   I thought I'd do a  3/8"  to start with and see how it looks.  I can alays go over it with the 1/2"  if need be.
Larry,   that's a good point,  Ill  do most of the   sanding before I  do the roundover.  Will also make sure i  run the bearing downt he  edge without the screws  ( I read your post regarding that )

One thing  I'm  a bit concerned about is  access to the crossovers.  Once I glue the front baffles on,  it is going to make accessing the crossovers pretty much impossible.  At this point I'm wishing I had  only screwed the rear panels in place so they'd be removable  but I'm afraid  that's no longer an option.
Should I be  consdiering  only installing the front baffles with screws or even considering mounting the  crossovers on the   back of the speaker with some kind of removable covers  ?
Any suggestions  ?

jay

Jay,
 On mine the crossover is going on the bottom. I have them located and holes drilled. They are not presently installed. I will be putting them through the woofer hole, and screwing them down. (I hope ). Would yours fit on a brace or side/back/top wall with access through a woofer hole?

Larry

[Danny Richie]

Jay, I screw my crossovers for that model to the back wall just behind the lower woofer. And getting to it through the woofer hole is no problem.

[Captainhemo]

Jay, I screw my crossovers for that model to the back wall just behind the lower woofer. And getting to it through the woofer hole is no problem.

Ok, I must have misunderstood you earlier.  I thought you had told me to mount it on the back wasll between  brace D and F ( remember these are front vented). 
I'll try and mount it above  D  right behind the  lower woofer as you   say.

Thanks

[Captainhemo]

Ok the crossovers were just  a bit too big  to fit  behind the lower woofer.  With brace D  being on the rear wall   due to the front vent design,     the space behind the lower woofer  is smaller than  normal.
I really didn't ,ike  the idea  of making the front baffles remvable  but I also didn't want to  bury the c/o's   leaving no access.
So I decided to go with an acess panel on the rear wall.



The  panels will be  large enough to  hold the c/o and the electa tubes.
Here they are installed  and rounded over





The panels were made from 3/4" MDF .  After they were fit in place,  I  glued  lino to the inside face.  C/O's will go on top of that.  This was kind of an unexpect hic-up in the build but I think it will look ok  once the cabinets are painted and it will make accessing the C/O's  pretty easy if ever need be.

I also did a 3/8" roundover on the  rest of the cabinet.  I've been condidering doing a 1/2" roundover  but  am not sure  .  Leave it as 3/8 or do the 1/2  ?







Now for a question.  How much poly fill do I put on the front and rear walls in the bottom woofer chamber ?

[Danny Richie]

Now for a question.  How much poly fill do I put on the front and rear walls in the bottom woofer chamber ?

See page 5, 6, and 7 of the plans.

[Ron]

   I think the access panel is better way to go  than mounting the crossover on the back of the cabinet with a cover over it. The 3/8" roundover looks nice. A 1/2" roundover might be too much. Do you plan to paint them soon? Looking good !

[Captainhemo]

   I think the access panel is better way to go  than mounting the crossover on the back of the cabinet with a cover over it. The 3/8" roundover looks nice. A 1/2" roundover might be too much. Do you plan to paint them soon? Looking good !

Hoping to  paint fairly soon.   Finally picked up a big bag of poly fill so I can  get   the lower stuff glued in place fefore gluing on the baffles.  I think  I'll  try and get the grill frames done too.  Getting closer

[lacro]

Hoping to  paint fairly soon.   Finally picked up a big bag of poly fill so I can  get   the lower stuff glued in place fefore gluing on the baffles.  I think  I'll  try and get the grill frames done too.  Getting closer

 Man! that's looking great. You have been a busy boy! I did the 3/8" roundover too, but I think I am going to do the 1/2" on mine. On yours I think the 3/8" is probably better. Mine are chunky little boxes, narrow and deep, and I want the bigger radius look. Something like this http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-A5

Larry

[Captainhemo]

Man! that's looking great. You have been a busy boy! I did the 3/8" roundover too, but I think I am going to do the 1/2" on mine. On yours I think the 3/8" is probably better. Mine are chunky little boxes, narrow and deep, and I want the bigger radius look. Something like this http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-A5

Larry

Hey Larry
Yeah,  things are  moving along  pretty good right now (knock  knock).  I did a 1/2" roundover on  my sub and it looks pretty good .   I'm still not sure   if I'm going to stay  with the 3/8 or go to the 1/2,  the basses are  quite thick and I think the 1/2 would look better  on them but I really don't want mix the two.
Got one of the front baffles glued on this afternoon.... I can only do  1 at a time,  need more clamps.
Not sure  I will get to painting this weekend but hopefully  I'll at least get them primed.  we'll see.

-jay

[lacro]

Hey Larry
Yeah,  things are  moving along  pretty good right now (knock  knock).  I did a 1/2" roundover on  my sub and it looks pretty good .   I'm still not sure   if I'm going to stay  with the 3/8 or go to the 1/2,  the basses are  quite thick and I think the 1/2 would look better  on them but I really don't want mix the two.
Got one of the front baffles glued on this afternoon.... I can only do  1 at a time,  need more clamps.
Not sure  I will get to painting this weekend but hopefully  I'll at least get them primed.  we'll see.

-jay

 Jay,
 I know what you mean, both the 3/8" and the 1/2" look good. I don't think you will be unhappy with either. Did you have to use bondo or some other filler to level any low spots or were all your loints perfect ?
 Are you going to seal the boxes with shellac, watered down glue, or just the primer?

Larry

[Captainhemo]

Jay,
 I know what you mean, both the 3/8" and the 1/2" look good. I don't think you will be unhappy with either. Did you have to use bondo or some other filler to level any low spots or were all your loints perfect ?
 Are you going to seal the boxes with shellac, watered down glue, or just the primer?

Larry

Hehe,  no my joints weren't perfect.  I had to do some filling and sanding.  I used some wood filler my  father reccomended.  I also used it on my sub and it  has stayed in place well thus far. 
I was actually just planning on  a couple coats of  primer  like I did on the sub followed by a couple  coats of  the truck bed liner.
Unless a guy is going to try and seal the entire cabinet like you  are talking about in your build thread,  I don't really see the point in  just doing the outside.  I would think  that the TBL over the primer is going to seal  the ouside just as well ?

-jay

[Captainhemo]

Well,  I didn't make it to primer  but I did get  quite a bit done this past weekend.
Spent the better part of a day filling screw holes, low spots,   and sanding.  It was a lot of work.   When I glued the front baffles on, I   drilled quite a few new   screw holes  to make sure  I got  them good and  tight.   I only  have  four clamps so  screws were the  only other option.
I've been following Larry's LS Encore build thread  and all the talk  about sealing edges  got me a bit worriee as I had only planned  to  use a  couple coats of primer  followed by  a couple coats of truck bed liner.  Anyway,  I decieded   to "seal" the  cabinetsc using a ouple coats  of  a wood glue / water mixture (75/25) before   applying the primer  After each  coat  I lightly sanded with 400 grit paper..
They have come out really nice  .  I hope the glue mixture does a  good job of sealing up   the edges and the rest of the MDF for that matter.

This is where they  stand now..






I'm glad  I  did this "extra step"  now that  it is done.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get  a couple coats of primer on.
I also  got the grills  cut and routed out  over the weekend.  Had a bit of a mishap  when my Craftsmen router's  plunge depth  setting  slipped   which was a bit frustrating..  Appareently the aluminum body   (where the set screw  is tightened)  has  stripped .    This particular router  isn't even  a coule months old so I'll be taking it bak to Sears  and  trying to have it replaced
I was able to save the grill  so no real harm was done but  it's still frustrating. 
 Still haven't decied whether to leave the grills square with roundovers  or  go with the oval   shaped grills.  I like them both.
No pics fo the grill frames yet, will try and post some tomorrow.

-jay

[Ron]

  Looking good Jay!    Glad that you decided to apply a couple of coats of wood glue on the edges and the rest of the cabinets before you
use the primer. Guess you decided to leave the 3/8" radius on the edges instead of going to 1/2"  The 3/8" does look good. I read about two other products that are suppose to be good for sealingl the edges on MDF. One is a product called Duraglass Jel Filler which is an automotive type body filler and the other is dry wall compound which is available from home building supply stores like Home Depot. I plan to experiment with both this week along with the wood glue to see which ones work best.  Please post pictures after you paint the enclosures.

Ron

[Captainhemo]

  Looking good Jay!    Glad that you decided to apply a couple of coats of wood glue on the edges and the rest of the cabinets before you
use the primer. Guess you decided to leave the 3/8" radius on the edges instead of going to 1/2"  The 3/8" does look good. I read about two other products that are suppose to be good for sealingl the edges on MDF. One is a product called Duraglass Jel Filler which is an automotive type body filler and the other is dry wall compound which is available from home building supply stores like Home Depot. I plan to experiment with both this week along with the wood glue to see which ones work best.  Please post pictures after you paint the enclosures.

Ron

Hi Ron
I applied the wood glue / water mix  with a small 3" roller.  I started out  witht he intention of just doing the  edges/seams but   ended up  doing everything.   The mixture  ends up drying  pretty smooth and really does make the seams  "invisible".  Like I said, I'm glad I did it.
Keep us posted on how it goes with the  Jel filler  and the drywall compund.
I'll post some  pics after I get the priming done

-jay

[Captainhemo]

I put on 2 coats of flat black primer.  Sanded with 400 grit  between coats and after 2nd.   Still a couple little spots to work on but  just about there.






I'm still  planning on using the truck bed liner  for a finish.  Now I've used the spray on  liner from a spray bomb but I was wondering if anyone has used the roll on  typre.  I am actually considering trying  the roll on  as I assume you'd get a lot more texture
Any thoughts regarding  this  ?

-jay

[Ron]

  They look good Jay even with just the primer coat. Did you use a spray or roll on type primer? Anxious to see how they look with the liner finish. I would think that if you roll on the liner coat with a foam roller it would have more texture than if it were sprayed on.

Ron

[Captainhemo]

It was a roll on primer which is what gave me the idea of using the roll on  TBl.   I'm really considering trying it.  I'm sure if I wasn't happy with it,  I could always  spray a final top coat