[macrojack]

Good timing, Bob, taking on this project with Abby now. In just 2-4 years you will be totally lame and she will be embarrassed to be seen with you. Don't take it personally when it happens. It's as natural - and unavoidable - as puberty.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey now.....you're starting to sound like her. 

Mr. Jack - Yea, you'd have thought I planned it this way. The timing and all. 


Finished for the night.

Got everything edge routed, and another pass with some sandpaper, and one final round of checking and filling holes.
Time to glue and nail the front baffle of the speaker to the box.





Notice the trigger control. Yea...I taught her that. 





Wipe off the excess glue....



And mix the primer, although we didn't get to the painting part.
Mom made us come upstairs to eat dinner. 

[Don_S]

UH OH,  Boo-boo on the left hand.  Is that a battle scar?

[jtwrace]

Hey now.....you're starting to sound like her. 

That's a great thing that she's into that much.  What does mom think about it all?

Notice the trigger control. Yea...I taught her that. 

Perhaps a range trip should be next.   

[WireNut]

  It's get'n there

[Pete Schumacher]

Hey Bob,

Make sure you squeeze in a few side-to-side braces.  Those big side panels need to be tamed.  Getting a brace in there is pretty easy after the fact.  My favorite method to add a brace and get it tight is to cut a piece of wood the right width, in half and at an angle.  you can then insert the two pieces with glue on all the surfaces, place them where you want, and then use a small C-clamp to squeeze the angled cut so that the two pieces want to spread apart and press against the side walls.  Once the glue dries, you've got a tight brace.  The other method is to glue a few shelf braces along the wall and then add side to side braces  using the shelf as a mounting point.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Don - Yea, she got the smallest of small of minorest possible spots where blood was almost visible, but only if she squeezed it hard enough. So to end the drama, I just a bandage on it and we moved on. She's pretty strong minded, just not when it comes to that. 

jtwrace - Mom loves the idea. She's behind it 100%. As my person Director of Financial Affairs, this is the only project she's been behind in the past several years. To the point where she hasn't asked how much I've spent! She just wants Abbie to have some Daddy time. Had I known that, I should have gone for some Maggies, or maybe a seven foot tall line array.
Oh well. I'm sure she'll need a better amp, so we'll go for a BottleHead, I'm sure.

Thanks Wirenut!

Pete - Thanks man. I was wondering about that. Those are some pretty large unsupported panels. Thanks for the advice, I do believe I'll take you up on that. A big "X" brace would be great, and also give something for the XO network to bolt to. Great idea!

Bob

[dflee]

The look of determination is priceless.
Good goin you two!

Don

[dB Cooper]

dflee is right, this girl looks serious…
Looks like those things will be putting out some tuneage pretty soon!


Jim Salk, you may have some competition…. 

[Scott F.]

Great project Bob  I can't wait til the grandsons get old enough to start building stuff up in the wood shop. In fact, I was just talking to their mom about how soon I'm going to get them out in the field and do some hunting 


So when does the Jackson family classic car restoration start? I can't wait to see Mrs Bob and the kids pulling a motor and transmission on a Ford of course

...btw, I'm only half kidding. As big a car guy as you are, that would make a great family project plus it would be a tremendous set of life skills to te3ach the kids. I'm planning on it with my grandsons...once I get the garage built 

Great job

[Bob in St. Louis]

Don - Thank you. Her looks (stares) of determination never fail to bring a proud smile to my face. Things have gotten to the point where I pull up a chair and just watch her work. It's awesome to watch. I've thought about making a Youtube video of it. 

dB - Thanks man. I think Mr. Salk is safe. We've got a ways to go before we reach the flawless cabinet construction Jim is known for. Maybe by the second or third build she'll be there. 

Scott - Thank you very much. I can't think of any Fords worth restoring.  ........  Just razzin' ya buddy.   
But seriously, I think that would be a fantastic family project. Only problem is space, there's no where to put it. Oh...there's also that issue with money. 

Thanks again too all for the comments, she still enjoys reading them!

Bob

p.s. I got a nice think Parts Express catalog in the mail the other day. I'm thinking about leaving it in her room.
Just for ... "inspiration", ya know. 

[jtwrace]

jtwrace - Mom loves the idea. She's behind it 100%. As my person Director of Financial Affairs, this is the only project she's been behind in the past several years. To the point where she hasn't asked how much I've spent! She just wants Abbie to have some Daddy time. Had I known that, I should have gone for some Maggies, or maybe a seven foot tall line array.

Sounds like Abbie just needs to ask to build a line array with dad and it will happen.  How can anyone argue that actually doing something productive (with dad) and learning so many skills that can't be learned from a book is a bad thing?!?!?!

Oh well. I'm sure she'll need a better amp, so we'll go for a BottleHead, I'm sure.

Look forward to following that build.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks. I'll have to teach her what a line array is, before I have her 'parroting' to Mom about it. 

Another day in the book. Got a lot done.

Painting is horrible and boring. There's only one photo. Enjoy. haha
....after she felt like she accomplished something, I came along and got rid of all the brush strokes..... Shhhh.......don't tell.
Of course when she reads these threads, I don't let her see my comments.  



Ok, that's enough of that. Time to build some crossovers!

Missing are the photos of predrilling the holes to hold the components with cable ties after using hot glue to attach piece to wood base.
We have enough photos of the drill press.

Notice the "attitude" as she points out the laid out components, and just who is to credit for the feat. haha
We sat them in place, and traced the location with a pencil so when the hot glue goes on, they can be set down quickly in their proper location.






I showed her how to use the hot glue gun and where to lay the pieces.
The rest she did;



All components are glued on the wood blocks, time to install cable ties to ensure nothing ever rattles lose;











Ok....here's the best picture yet.


You ready?


Here's the definition of "pride in workmanship":



Getting ready to solder, so she cleans the insulation from the inductor leads with a razor.
Seems like a good time for Dad to have a glass of red, while I enjoy the show.



Stripping back wires that go from the crossover to the drivers;









Just got started with teaching the finer points of using a soldering station, but then the dinner bell rang.
That's it for today!
Have a great night folks.

Abbie (and, oh yea....Bob too)

[ctviggen]

Looking great!  Stripping wires with a sharp blade is one of the more dangerous things I've done -- I've cut myself multiple times doing that.  I may get a wire stripper made for that purpose (for romex, anyway) because of that.  Luckily, the cuts are never bad, just frequent.

[mcgsxr]

When I strip romex, I find it handy to put the wire on a flat surface, and apply the knife vs holding it in my hand while I do.

Helps me keep all 10 thumbs there they should be!

Love the progress, it helps that she has a mentor to walk her through all this.  My first set of speakers took forever, as I was inventing how to do most of the steps, all those years ago prior to the Interweb.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to a shot of a little one in the chair, enjoying those!

[Don_S]

I think Band-Aid number two has appeared on the same finger.

Looking great!  Stripping wires with a sharp blade is one of the more dangerous things I've done -- I've cut myself multiple times doing that.  I may get a wire stripper made for that purpose (for romex, anyway) because of that.  Luckily, the cuts are never bad, just frequent.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I think Band-Aid number two has appeared on the same finger.

It has. It's more of an issue with the rough edges of plywood against the tender soft skin of a nine year old girl.
To date, the roughest thing she's ever had to handle was notebook paper.

I taught her to always have the blade facing away from her body, so WHEN it slips, it'll veer off in a harmless direction.
There is one photo where she's scraping off the coating from the inductor wire and it looks like the blade is facing her, but it wasn't.

A continued THANK YOU for the comments, and words of encouragement. She loves reading them.
She has racked up many hours recently on the build, and decided to take the night off.

So here I am.  I want to sneak into the workshop and solder up the crossovers. 

Thanks again guys,
Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

.....but just because she's taking the night off, doesn't mean I can't sneak in there, do a final wood fill before we do the final prime paint.
She doesn't notice the little things like this. 
.....and since I'm in there, I might as well shoot a photo of the pieces.

It's these little things I do to keep the project on track and ensure the final product has an attractive (looking and sounding) level of quality.
I want her to be proud of these and will do everything I can to make sure that many years from now she holds these in high regard as solid,
good sounding speakers and doesn't pitch them in the trash like so many other adolescent projects wind up as we age and "move on".

Bob

[tull skull]

Bob thank you so much for this thread. There are tears in my eyes as I type this. This has truly blessed me. It is my opinion that you will not be able to measure the blessings coming your way, both now and in the future as a result of this investment in your precious daughter. Praying for safe covering over her.

[navin]

Bob thank you so much for this thread. There are tears in my eyes as I type this.

My sentiments exactly. Well said Tull Skull.

I was 11 or 12 when I built my first pair of speakers - a 3 way using all Philips drivers (that's all we used to get in India in the mid 70s). And this build takes me back some 30 odd years. Great going Abbie and Bob. You guys

However the ease at which Abbie tackled this project has got me thinking...maybe that TL would have not been so bad after all.