More progress!
Speaker hole cutout in the front baffle and recessed for flush mounting! The jasper circle jig I have only goes to 18-3/16 with a 1/4" bit which is pretty much exactly what the driver measures... SO rather than have it end up being too tight I just threw in my half inch straight cut bit and used the 18" hole giving me 18-1/4 recess. Used calipers to measure the thickness of the flange and set the depth stop for that perfectly flush fit
Next up was drilling the holes for the inserts. I don't have a drill press but I do have access to one so rather than drag the whole baffle to the drill press I used it to drill some holes in a scrap piece of MDF and then used that as a guide to keep the bit straight. Worked great.
Because of the thickness of the baffle I then had to recess the inserts a little bit. I could have got longer bolts but did not want to do that. Since the hole was already drilled and the cleanest cutting drill bit I have is a forstner bit (which requires a place to center) I used the router with that 1/2" straight bit again and plunged it down to create the recesses. The bonus here is now I have a small pocket to fill in which will seal the bolt holes from allowing air leaks.
After the holes were drilled and recesses cut I rounded over the back of the baffle with the 3/4" roundover. There will be a large amount of air rushing past this area coming from the cone.
Inner baffle glued in and the port cutout with the flush trim bit after the glue dried.
Next up was gluing on the outer baffle. This meant covering both surfaces with wood glue. I did not want wood glue dripping down the port so I cut a piece of foam and stuffed it in there to contain the squeeze out.
Gluing on the outer baffle. I used 3 of the same size drill bits I drilled the insert holes in the baffle with to line up the holes once again for perfect alignment since I had the two baffles clamped together when I drilled them but needed to attach them to the box one at a time.
Front baffle glued up and again the port hole cut out and rounded over. Now Is when I screwed and epoxied in the threaded inserts for the driver. I installed the bolts so that I could see how straight they were going in and make corrections. Worked great. I decided to use 2 part epoxy after testing with the CA, gorilla glue and the PL premium. Figured the epoxy would hold the strongest and did not really think of epoxy until Ares Mentioned it.
Nice thing about this stuff is it has the mixing tube so there is no messing with mixing it and then having to try and apply it. But of course you waste half the darn thing in the tube. Half for this sub half for the next one
I have used this stuff in the past and it is pretty strong.
Wanted to test fit the driver and screw it in just to be sure everything lined up perfectly and was going to be no problem before I get the cabinet too far done to fix a problem. The bolt holes in the driver are just simply too small for 1/4-20 bolts. I ran the 1/4 bit through them and they fit better but unless the alignment with the bolt holes is absolutely dead on and perfectly squared it was a little too tight for comfort. No problem. I ran a 9/32 bit through the holes to open them up another 32nd. Much better fit. Also when bolting them in I will use a little thread lube just because it makes the threads go in so much smoother.
Luckily all my holes line up fine and everything fits perfect. The way that the driver was made the holes in the rubber surround do not line up perfectly with the holes in the cast frame causing the bolt heads to smoosh over the rubber in a few holes. But... that's what I get for being a perfectionist.
I currently have the clamps back on the box attaching the rest of the bracing that attaches the front baffle to the rest of the internal bracing. A couple more days and I will be putting the top on and starting to get it ready for paint.
The other one is much further behind. I have only today attached the rear panel to the bottom panel/port which I had already glued up.
I must say thing thing is turning into a BEAST. I can no longer pick it up. Just too big and too heavy. And that is without the top or the driver. It really is obscenely big compared to most commercial subwoofers. And built like a freakin' tank.
Thats all for now. Until next time.