Sealing a speaker box.

[sawzalot]

The spackle I got turns white when dried.

I am really just airing on the side of caution and I need to patch up the plywood seams for painting anyway.

How about a couple of pics I would really like to see before the paint,and of course after the paint also.Heck even I managed to post some pics at the end of the original perfect kappa thread, plug plug , lets see your fine work ,any time you do it yourself you can be proud of the achievement .I am sure they are gonna look great. .

 

[lsiberian]

I just caught this one post and wanted to caution against using Spackle in any speaker. I didn't do any laboratory testing but I suspect that it might turn to dust under vibration. Even under Formica, Bondo is used.

Just my 2 cents but you've been warned.

I hadn't heard that before, but thanks for the heads up. I guess I have some spackle around. never know when one might find use for it.

And I will get pictures at some point.

 

[ErinH]

Bottom line is this:
The box is a structural item. If the seams are as bad as you make it sound, the integrity of that structure has been compromised.

Sealant should be used as that – sealant. Seal up the seams for piece of mind, or seal up a hole you may have punched for the speaker wire to go through. But using it as reinforcement, imho, is a bad idea.

If you’re at that point, I think you need to rebuild it.

And FWIW, when you buy the wood from HD or Lowe’s they can cut it for you. All you need are the dimensions. Typically their cuts are within 1/8” tolerance which is good enough for a box build paired with some silicone for small cracks in the seam.

 

[lsiberian]

Bottom line is this:
The box is a structural item. If the seams are as bad as you make it sound, the integrity of that structure has been compromised.

Sealant should be used as that – sealant. Seal up the seams for piece of mind, or seal up a hole you may have punched for the speaker wire to go through. But using it as reinforcement, imho, is a bad idea.

If you’re at that point, I think you need to rebuild it.

And FWIW, when you buy the wood from HD or Lowe’s they can cut it for you. All you need are the dimensions. Typically their cuts are within 1/8” tolerance which is good enough for a box build paired with some silicone for small cracks in the seam.

It isn't that bad. The boxes are solid. The weakness is probably the wood and not the joints.(This is my way of saying the joints are strong.)

I don't think a gap or 2 requires me to rebuild the boxes. Especially since the gap is on the corner. The titebond stuff is very strong and i'm very impressed with it. But I just like to be thorough and I also believe in redundancy were possible.

Sure they can cut the wood, but that takes away one of the most fun parts for me.
I'm not in this just for the speakers. I'm in this to learn. The boxes will be good enough for their application. I'm not building a house after all. I'm building 3 low cost speakers.

 

[ErinH]

It isn't that bad. The boxes are solid. The weakness is probably the wood and not the joints.(This is my way of saying the joints are strong.)

I don't think a gap or 2 requires me to rebuild the boxes. Especially since the gap is on the corner. The titebond stuff is very strong and i'm very impressed with it. But I just like to be thorough and I also believe in redundancy were possible.

Sure they can cut the wood, but that takes away one of the most fun parts for me.
I'm not in this just for the speakers. I'm in this to learn. The boxes will be good enough for their application. I'm not building a house after all. I'm building 3 low cost speakers.

That was a post mainly for anyone else seeing your thread who might be interested in building their own box and confused as to why there's all these suggestions for simply sealing up the interior. A few others hit the nail on the head (no pun intended) and I just wanted to back their posts up.

I’m not telling you to redo it, but a couple of your posts in combination with the suggestion of bondo to fill the holes made me think these gaps are larger than just small holes.

Yea, building it is the best part. Sure. But, if you’re in a rush, or you simply don’t have the means, there’s no shame in having them cut it for you. I built 4 separate enclosures for one driver once… I had HD cut them all. Probably saved me a day when it only cost me about 30 minutes of waiting and a few bucks tip to the dude who cut it for me to show him my appreciation (and so I didn't have to pay the $.25/cut fee to the store).


Enjoy your box. Use silicone… call it a day. If you need more than what silicone can do you need a new box.
Sounds like you’re good to go, though. Rock n Roll! Let us know how it sounds.

 

[lsiberian]

That was a post mainly for anyone else seeing your thread who might be interested in building their own box and confused as to why there's all these suggestions for simply sealing up the interior. A few others hit the nail on the head (no pun intended) and I just wanted to back their posts up.

I’m not telling you to redo it, but a couple of your posts in combination with the suggestion of bondo to fill the holes made me think these gaps are larger than just small holes.

Yea, building it is the best part. Sure. But, if you’re in a rush, or you simply don’t have the means, there’s no shame in having them cut it for you. I built 4 separate enclosures for one driver once… I had HD cut them all. Probably saved me a day when it only cost me about 30 minutes of waiting and a few bucks tip to the dude who cut it for me to show him my appreciation (and so I didn't have to pay the $.25/cut fee to the store).


Enjoy your box. Use silicone… call it a day. If you need more than what silicone can do you need a new box.
Sounds like you’re good to go, though. Rock n Roll! Let us know how it sounds.

I agree with the convenience part. Lowe's has a very nice cutting tool they use. I didn't know they would take tips. I'm considering having them cut the large pieces of the sub box actually. Due to it's size.

 

[GlocksRock]

When my friend and I built my last set of speaker boxes for my car subwoofers, we didn't have a table saw so the boxes weren't cut super straight, but when we assembled them, we used plenty of wood glue, then when the boxes were dry, we used generous amounts of caulk on the inside and a little bit on the outside, then sanded the edges. Once all was said and done the boxes were airtight.

The bottom line is, use plenty of wood glue when assembling the box, and when it's assembled and dry, just use some caulk on the inside and you will be good to go.

 

[lsiberian]

When my friend and I built my last set of speaker boxes for my car subwoofers, we didn't have a table saw so the boxes weren't cut super straight, but when we assembled them, we used plenty of wood glue, then when the boxes were dry, we used generous amounts of caulk on the inside and a little bit on the outside, then sanded the edges. Once all was said and done the boxes were airtight.

The bottom line is, use plenty of wood glue when assembling the box, and when it's assembled and dry, just use some caulk on the inside and you will be good to go.

I think my guide wasn't very good, but i have an orbital sander so it's not that hard to fix. some 60 sand paper easily evens the edges. I just sat on the corners a little to long. I figure seal the corners with something paintable and then i'll be fine. Plus bondo is used on the seams I believe.

 

[pjoseph]

You can buy a small size of bondo from auto parts stores, that is where I have purchased it in the past.