Waiting...

I've was practically peeing my pants all last week in anticipation of that sweet sweet vinyl so I can finish up the amp and cabinet enclosures...

To my dismay, the package arrived with the grill cloth and piping, but no vinyl.  Evidently my vinyl was back ordered and I have to wait another week or two.  Bllllalaaarrrhhghghgh!!! /shakes fists at sky

In the meantime, I constructed a frame for the grill, and painted the inside of the amp enclosure.  Also, I built an amp enclosure.

Amp enclosure, unpainted (in case you couldn't tell)

Since the inside of the enclosure will be partially visible, I just hit it with a few coats of black spray paint.

I also put the cabinet pieces together and stared longingly at it.

It says to me "I'm naked!  I need my vinyl covering!"

I guess all good things come to those who wait, and I'm stuck until the vinyl arrives.  I can only hope that the package is delivered by Gandalf, on his mighty steed, Shadowfax.  I heard that horse can run fast.

No more Outkast puns for my guitar cabinet

Not much time to work on the cabinet last night...  Did manage to get the edges rounded, holes for the handles cut, and test fit the hardware.

Used 1/2'' round router bit for those smooth as a baby bottom edges.

Harsh edges

Smooooth edges, like yacht rock

Better be sure to draw the proper outline for the handles.  I did it right on the first try, which rarely happens.

Finally, the cabinet and I turned the lights down, and I dolled her up with some corner hardware, a side handle, and just for fun, a top handle (which will eventually be on the amplifier enclosure)

I'm a pretty girl!

This must be the feeling that young ladies get when they dress up their dolls...

Well, silly me.... I'm not getting my vinyl and grill cloth delivered until next week, so I'm kind of at a stand still.  Maybe this weekend I can get proper enclosure ready for the amplifier, but other than that, I'm stuck until the vinyl arrives.

The Cab Below

Yo ho!  Had an interesting time tonight working on the cabinet.  I know my speaker needs a circular hole of 11'' diameter... so I pounded a nail into the center, and tied a string (5.5'' length) around the nail and to a pencil.  I don't have a proper compass... oh well.  I drilled a 1/2'' hole near the edge of the cutout region, and then cut the circle out freehand with my brand jigsaw... the one that I bought JUST for this project.  Hooray for new tools!

Gonna cut me a hole... gonna put a speaker in it

Black spray paint for the baffle. 

I learned from searching forums that you should probably paint your baffle black... otherwise the light wood will show throw the speaker grill.

In order to secure the backplate and baffle to the enclosure, I added battens (I still am not sure that's what they're called) of 3/4x3/4 all the way around the interior for both sides.

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Then I still had time to cut a hole for the jack plate in the back panel  I cut the hole a tad too big... but it's still going to be workable.  I'll remember to cut the holes for the handles a wee bit too small; you can always make the hole bigger!

That jack plate, by the way, is awesome.  You hook up two 8 ohm speakers to it, and by using different inputs, you can get either a 4, 8, or 16 ohm impedance... awesome.

I also stopped by ax man to pick up that awesome red vinyl... but they were sold out!  Oh well.. that's what I get for not purchasing right away from ax man.

I ended up purchasing some similar vinyl from Mojotone.com, as well as some piping and grill cloth.

ETA for handles/corners, tomorrow night.  ETA for the mojotone stuff, two days.

Awwww yeah!

Speakerboxxx

Allrighty... I got the frame built, glued, and screwed.  Since my table saw is el busted, I used a circular saw (and a straight edge) to cut a speaker baffle and a back plate out of my 3/4'' birch ply.  Things are starting to take shape, and I'm totally stoked.

Yeah, I'm a speaker box and I'm tough, natch.

Speaker baffle with speakers outlines penciled in

I think my next step here is to cut out the speaker holes... I'm thinking I can draw the cut out hole, and then it with a jigsaw.  It doesn't have to be pretty, since it's going to be covered by a speaker grill.  Any tips on cutting large (11'' diameter) holes in wood?  I was considering fabricating a jig for my router... but that might just be more work than it's worth.

I will also need to add some battens to support the baffle and back panel, cut a hole for the jack plate in the back panel, and cut holes for the handles in the side panels.  Then I'll need to round all of the edges for that special feel.

This amp will also be covered in vinyl... I saw some awesome vintage looking red vinyl at Ax-Man, so hopefully they still have it in stock... maybe I can even find some grill cloth!

Speakerboxx/The cab below

After much ado, I've finally gotten around to assembling the cabinet.  I'm going to make a 2x12 cabinet with some speakers out of a crate GLX 212.  Crate doesn't want to release the Thiele Small speaker parameters, so I'm just gonna make a cab, pop 'em in, and see how it sounds, because I'm flying by the seat of my pants, and have only a small clue as to what I'm doing.

Construction begins with 3/4'' birch plywood.  Unfortunately, while I was ripping the pieces down to size, my table saw decided to lock up, and start spewing thick clouds of smoke into the basement, setting off the fire alarm, and terrifying the cat.  Luckily, I have access to another (nicer) table saw, and was able to get the pieces cut to size.

I'm cutting what I think are called Dado joints to join the sides.  The table saw left some nasty ridges, so I hit 'em with some sandpaper to calm them down.

Pre sanding

so fresh and so smooth, smooth

In order to strengthen up the joint, I put what I think are called "battens" in the corners.  I'm not too familiar with carpenter lingo, so someone yell at me if I got that wrong.  Also, praise me if I got it right.

Clamp 'em down and screw 'em in!

It turns out that clamps are expensive... I'd spend hundreds of dollars on proper clamps if I wanted to get this box done all in one shot.  Instead I got a couple of 90 degree clamps and I'll do one side at a time.  I suppose I could have gotten 8 of the corner clamps, but they're $8 a piece... I guess I'll just have to take this build slow.

A ton of glue, obviously.

Time to let the joint cure, and then it's time for side #2. I'm hoping to get the rest of the sides done tomorrow night, then I can start working on the baffle and the back plate.  Wooo!