Question Which tools should I buy for building a speaker?

mattkhan

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I'm starting down the road of building my own speakers & coming up soon is the need to build a test box so I can measure the drivers in their cabinet and start on the crossover. To do this, I need a box. Therefore I need some tools with which to build said box as I have none right now. Therefore the question is what should I buy?

I'm not a regular DIYer and I'm not expecting to become one however I don't want to buy cheap, crap & annoying tools. I'm happy to spend a bit more, if it makes a material difference, to get something that will last a long time and be a good tool to use.

I'm unsure whether to build the cabinets out of baltic birch plywood or MDF atm & here's the design if it makes a difference, cabinet is about about 18" high, 20" wide and 6" (+/-1) deep

upload_2015-3-4_20-57-11.png


Tools I know I will need;

- some sort of (jig?)saw
- a router
- clamps

there's bound to be other stuff but I figure a saw and a router are the key items :)

What would you recommend?
 
A man who wants to talk woodworking, tools and jigs... I am in :)

Okay it depends on how mental you want to go, how much space you have and what sort of finish you want to achieve.

You could probably do what you want with a circular saw, maybe a router, maybe a mitre saw and a sander.

However you could go nuts and spend a few £££ on a table saw. It depends on how nuts you want to go and how much future use these tools would get.

As for jigs you might use them if you were using a table saw or router table but for hand tools you like circular saw you are really only going to need some clamps and a straight edge, like a 2400mm spirit level.

Like I said You can go nuts and if I had the money, the space and the time just now I would be being all sorts of stuff.

Col
 
I don't have loads of space unfortunately. I have a shed to store stuff in and I have a lean to in which I intend to do the work. Neither space is massive though so building my own sub cabinet, for example, would be tricky but a speaker is a fairly small box so I figure it's doable in the space available.

As to reuse, I think it will just be more speakers in the future. If these work well then I will build new surrounds & I have a 2nd 5.1 room to do in ~2 years time so I'd build those as well.
 
You want to have some way of repeating what you are doing so you get your cuts the same.

That could be (for example):
1) use a circular saw to cut the ply wood down into smaller, more manageable sizes - spend time to think about how to do this to maximise the plywood you have.

2) then (going by the picture you attached) you may want to use something like a mitre saw setup a set angle and make all your angled cuts.

-OR-

2) Setup a jig that gives you the angle you want and use a circular saw (I am thinking a cutting track).

I suppose as long as you have some space that is dry and you should be good.

One other suggestion on the material front. You could always go down the MDF route for your base material and then get a veneer that you can iron on... I seen a Youtube video once with someone doing that.
 
Tool Time !!!!
Over the years I have done alot of DIY and accumulated a reasonable collection of tools but if i could only keep 3 of them i would have my router, my chop saw and my table saw. if space is at a premium then i would go for a router, a compound miter saw, a good quality hand saw and a hand plane. this would cover you to do most things in a confined space for limited outlay, buy within your budget but dont by budget or you will have blunt tools in no time which will make working with them very difficult and make for an inferior job.
As weegie says start with MDF, its relatively cheap and easy to work with ( wear a mask when cutting it with power tools as the dust is harmful ) make a cutting list and take it to somwhere like B & Q who will cut the sheet up for you to your requirements, i think the first 3 cuts are free and then it's 50p per cut but this is worth it as you will get all your pieces the correct size with nice square edges.

hope this helps

sorry to prattle on but i enjoy this type of thing :facepalm::facepalm:
 
You can get a combined mitre and table top saw, I have a Dewalt DW711and it's been excellent. Depending on how you're going to joint the panels you may want a biscuit jointer, but buy a decent one otherwise you end up with sloppy joints.

As for finishing you could use vinyl wrap, it's easy to apply (once you get the knack) and there are many different finishes available.

PS you'll probably find your local timber yard better price wise and their cuts will likely be more accurate than B&Q.
 
You can get a combined mitre and table top saw, I have a Dewalt DW711and it's been excellent. Depending on how you're going to joint the panels you may want a biscuit jointer, but buy a decent one otherwise you end up with sloppy joints.

As for finishing you could use vinyl wrap, it's easy to apply (once you get the knack) and there are many different finishes available.

PS you'll probably find your local timber yard better price wise and their cuts will likely be more accurate than B&Q.

Good shout on the biscuit joiner, another piece of kit which would be worth investing in :thumbsup:
 
As for finishing you could use vinyl wrap, it's easy to apply (once you get the knack) and there are many different finishes available.

Vinyl wrap, I think that is what I was actually thinking of, the iron on stuff is more like for edge banding.
 
See Matt.. See what you have done... There are so many tools you can buy.
The table saw and mitre saw cambo @Ronski - are they hard to come by? I have seen them (your build being one of them) but not something I see on Screwfix (for example), I have seen the Evo ones in B&Q but they look very small and almost useless for anything big - just curious as something like that may server me well.
 
@WeegieAVLover I actually purchased my DW711 from Screwfix in January 2002, and IIRC it was hard to come by as the first one disappeared in transit and they had to send another out. It's still listed on Screwfix but out of stock, Dewalt do several versions and none seem available any more. Except some new on EBay in Italy, one old one that looks well knackered and a UK online store that wanted £660 :eek:

@AV Happy I also have a biscuit jointer :)
 
Frankly I have no idea how to make a decent box and I had to look up what a biscuit joiner is and to see whether it is commonly used in speakers. You got to start somewhere though!

From what I can see, people overwhelming use butt joints, a load of glue and clamps and then seal the inside with silicon. I can also see that various cabinet makers think this is a crime against cabinet making :)

One thing to remember here is that this is a test box so I don't need to finish it. I will need a router for sure (to round over the baffle edges to reduce diffraction effects) though.
 
Just to check, the mitre saw is for those angled cuts that will be needed for the sloping baffle right?

Any specific recommendations for the router and the compound mitre saw?
 
A biscuit jointer will greatly strengthen those butt joints.

A slide mitre saw would be used for the angled cuts, but you'd need to check the slide is long enough to accommodate the length of your cuts. Avoid budget males as they are not very accurate, any of the premium brands should be well up to the job.

Regarding the router watch the weight of it, I got a rather large Dewalt one but its rather heavy, great for 38 mm worktops, but rather heavy for routing smaller things.
 
I would recommend buying just a cordless drill/driver and a jigsaw.

For the larger cuts many of the large DIY Sheds offer a wood cutting service. http://www.trade-point.co.uk/services/timber-cutting/ I would think you will get a better and more accurate cut using this service than using your novice DIY skill's.

Use the jigsaw for cutting out the speaker openings.

The drill/driver for drilling and screwing together.

Instead of using a biscuit joiner to strengthen the joints I would recommend using this method http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P3Ku9vNyVPo/TsYkrPY01FI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/0yGfcxSSff0/s1600/block+joint.gif
 
fewer tools up front is good though the question is how would I roundover the baffle without a router? It seems impossible to me

Sand paper and elbow grease :eek:
 
The 3 tools I could not do wiv out would be,
My Bosch cordless drill (18v)
Circular saw (adjustable blade angle)
Jigsaw
I've paid out for the more expensive tools in there line (all Bosch ) as they will last longer and do a good job (accurately) , I don't know where I'd be wiv out those tools lol
Buy decent tools or ull end up buying again!
Wiv a circular saw u can use clamps wiv strait edge and make ur self a guide for strait lines (however long u need them)
Elbow grease and time will do and sanding/rounding job
 
Matt,
Circular saw/plunge saw for ripping or cutting your mdf sheets
drill/driver, for countersinking and fixing, always countersink mdf, basically its just like cardboard and will split.
1/4" router with 6 piece kit of bit for rebates and roundovers
Jigsaw.
Straight edge or 1200mm level with clamps for using as straight edge for circular saw.

People mentioned a biscuit joiner, in my opinion its not necessary a good polyurethane glue and screws with bracing would do just fine.

The green mdf is much denser than the light brown material will not fur up as much either when you machine it.
Car filler probably best for filling screw holes etc.
Carpenter 20yrs experience.

You get what you pay for at the end of the day personally all my woodworking kit is festool but the bosch,makita or dewalt range from bnq will serve you well, avoid real cheap tools as the guides and bases can be poorly machined.
if you need a shopping list for hand tools i could help out.

Ive provided a link for a makita plunge/track saw maybe a little expensive but perfect for ripping down sheet material, maybe a second hand one on ebay?
I use the festool version and it is invaluable for cabinet and fitting work, will give you perfect straight lines and remove the need for clamping a straight edge with a conventional saw.


Below is my arcade cabinet build, built from 18mm and 25mm mdf, houses a 32" monitor with 2x jbl control 1 and an arcam aplha 8 amp, all built with hand power tools no bench machinery.

ps, buying an 8x4ft sheet from a builders merchant is much cheaper than the smaller sections from bnq etc, personally i never use ply for cabinet construction, just my 2 cents.

Oh and perhaps overlooked but a good working table or set of at least 4 benches to support the material when machining and final construction.

Good luck dude!
 

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fewer tools up front is good though the question is how would I roundover the baffle without a router? It seems impossible to me

you can certainly do a roundover with a block plane and sandpaper, it requires a little bit of skill but practice on some scrap first.
 
Tape of course!
Adjustable square
1200mm level or straight edge for marking out
Solo clamps
2-3mm countersink drill bits
Stanley knife
Chisels come in handy for cleaning up corners your router cant reach
Block plane is great for chamfering the edges of boards
Larger sash clamps can be handy for holding things in place while you glue/screw

Couple of tips work in mm rather than inches.
Always keep a sharp pencil a blunt pencil can push your measurements out by 3-4mm
 
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One thing with building cabinets is if one side is out by a few mm it wont sit flat.
Once you get familiar with a router you can use this tool to copy your first cut side and use it as a template and route the others off of it.
When routing an outside edge (roundover) you move the router in an anti clockwise direction.
When routing an inside edge (speaker cutout or recess) you move the router in a clockwise direction.
Routers can be daunting but observing the correct cutting path will prevent the machine kicking out and damaging your work or at worst yourself.
 
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