This project will now grind to a near halt, due to the lack of squiggly lines. Other than attaching the feet and some cosmetic touch-up I can go no further. Changes made since the last update:
And now the visual tale as it stands today —>
Sir, I see all kinds of squiggly lines in your photos. I think you’re golden!
Kinda ironic, isn’t it? Being Windows free since '21 has been a great retirement boon, until now. 
Adequate reliable data has been acquired. Enough to take a shot with the original goal. Next step will be to determine if the baffle can be cut without destroying it. Otherwise July could be pretty slow going. I turn 69 on Saturday and we have an Alaska cruise on the docket for later in the month. If you’ve never taken a loved one with Alzheimer’s on a major bucket list vacation before, believe me, the anxiety will be, no, IS through the roof.
Looking for experience here on routing driver holes through paper-backed veneer over mdf. Should I score the veneer with a razor or exacto, cover with masking tape, both, neither or other? TIA.
I normally wood glue veneers down. I just have at it.
If your rebates are already cut, you veneered over them, and need to recut…no clue.
If it’s a fresh hole, a good sharp spiral downcut bit has worked for me. Just make sure that first pass is deep enough to go through the veneer and into the MDF a little. You have some crazy grain changes, so that does make things…worrying.
The holes are not cut, and I’m most worried about the seams where I switch from one veneer to another. I’ve used solid hardwood many times and have occasionally experienced a bit of tear-out. I’m just a bit spooked before that first cut.
My suggestion… Clamp something thin like 1/8-inch tempered hardboard (aka Masonite?) on top and use a brand new spiral down-cut but.
Always new blade/bit when mission critical.
If the rebate is over 1/8" deep they make shallow trim bits:
I wouldn’t trust that bit to trim veneer cleanly, but I also wouldn’t cut the holes first, then veneer.
I like the thought of clamping a thin layer of something like 1/8” Masonite or such on top, but I’d really have to be creative in my clamping to have space to spin my router. I basically need the whole territory of the baffle, and then some, to get 3 holes cut.
Use the yellow “delicate” painters tape to cover most of the baffle, but not where the router bit will cut. Then use double sided tape to tape the masonite to the tape-covered baffle. Press it together tightly and let it then sit for a few minutes and you probably don’t need clamps.
The double sided tape I get at Menards is VERY strong and will damage the veneer if you don’t cover it with painters tape. I usually use the blue tape, but in this case I’d use the yellow.
I need not have worried. With nothing more than a new Whiteside bit and some blue tape to protect the surface, the holes and recesses for the drivers and port have been cut without incident.
Sans measuring gear, these should be making noise soon based on voodoo, experience and triangulation with known projects. Since they offer little groundbreaking to this community, I doubt I’ll even drag them to DIY Iowa unless by some miracle they end up stupid good.
If you have the room, I say bring them! I doubt mine will sound particularly good - maybe not even ‘fair’ considering my lack of experience - but they still might inspire some great discussion and ideas for future projects.
Well, let’s not get the cart too far ahead of the horse, but we’ll see. If nothing else they’d probably win a Kg/L contest.
Based on my experience with other gatherings.. We might try our best, but If we all brought only our best work, then there would probably be few in attendance… or everyone would bering the same pair of speakers each time. There is always a chance for others to learn something. Especially if something didn’t quite work out. Being able to hear the result of a problem can be very helpful to others in case they experience a similar situation. We all get to experience it and possibly discuss potential solutions.
You make good points. It isn’t always about the 10 minutes of playing time. Just the concepts people come up with, and often pull off well, are a good part of the draw. So is the workmanship. But many of the projects I’ve wanted to emulate have debuted in raw MDF or plywood. Takes a village, I guess.
I’ve certainly had more science, more collaboration, and more listening time into past projects, but I wouldn’t have tried to build these just a few years ago. Let’s see how the roster fills and go from there.
Hey Rich, If you make it to IowaDIY in Oct, I have a Dayton mic I’ll give you - if I can still find it.
