Help Needed For Speaker Cabinet

hi! .. i was off on a weekend trip so couldnt check with yur cabinet lately .. anyway...
the tube silicon? .. that transparent thingie? are you sure it will work? cuz the stick silicon is really thick and would have sealed the holes pretty nicely .. i dunno what consitency is this tube silicon .. but it could work :S i think...
so are you still getting the supplies or have you started work on the project?

 

I have collected all that's required to make the cabinet. It was difficult to get the Cabinet Handles but got them too in Chennai. I couldn't get information about raw leather, so decided to go with Rexin. Today evening or tomorrow I will start off with the assembling work.

 

coool ... do post pics as you go along (if possible)

 

Good idea. I will post pictures at every stage :beer:

 

@Shahrukh. Dropped the idea of getting Rexin. Went yesterday and bought good Leather. It costed a bomb but I thought what the hell and bought it. It's a proper finished leather. I couldn't get much choice of colours. The one I bought is kinda pale orange in colour. I am not getting good cloth for the grill, so I am planning to just use the metal grill and cover the speakers alone for protection.

Anyway, yesterday, I assembled the front, sides, top and bottom of the cabinet. I also painted them with Asian Paint Touch Wood on all the sides including the inside. Gave around 2 coats, so that the wood is protected. Left it for drying. Today I will get some L-Clamps fixed inside, so that the joints are strong and the cabinet wont give up for heavy vibrations. I will also seal all the corner with the Silicon Gel. Tomorrow will be speaker installation and first round of testing. If everything goes on well, then will go ahead and stick the leather.

Felt pretty guilty to buy so much leather : . Bought about 20 sq feet of sheep leather. Conscience is kinda killing me from yesterday. :annoyed:

 

use fevicol SR

Hey Ananad, why did you need to buy 20 sq ft of leather? I would have thought a decent size cabinet would need no more than 5 sq ft, allowing for wastages?

And, be sure to use Fevicol SR to stick the leather. The SR is specially designed only for stuff like leather, wood etc.

 

Sanjiv, I actually wanted about 18 sqft. The cabinet required 2.5ft x 1.5ft two pieces and 2.5ft x 1ft two pieces plus 1.5ft x 1ft two pieces. Calculate and you will know I cannot do anything with 5sqft. Anyway the cabinet is a 2x12 one. On the front and back is it 2.5ft x 1.5ft. The sides are 2.5ft x 1 ft.

I still feel guilty about that leather. Should have gone for the Rexin. Anyway since I have bought I will go ahead and use it.

 

By the way I had to spend 30% extra for wastages. They dont just cut the size I want and give me.

I will use Fevicol SR. Even the shop keeper insisted on the same thing.

 

One More Update on the Cabinet.
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Fixed 6 2" L-Clamps on the inside to hold the joints in place hard and strong. There were tiny air holes here and there along the edges. So sealed them completely from both the inside as well as the outside using GE Silicon Gel. Thanks for Shahrukh for the idea. It must have cured by now. Work for the next two or three days will be to cover the whole cabinet with leather and then fix the speakers and the handles.
After that I can give the connection and test it out.

 

WOW pale orange leather!!! MAN it would look so se.xy! .. reminds me of old orange crush amps ...
anyway ... ronnie .. as long as the amp looks good .... and doesnt seems to be a cheap job . no price is tooo high ... but just be careful when you cut the leather .. you dont want a second trip to the market ..
measure twice cut once ..
and yeah dont forget the pictures!!

will u be suing the screws alongwith the L clamps to hold the cab?

 

What is suing the screws. I have just screwed the L Clamp. Is there something more I have to do.

 

:nw::nw::nw:

 

sorry my typo ... i meant using the screws .. i just wanted to know whether you will be using the screws to hold the cab in the end or are you gluing the pieces?
by L clamps you do mean the "clamps" right ... as in temporary jig? .. or do you mean the inner L struts?

 

confused, sorry

You are right Anand, got confused in sq ft and sq mtrs. 20 sq mtrs seemed too big.

Post some in between pictures as well. Spoke to the transformer guy for the valave amp today. Work on the output transformer should start tomorrow

 

@Shahrukh. The joints are held together using about 5 screws on each side. In addition to this I have also put 6 L shaped 2" inch iron clamps to give stronger reinforcement. I just wanted to be double sure that the cabinet is not going to break.
After fixing all these, I used Silicon Gel liberally to seal in any air hole between the gaps. I used this Gel along the entire length wherever joints are made. Leaving the whole thing for about 2 days to cure. I guess that should be good enough.

Tomorrow or day after will start pasting the leather. After this dries, then I can give a shot at connecting the speakers.

By the way I am thinking of using nut and bolt to put the speaker in place instead of screws. Nuts and Bolts in my opinion will be stronger. Any ideas or suggestions.

 

Dont have a Digicam for myself. Have to borrow it. Let me see if I can do something about it. Moreover I dont know how to use a Digicam :rock: . I am severely outdated :beer: .

All the best for your output transformer.

 

Hey Sanjiv,
I will be left with extra leather, so I am planning to make the Amp Cabinet also in Wood and cover it by that Leather. This way it will be kinda matching the Speaker Cabinet. It might look as if they were bought together as a "Round Dhal" Half Stack. You were telling me about some cabinet maker. Can he help in making a steel sheet which will be painted and printed according to my spec.

Started as a cheaper alternative to MG15CD but the thing is getting more expensive because of all the fancy things I am trying to do.

 

what is the revised cost estimate now?

 

Another Update
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I have pasted Leather on all the sides. Doesn't look as great as I expected it to look.
Actually the leather has become dirty in 1000s of places. Is there any way I can clean the leather and make it look new. :help: :help: The leather is new by the way.

Anyway tomorrow I will try covering the edges with bushes and also fix the handles. If the whole thing looks horrible I will try to colour the leather with pigment.

I guess loading the speaker and wiring will be done by Sunday. If that's all done and goes fine, then I will start my work on the Amp Head.

If you want a similar cabinet for yourself, dont ask me to make it. It's an aweful amount of work :annoyed: . I will give you directions and you make it yourself.

 

Heavens. Dont even dream of it as a cheap replacement to MG15CD as it was planned before. But you could also do it in the same cost of an MG15CD if you dont mind the looks.

But for the cost of an MG15CD, you can get yourself a good amp with two independent channels and a nice 2x12 Speaker Cabinet. Adding an inbuilt overdrive is just a matter of Rs.300. You will have a pretty large sound. Seriously MG15CD sounds like a toy when played through a 1x12 Speaker Cabinet. With the same hope I am making myself a 2x12. Maybe later a 4x12 Cabinet and a tube amp : .
With all these interests, my career is going down the drain :beer: :rock: :beer: