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Once we have decided and measured all of our pieces now it's time to cut. I want to say after 15 years in car audio if you hear nothing else I say take this to heart "USE SAFETY GOGGLES AND HEARING PROTECTION" I can't stress the agony of a Dr. fishing a piece of MDF out of your eyeball and then the Emergency room bill that follows. Put that money in your ride not the Dr's. The straighter the cuts the better the box will fit and the better it will seal in the joints. Try not to stray from your marks this will cause a chance of air leaking from that joint. If you do you can use Liquid nail or some other form of sealant but I try to avoid using anything other than good wood glue. Once all of your pieces are cut now it is time to fasten the enclosure together. First start with the back and add the top and bottom pieces. You want to use a good healthy dose of wood glue. You can never have too much it wipes right off if there is any oozing out from the seams. To fasten the enclosure there are two choices nail gun or screws. If you go the nail gun route line up all your corners and nail away. There is no such thing as to many nails I usually put them two to three inches apart. If you go the screw route you need to pre drill every hole two to three inches apart so as to not split the wood. Once you have predrilled the holes take a drill bit the size of the screw head and make a countersunk hole so the head of the screw is not above the surface of the wood. There is an item that is available from Sears that makes this process a whole lot easier it is Sears Item #00967059000 a true time saver. Once you have all your pilot holes drilled start screwing the top and bottom to the back. Once your top and bottom are attached now we can add our sides and our divider to our box. Once these are in place it is now time to seal the enclosure, I always take glue and run it around all the seams in my box then take some saw dust and sprinkle those on the excess glue this makes a real good seal in your seams. Now you can add the front or face of the enclosure. Once the front is on we now need to mark the place were or speakers are going to go. There are a couple ways to make the opening perfect. My favorite way is to use the cardboard ring from the box the speaker came in and use the ring as a template.
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The other way is to lay your speaker flat and draw the circle on the box, next measure the mounting edge and subtract that from the circle you drew on your enclosure. Often this second option is not always the best but if you are not lucky enough to have the original box the speaker came in this might be your option. Once you have your mounting holes cut I recommend setting the speaker in the box to ensure it fits before going on. I also recommend pre drilling all my screw mounting holes in the enclosure. Please do not use dry wall screws to fasten the speaker to the enclosure. This bends the metal of the speaker chassis and will void your warranty with a lot of speaker makes. Use a good #10 pan head screw for this. Make sure you provide a way to wire your speaker to your amp. Two ways drill a hole and run your wire through the hole (make sure you seal the hole) or buy a good speaker terminal cup. You have just built your new box. I know that not all boxes are going to turn out perfect I hated building boxes at first. When I first started building boxes they were horrible and resembled more of a nightmare then a box. Over time I got better and now I love building boxes. If you need any help please email me I'm always into helping someone design and build a great sounding enclosure. I know that this article is not going to fit everyone and is for simple box building but we all have to start somewhere. It is hard to write about something that can be very complex. I wish I had some simple instruction like this when I started building boxes. Remember if it looks bad and sounds bad you can always use it as a piece of furniture in your shop. Old boxes make great junk bins.Until next month remember if it's to loud she's to old for you.Ben HusserSSM: LaynbdyEmail:Laynbdy@midsouth.rr.com
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