Speaker Cabinet #1 for Amp #2

Yesterday I made two new baffles for the second attempt at cutting out the speaker holes. Here is a picture with my template nailed to the backside of the baffle. I'm using a flush trim bit in my router, the bearing will ride against my template making for a nice round cutout.


This time I cut a smaller circle using my jig saw to allow for any slop in the cutout. I also didn't have to try to make a perfect circle. Which made it a lot quicker and easier to cut. You can see that I have a good 1/4" of wood that I'll need to remove with the router bit.

Here's the hole after removing all of the extra wood.

Finally, two baffles I can be proud of.

Here I'm lining up the speaker with the hole to make sure it is centered. From the backside I then used a center punch to mark the holes. Carefully drilled almost all the way through the baffle and installed 4 Wood screw/machine screw studs into the back of the baffle.

This is the backside of the baffle. I used my speaker for a guide.

Here is the bottom plate for Speaker Cabinet #1. I had to route the baffle Dado (Left to right, at the bottom of the pic). And a rear Dado for some gussets and nailers for the rear panels, that are removable. I'm using Tightbond III waterproof glue for these cabinets.

I had to work quick to get the sides and the baffle in place. I didn't have time to take pics on each placement. The top went on next (to the right in the background)

Here's the cabinet all glued up. I used some 18ga. brads, using my air nailer to clamp everything in place and to provide some more strength. Through the cutout you can see the rear gussets. I'm also going to add strips in the dado to act as a base for the rear panels to screw into and to strengthen the rear part of the box a little more. These should make a good seat, with a chair height of 20 inches they should be about perfect to sit on.

It was getting late, but I was able to make the front trim. This will add some width to the front of the cabinet and make it look thicker from the front.

Another pic of the nearly completed Cabinet #1. Cabinet #2 will go together in a few minutes. I figure I only have about 2-3 more hours of work get these and the head ready for covering.

This is the backside of #1.