Bantams again...

[tomzarbo]

So I have two co-workers in need of tunes and I think smaller is the right way to go when speaker giving is a surprise. They're both ladies also, and I don't want to be rude.... I'm not sure how much room either would want to devote to a 'stereo' system in their homes.

This is the original 'Bantam' thread from awhile back: http://techtalk.parts-express.com/fo...speaker-system

Rut-Row.... I think my cat likes to sniff glue? That explains a lot really...

I just used tape in place of clamps as per a recent thread on Tech Talk for assembling mitered cabinets...

More...

[tomzarbo]

...The baffle will be glued on afterwards and will have rounded sides like the .04 cu. ft. Denovo cabs PE sells. I'm thinking I may wrap the veneer around the sides and front like Matt did on his recent 'passive aggressive' small speakers, it's a real nice look.

That was easy. I had parts for 5 of these cut out and gluing up in under 3 hours! One is a test box because I cut a few too many panels.

I'm planning on pairing them with a few of the little buyout PR subwoofers in striped ebony I finished a few weeks ago: http://techtalk.parts-express.com/fo...66#post1368066

...And PE's new 2.1 bluetooth amp: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...pply--300-3830
Kevin has been letting me borrow this for a few weeks and it really makes the Bantams and subwoofer sing very nicely. I've actually watched a few movies with this exact setup and didn't miss my "big" HT system at all really.

Small speakers like these are pretty cool because you can get 'exotic' with the veneers. I have a bunch of 'fancy' veneers in 8" by 3' long pieces, time to pick a nice one... what fun!

TomZ

[Paul K.]

Cats definitely are curious. Our cat, B.J., always knows when something has been relocated or is new in a room, doing exactly what your cat is doing in your photo, Tom. When I bring up a couple or more new bottles of wine from the basement and place them on the rack in the dining room, B.J. has to go smell them just to make sure they're "okay" apparently. Nothing gets by him and if the new item looks odd, B.J. will sneak up on it out of concern.
Paul

[ceiol]

wow, you are exact with those cuts. that must be to within 1/64" or 1/32" of an inch.

nice work!

[tomzarbo]

wow, you are exact with those cuts. that must be to within 1/64" or 1/32" of an inch.

nice work!

Thanks!
I have a good table saw and I take my time getting my angles right.
And I never trust the miter gauge -- I use a square to make sure the saw angle is correct. I've made that mistake before.
TomZ

[KEtheredge87]

Well done sir! Taped miters are the best things ever! I used them to make some soundbar cabinets for Brandon a while back... I'd much rather do something Bantam sized though! making a ~50" long x 5" tall miter box from 1/2" MDF was...interesting.

You always have some interesting veneer choices too. Can't wait to see where these end up!

[Kevin K.]

I still haven't seen one of these up close but it looks tiny compared to kitty cat.

[tomzarbo]

The front baffles are glued on and profiled...

I did a 1/2" roundover on the sides and just a part of a 1.25" roundover to shallowly radius the top and bottom. I thought it would be a cool look.
I'm going to wrap one piece of veneer around the sides and front. So I'll veneer, in order... back, front/sides, then top/bottom. Trimming the top/bottom is pretty standard with a trimming bit and a steady hand. It will be a bit tricky to trim the front where the shallow curve is, so I'll do that before the top and bottom so I don't bugger them up.

One pair is going to be done in striped ebony to match the subwoofer, and the other pair will be waterfall bubinga. These little buggers make good use of all the veneer scraps that I tend to save.

I think I'll let these sit for a few weeks before proceeding just to let the wood move a bit. I can work on the crossovers in the meantime since I have the passive radiators/crossover mounting panels already in house.

Keith, I can't imagine gluing up a cabinet that big with tape... that must've been fun!
Yeah, Kevin, these things are kind of tiny. 6.5" tall... the whole cabinet is hardly as big as a proper woofer! They sure boogie, though.

TomZ

[tomzarbo]

I've been able to get a little more done on these. I've been basically waiting for the MDF to 'settle' a bit before veneering these. I only have to trim the top/bottoms to these to be ready to rock and roll with driver cut-outs and finishing.



It was a bit of a challenge to get the front/sides of the veneer trimmed up. I ended up using the same big bit I used to make the partial roundovers for the top and bottom, but on the striped ebony boxes, I accidentally trimmed them in the wrong orientation (with the box sitting on the top/bottom instead of the front) so that partial roundover is a little more pronounced...no big deal, but just not what I intended. I actually made an extra box and used that to try and figure out how the box should be oriented when trimming the veneer, but since it was difficult to tell, I ended up doing it wrong anyway.

Next time, I'll take notes on how I orient the cabinet when routering, but I didn't anticipate it being a problem. But that's the problem with problems, right?

Anyway, trimming the veneer on these should be fairly straightforward. I'll use a flush trim bit set for minimal depth for the majority of the trimming except for the curved portion on the front. For that I'll drop the bit down a bit to ride on the curve and very carefully trim that portion as well. It all works in my head anyway.

The veneers are striped ebony and waterfall bubinga.

Oh, and a little tip in case you didn't know it... Don't use veneer softeners on reconstituted veneers to soften them if you use the iron-on method, it tends to remove a bit of the dye used to make the grain patterns. I can't tell any difference looking at the veneer itself, but the veneer print did lightly show up on the cotton cloth I used between the piece and the iron. Of course I spritzed a bit of the softener on the veneer right as I was ironing it on as there were a few small cracks showing up, which isn't the best way to use softener anyway...but I've done that on natural veneers with no issues.

TomZ

[Kevin K.]

Looking great Tom. Good luck on the veneer trimming.

[tomzarbo]

Looking great Tom. Good luck on the veneer trimming.

Thanks Kevin,

It came out alright I guess. Spritzed a little water on it to show the grain a bit. The top/bottom curve near the front on the bubinga speaker is really nice looking, doesn't show up too well in a pic. I like that profile a lot better than the other for my tastes.



I'll probably start cutting out the driver openings in a few days after the veneer settles down a bit.

Guess I'll need to get the amp modded pretty soon as well. I think I'll practice on some junk boards around here with some SMT stuff to get the hang of soldering microscopic doo-dads again.

TomZ

[KEtheredge87]

...It was a bit of a challenge to get the front/sides of the veneer trimmed up. I ended up using the same big bit I used to make the partial roundovers for the top and bottom...

... trimming the veneer on these should be fairly straightforward. I'll use a flush trim bit set for minimal depth for the majority of the trimming except for the curved portion on the front. For that I'll drop the bit down a bit to ride on the curve and very carefully trim that portion as well. It all works in my head anyway.

Hey Tom! Looking AWESOME! I dig that long and shallow roundover look too. I'll probably borrow that technique on a future build myself

A few questions to that end... Do I understand correctly that you used a big ol' 1.25" roundover bit as a veneer trimmer on this project? I may be overthinking it, but I can't see how that works out. Additionally, it looks like you were able to follow the curve just fine and trim the veneer around the front of the cabinet (as viewed moving from the left side, across the front, and to the right side). Were you able to do that with a long flush trim bit, resting the router on top of the cabinet the whole time? Or was there something more complex going on?

Keep up the great work!
Keith

[tomzarbo]

Thanks Keith, they are cute little buggers.

Yup, I did use a big roundover to trip the front/sides in one shot. I doubted it would work without splintering like crazy, but you know, I didn't have one wood fiber flake off, I took it really slow, but since it was really just veneer and a tiny little bit of meat as well, it was fairly easy to slice it cleanly.... never know till you try, right?  But yeah, I held my breath on that one...
That bit was a little expensive, and it is still super-sharp. I clean it off after each use, and it still looks pretty much like new.

And yes, you got it right... I used a long flush trim bit in a trim router resting on the top/bottom to trim those pieces. The bearing followed the sides/front/back just fine. I took that slow, just for extra caution's sake. I did have two spots where the bit went a smidge too deep when the angle got a bit wonky, and the veneer looks a bit washed out there because it's thinner, but it looks fine to me mostly, I'll have no problem making them look nice.

I need to get these finished so I can concentrate on my MWAF project 100%

TomZ

 

[randyohoh]

That Bubinga is awesome looking and the workmanship excellent as usual.Can't wait to see the finished projects.

[tomzarbo]

That Bubinga is awesome looking and the workmanship excellent as usual.Can't wait to see the finished projects.

Thanks, sir!
I plan to make all the cut-outs tonight Lord willing. My only real concern is the fostner bit for the tweeter hole. I think if I take it slow, it should cut fine without splintering the veneer.

Then it's a-finishing I will go for a few weeks.

TomZ