3rutu5 Boombox

[3rutu5]

Guys,
I have been lurking (and annoying) for a few weeks now since posting my TLine, i have started building a funky little boom box which will be in stages. This build will be using the Tectonic TEBM65C20F, which for those who dont know, they are a little 3.5inch full range driver. Each enclosure is 0.15cu.ft with a 1inch port tuned to 61Hz. I'm still spinning the wheels on the amplifier board, but might take the plunge on the KAB 2x15 watt or 2x30 as it has BT capability but at the same time love the DTA2 Tripath i have in another project.

The drivers are on order at current, but....as i'm impatient and i already have them in the T-Line i have measured everything.

you may notice a theme here that this is generally based around woodworking (sorry), i'm still trying to learn the rest.

very messy at in these shots...

[3rutu5]

not quite sure how i want to finish it,

[3rutu5]

Needs some filler/bog, but getting there. Just need to mount the speaker port and drivers from the back. Been fun pushing a trimmer router to the limits.

if you have some patience and want to give something a go, youtube kerfing

Not sure i like mixing PVA glue and sawdust, looks like i've really hacked the crap out of the faceplate, but it is really just the glue.

[tomzarbo]

Beautiful work sir! I really like it so far.

Looks almost like the inside of the little kerfed pieces were touching, did they compress any that you saw? I've only done that once, but it looks fun.

What? You did that with a trim router?

I've wondered if shmearing some goop in the slots before bending and gluing would work, or just make a royal mess/possibly break the little strips.
I think Javad may have done that, but I'm not sure.

I like the shape too. I tend to use thin pieces of HDF for bending stuff, but you really made a nice curve with that technique. There's no way 1/8" HDF is going to bend that much without breaking.

At any rate, looks real good.
Keep posting pics, it helps us all! Gets the juices flowing.

TomZ

[3rutu5]

Beautiful work sir! I really like it so far.

Looks almost like the inside of the little kerfed pieces were touching, did they compress any that you saw? I've only done that once, but it looks fun.

What? You did that with a trim router?

I've wondered if shmearing some goop in the slots before bending and gluing would work, or just make a royal mess/possibly break the little strips.
I think Javad may have done that, but I'm not sure.

I like the shape too. I tend to use thin pieces of HDF for bending stuff, but you really made a nice curve with that technique. There's no way 1/8" HDF is going to bend that much without breaking.

At any rate, looks real good.
Keep posting pics, it helps us all! Gets the juices flowing.

TomZ

Yeah it makes one.hell of a mess once you put glue in and then bend it. I used one piece of 19mm dressed pine to do the build which was definitely a challenge, but that was my goal to have the one continuous piece.

Im also making a sizable TV unit which I kerfed the edges, it was with 30mm ply which I learn a lot from with this one. Pine is inconsistent between pieces and I tried to get a piece where the grain wasn't exiting on the outside kerf edge as it introduces a point of failure and will probab break. Original I looked at kerfing the insides of the T line but that failed due to poor wood selection.

Hot tip before after you do the cuts (if using softwood or ply) flip it over and lightly spray with water and let sit for a couple of minutes. I did that with the 180deg bend and I didn't hear any cracking at all. Oh and plan ahead how you are going to clamp it etc...

I used the trimmer router for cleaning up the holes by putting a fillet on it and rough cut the back piece and used a.flush cut bit.with a bearing to get a clean piece on the rear. First time.i.used that and it seemed to have worked ok. I had some cordless tools and one was a.mikwalkee 12v drill so I went out and got the circular saw and it is unreal, perfect for this application and with the homemade rail bench this kerfing was a breeze

ill be sanding back the filler in a few hours, fingers crossed it.turns out nice

[3rutu5]

might have made a monumental error of judgement.....painted the entire face of it matt black and now not sure.....

edit: attempt to break up the black by throwing a few pin stripes in there....not sure i thought any of this through....

[johnchabin]

Personally, I like the black. You might fill/sand the kerfs if you want a cleaner result.

Perhaps some of that calming body wash in you picture will help. 😃

[3rutu5]

Personally, I like the black. You might fill/sand the kerfs if you want a cleaner result.

Perhaps some of that calming body wash in you picture will help. 😃

Haha yeah didn't stage the photo very well, had the kids dinner in one of the shots. I thought I had the kerfs sorted until I had the matt black paint on .... Wasn't a forgiving paint, shows imperfections in a few spots on the face. I think I'll just leave it as is, being portable I'm assuming it is going to be beaten up, dropped etc, plus my youngest will stuff things in the port if I'm not looking. I found a toy wedged in the t line the other dat, but that was an easy fix. .

I guess depending on the amp, I could dress it up a little with a light kit. I think the black with white will grow on me, just quite the bold statement from having the original raw timber look

[3rutu5]

Getting closer, today the last bits of the puzzle arrived, soldered up the wires and the BSC (which i hope i understood correctly) onto the positive wire in parallel, thanks again Chris Roemer for the help with picking the right components. Last thing left now is to solder on a DC Panel Mount Jack, paint the back panel black and just put some caulk around any potential gaps, which will be the weekend. weighs a bit more than anticipated. Oh and using some of that speaker gasket to seal the back panel and get rid of that tiny volume dial......

Bit annoyed by a few items on the KAB board, all 4 speaker cables are on the one plug, all of them black of course and not really clear one which is positive and negative on the print out that came with the board. The DTA2 board clearly identified +/- locations for everything which i found straight forward, where this does not. I'm assuming that the red power cable that you plug into the board is a positive, and the back being ground, but i cannot say i found anything to say yet. Also the tectonics don't actually specify that the spade connections are +/- either, which i think i posted something asking with the T Lines.

Stage 2 (maybe in a few months) will be the batteries, which i would get another mounting bracket and put it on the other side, but most likely after christmas.

I found an old dumb bell bar out the backyard and gave it a few coats of matt black, turned out really nicely. Was thinking of cutting off the thread and using it for a handle, but haven't figured out how to mount it to the box yet...trying to recycled some things on this build.

will be putting some stuffing in, would love some input into how much.

I hope it turns on and works after all this

[3rutu5]

Guys, pretty much all done..waiting for the last 24hrs for the clear coat to dry, but fully assembled and working.

Sounds absolutely brilliant and I'm glad I listened to all with the feedback along this journey. Considering the enclosure is similar, drivers similar, this sounds quite different to the Tlines, which I'm assuming is the port tuning and BSC. The KAB 230v3 board works well, Bluetooth is very receptive and plenty of power for the application.

All I'm having issues with at the moment is trying to find a volume dial that fits lol...

[3rutu5]

My wife filmed a video on her phone, but it doesn't do it justice

Any mods out there, could you please remove the (work in progress)

[tomzarbo]

Looks good. I love the stripes, really gives it a modern vibe and breaks it up in front.
Ive made a few knobs out of hardwood before, it can be hard to find just the right one for sure. I like it!
TomZ

[3rutu5]

yeah i thought i had the kerf cuts nicely prepped prior to painting and was a little disappointed by the left hand side, but hey its a boom box, probably get dropped and scratched and not telling what my kids will do to it, so i think that is as far as i'm taking that build.

[johnnyrichards]

Go away zoziano.

[johnnyrichards]

Cool build! I keep meaning to do a soundbar - now I want to do it with curves.