Translam Subwoofers with 18" Passive Radiators - The Jedi Mind Tricks

[KEtheredge87]

I'll take 3. Thanks!

[KEtheredge87]

...And we have proof that Whiteside Machine Company is an upstanding American company! USA! USA! USA!

Hi Keith,
The bit is definitely dull. I do not see why it would have come to you like that unless the company you bought it from used it or had it returned and re-sold it. It was not a manufacturing defect. I gave a new tool to the office to ship out to you.

We have this happen a good bit. People return bits they have used for its purpose and get their money back. Stores take the product back and we deny a lot of them. Heck, I even had a hinge mortising bit returned one time and the store put the original receipt with it and the end user bought the bit and hinge mortise jig and like 15 hinges. They returned the jig, the bit and 3 hinges. Just a part of doing business I guess.

I'll be getting a proper bit soon, and then I'll be updating my YouTube video to show how it is SUPPOSED to work!

[Kevin K.]

That's great news Keith! It's awesome to see a company stand behind their products and do right by their customers.

[Squidspeak]

Thanks Gordy, the bit I'm using actually is Whiteside's RFT5200 flush trim spiral bit. My template is 1/4 inch aluminum since I wanted it to last for the whole project. I'd feel a pretty jipped if Whiteside actually sold me a bit that came dull from the factory. You thinking that's a possibility here?

Possibility, but not common. Have you tried another bit? I don't think anyone makes one with a bearing but I use a stagger tooth 1/2" bit when cutting holes with a template guide on the router. I usually make a template for my driver holes in the baffle and get that perfect then using a template guide on the router machine the
baffle using the stagger bit, it cuts easier thru thick materials because of the stagger tooth config. I also sometimes jigsaw the holes to 1/16" big and that definitely
makes routing easier. A couple more steps but the finished product is worth it.

[KEtheredge87]

Possibility, but not common. Have you tried another bit? I don't think anyone makes one with a bearing but I use a stagger tooth 1/2" bit when cutting holes with a template guide on the router. I usually make a template for my driver holes in the baffle and get that perfect then using a template guide on the router machine the
baffle using the stagger bit, it cuts easier thru thick materials because of the stagger tooth config. I also sometimes jigsaw the holes to 1/16" big and that definitely
makes routing easier. A couple more steps but the finished product is worth it.

Hey Squidspeak, I've not seen a stagger tooth bit before. I'll look it up! On the spiral bit issues I was having, yes... I did some tests with a straight flush cut bit that I know is sharp and it cut much smoother without any of that extra effort to jam the material against the bit. That really sealed the investigation into the spiral bit for me. obviously that bit was pretty dull, but I have no idea how it arrived to me that way. Either way, Whiteside is an awesome company and they're sending me a replacement straight from the factory. I expect I won't have any more issues going forward!

[KEtheredge87]

Alright Gents,

It was a solid day in speaker project land. I sourced some new bandsaw blades with Kevin's help, got confirmation of a replacement spiral bit from Whiteside, and banged out a good 20+ wall pieces on the bandsaw (Hey look! there's actually TWO of them now!). While I wait on the spiral bit to show up, I realized I forgot to cut a few extra 22" x 22" pieces for the top layers of these cabinets, so I'll turn my attention to those next. Maybe I'll clean up the pile of baltic birch prison shanks that have piled up under my bandsaw too... just maybe

As always, major thanks to everyone on the forum for helping me problem solve bit by bit!

[Zephyr]

i suspect you may find its not the birch which is dulling your bits rather the ten or so layers of highly abrasive glue which hold it together. i recall painstakingly installing new knives in a yates 12" 4 knife patternmakers jointer then having a fellow worker run a piece of baltic birch thru it on edge . Left ten perfectly spaced notches in each knife.

[dwigle]

Great Project! Did you have someone CNC the aluminum templates? If so, what did you supply them with for the design, a digital file or a drawing? Cost? Thanks

[KEtheredge87]

i suspect you may find its not the birch which is dulling your bits rather the ten or so layers of highly abrasive glue which hold it together. i recall painstakingly installing new knives in a yates 12" 4 knife patternmakers jointer then having a fellow worker run a piece of baltic birch thru it on edge . Left ten perfectly spaced notches in each knife.

Hey Zephyr, I'm sure you're right. I've always heard the glue is what kills cutting tools. I just hope I can make the new bit Whiteside is sending to me last through this project! Thanks for sharing your experiences. Every bit of info helps!

[KEtheredge87]

Great Project! Did you have someone CNC the aluminum templates? If so, what did you supply them with for the design, a digital file or a drawing? Cost? Thanks

Thanks dwigle! The template parts were cut on a CNC water jet table at my job. I had to supply the 1/4 inch aluminum plates, which cost me about $70, but the water jet was free to me. In all honesty, if I had to pay for the CNC work at an outside fab shop, I'd probably be building a regular box instead of this translam challenge just due to the cost of making the templates!

I've also been designing this project in Creo/ProE CAD software. That made it relatively easy to make the template models, then export the 3D model as a 2D file called a DXF for the waterjet table to follow.

Thanks for the compliment and questions! If you'd like to know more please ask away.

[KEtheredge87]

Hey guys,

Between yesterday and today I received my new Lenox bandsaw blades in the mail (Thanks Kevin K.!), got one of those puppies installed, and rough cut the remaining pieces of the cabinets. Those blades couldn't have arrived at a better time, I had just finished using all the life the OEM blade had to offer. The poor thing was likely bent somehow during an overly aggressive curved cut, and it kept cutting at an angle such that I couldn't push the workpiece straight through, I had to counteract the blade pulling the work from left to right. Once the Lenox blade was installed, cuts were immediately cleaner and far easier to handle. Quality blades win again!

I also did some sanity checks to make sure the cabinets were going to end up at the correct 21.25" height. As expected, my "3/4 inch" material and my "1/2 inch" material were a bit undersize from nominal, so I figured out I needed roughly another inch of material height on each cabinet. Adding two extra layers of the 1/2" material corrected that. I decided to distribute the two extra pieces per side to the middle and top of the wall sections. I've been numbering them as I go... so cabinet one got a layer 10.5 and 20.5, while cabinet two got a layer 30.5 and 40.5! I highly doubt anyone will be able to discern there's different material thicknesses at play in this cabinet unless they're REALLY looking for it. If so, I'll tell them to consider it an easter egg!

Tomorrow my replacement 1/2" spiral flush trim from Whiteside should arrive. At that time I can start to finish cut all the inside/outside surfaces and finish drilling dowel holes. My bandsaw can take a well deserved break (unless I screw something up and have to recut a piece!) Here's hoping I don't manage to dull the bejeezus out of THIS bit!

[KEtheredge87]

Hi Guys,

Quick update for you all. I've been using the 1/2" spiral bit for a few days now, and I've made some good progress. I think it's time to clean it again, as I've noticed it's getting slower again on the cuts. Minimal burning, but certainly a bit more effort required to push the material through. I'm hoping I haven't already dulled the section of bit that I am using, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if I have. I would need to send this bit off for sharpening, since I don't have confidence playing the template stacking game just to use more of the cutter's surface. If I can't get something sorted out there soon, I will start using a straight flush bit to keep work moving along.



On another note. I may need to go back to Indy and buy more material. I got "overly excited" and drilled pilot holes for my template through all layers of the top pieces. What that will mean is that as I make the curve on the top layer, I will likely be cutting through those pilot holes, leaving me with a funky hole I'd have to fill in on the final product. With all the layers exposed on top as I am planning, I think those holes would stick out like a sore thumb. I should have applied a little more thought when cutting those pieces!

[Kevin K.]

Hi Guys,

On another note. I may need to go back to Indy and buy more material. I got "overly excited" and drilled pilot holes for my template through all layers of the top pieces. What that will mean is that as I make the curve on the top layer, I will likely be cutting through those pilot holes, leaving me with a funky hole I'd have to fill in on the final product. With all the layers exposed on top as I am planning, I think those holes would stick out like a sore thumb. I should have applied a little more thought when cutting those pieces!

You could install some walnut wooden dowels in the pilot holes that match the baffles and say it was on purpose. Sorry to hear you had a brain fart, happens to me all the time. Gets worse as you get older if that helps you feel any better about it.

[KEtheredge87]

You could install some walnut wooden dowels in the pilot holes that match the baffles and say it was on purpose.

Ya know what... That could probably work! If nothing else, it would be symmetric, so it could conceivably pass as a design feature. Now to see where I can get 7/64" walnut dowels ☺

[KEtheredge87]

Maybe I'll drill that out to 1/4 inch to make it a bit more common.