Anarchists Build Log

[wogg]

Wood cutting commenced! The extremely rainy holiday weekend be damned. Some wrestling with a 10x10 tent on the back patio and I made some good progress. I've been planning these for years, so it's about time to make them happen and log the build.

Anarchists
Compact stand mount 3 way, super full range with bass extension into the low 30's required. Doesn't have to be sensitive, expected listening levels are low-ish. To do this I targeted the Anarchy 708 woofer for it's ability to hit that low 30Hz note in about 1 cubic foot. A trusty combo of a Dayton RS100-4 and ND20FB-4 will take everything above about 300Hz. Named obviously for the woofer choice.

Here's the sketch, sans round-overs and bevels. The construction will be 3/4" MDF, with a 1" hardwood baffle. The baffle will be removable to avoid expansion / contraction issues against the MDF but with fasteners on the inside to hide them. That means the rear is removable as well. The outside frame is miter cut to avoid lines in the finish, and will be lined with 1x2 poplar miter cut all around for both rigidity and a solid surface to mount and seal the front and back panels.

The stand will be mounted to integrate with the bottom ported cabinet, and I'm coming up with a crafty wiring mechanism down the rear 2 steel pipes so the binding posts are at the floor.



So far, I've got a pile of panels with the appropriate miter cuts. Done with a skill saw, so they all have my wide tolerances that will require careful build hiding for the finished product.



Test of the angles looks alright... doable with some touch up!

[a4eaudio]

That RS100 looks nice with that Anarchy!
Is the tweeter the FB, I don't see an NB or maybe its an older model #?

[Wolf]

Yes, that is the FB4.
Wolf

[Brian Steele]

What are the specs of that Anarchy Driver? The ones I see quoted at the link below seem.. curious. Fs is higher than I expected.

Test Bench: Exodus Audio W06-017R “Anarchy” | audioXpress​

[Steve Lee]

Specs from AmpsLabs (Michael Chua) --> https://ampslab-spk.com/2020/11/19/anarchy704/


Data available from the distributor . . .

[wogg]

That RS100 looks nice with that Anarchy!
Is the tweeter the FB, I don't see an NB or maybe its an older model #?

Whoops! I even read the box, walked from the shop to the computer (~50'), then typed in the wrong part number.

[wogg]

Here are the details on my 2 Anarchy 708 woofers. I broke them in with some hard sine waves for a while then used DATS to measure.

Woofer 1


Here's the 2 woofers by comparison, both after the short break in. Looking at 10% difference in Fs, which translates into some Q differences but nothing that makes the box model not work.

​

Plugging the average values into the box model gives me an F3 of 32Hz and 104dB of maximum output without any excursion limits.

[analogkid455]

I have used the RS100 and the ND20FB in a boom box crossed over at 250 hz and 4khz. Those drivers sound incredibly good!

[wogg]

Quick shot of how I did the odd angle miter cuts with nothing but a hand held skill saw.

I do have a miter saw that can be adjusted and aligned with an angle gauge I have. Using that I cut the appropriate angles in some scrap MDF and marked them as calibration jigs. The required angles came out of Sketch Up, I had 45, 77.9, 57.1 and 65.8 degree cuts to make.



For the 45 I just used my little square, but the others were done by flattening the blade against these jigs along with the skill saw base plate. Close enough! The sharper the angle the worse the saw cut, so there's still plenty of touch up required. You can probably see that in the darkened wood in the stack of parts above

[wogg]

Just a little progress. Last couple boards cut and the routing done for the flush mount precision port and bottom rabbet joints.

[wogg]

Now for janky minimal tool assembly! My plan is to get the frame glued well enough to hold together, then add glue in any gaps to strengthen, then add the poplar 1x2 miter cut all around to really give it strength.

First, tape the edges of the miter cuts.


Then flip it up carefully and smother the joints with Titebond. Finally add the bottom panel smothered in more Titebond and clamp real quick. Then add the resistance band for some additional pressure. Then prop the rear panel in there to keep it all in shape while the glue dries.



Not touching these for a day to let them dry tight. There will certainly be some rough joins at the miter seams that will need filled and sanded.

[wogg]

Frames came out solid so I dropped the divider panel in with some glue, letting gravity do the trick primarily.



I let those get solid enough and noticed a problem with one of the miter joints... uh oh.



Hmm, clamping non-parallel walls. I have no fancy jigs for that so a little improvisation has to happen. A spare 1x2 and a couple wood screws later I had a little spot to hold the bar clamps. Squeezed as much glue in the gap that I could and clamped that sucker back down.



Got some squeeze out and let her sit for a day. Looked solid this morning when I released the clamps and took off that temporary board.

[buggers]

That is why I only use PL glue

[wogg]

My understanding was that Titebond PVA is stronger wood to wood when mated and clamped well, which is where the struggle was on that one. I use heavy duty construction adhesive a lot as well, and will probably bead around the internal seams before this is all done.

Next challenge...
Due to the imperfect assembly of the miter cut frame, the back panels that were cut on the dimensions from the drawing don't quite fit. There's perhaps a millimeter or 2 to shave off and correct the angles that happened in reality.

First attempt will simply be to mark where I think material needs removed and attack the panels with my hand held belt sander. These seams will be visible, so if they end up too far out of line and bother me I'll have to to another attempt.

Second attempt will be to use a router template somehow. I can easily flush trim around the outside but will have to remove 3/4" all the way around to fit. I haven't figured out how to do that yet, we'll cross that bridge if needed later

Next tasks...
Now I have to carefully measure and cut the poplar 1x2 to line the mating edges of the cabinet. Limited clamps, so this will be done one edge at a time over the next couple weeks. I'll have a lot of extra material on the baffle side to clear around the drivers, plan on just hacking that out with a jig saw when I have the baffle created to mark up the locations.

[wogg]

Making some progress.