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I've mentioned this topic on and off in the past, so I thought I should finally put together a tutorial about how to build re-usable speaker cabinets using IKEA Akurum kitchen wall cabinet frames. These can be used to make speaker cabinets having an internal volume from about 50 liters to over 175 liters. This tutorial will illustrate how to make a cabinet with removable front and rear baffles, so that the cabinets can be re-used for a variety of different projects, or as a test box, just by cutting and routing a new set of baffle boards.
The IKEA Akurum series of cabinets is designed for kitchen cabinets of various sorts - wall, base, over the refrigerator, and so on. There are a few useful sizes, such as:
WALL CABINETS:
IKEA Akurum 12x30" wall cabinet frame (12" deep) $21
IKEA Akurum 12x39" wall cabinet frame (12" deep) $26
IKEA Akurum 15x36" wall top cabinet frame (24" deep) $45
There are other sizes available in both of these series. The prices as of AUGUST 2011 are shown. These cabinets can be purchased in-store in the kitchen design area, or through the web site and shipped to the home. The frames are available in two melamine finishes: white or "birch veneer look". I use the latter, which I think looks pretty good for the price. The wall thickness on all cabinets is over 3/4" and the particle board used inside is actually pretty sturdy.
These IKEA products come as flat packs. You assemble them using some fasteners, dowel pins, and those cute IKEA pictoral instructions. Before you start, read through this whole tutorial as there are some slight variations.
STEP 1: BASIC ASSEMBLY AND TRIMMING
Assembly is pretty straight forward. Read the IKEA instructions. If you do not use any glue at this stage on the dowel pins, the frame can be broken down and re-built as needed. Try to build it once to get the hang of it.
There will be one variation on the assembly that you can practice: you will assemble the cabinets with the fasteners (that you turn with the screwdriver to lock the panels together) located on the inside of the cabinet. Doing this makes them hidden when the cabinet is complete. Luckily IKEA made these panels completely reversible, so just flip it over when you are attaching it. You should have something that looks like this:
Notice at the bottom that the edge doesn't look right? That's because IKEA designed in a small lip that sits against the wall, but we want to remove it, because it will be in the way. Here is another look at this extra "lip" of material:
The lip is not thick, and the cut edge will end up on the inside. You can use a table saw, circular saw, or even a little Dremel rip saw. Just make sure to cut this extra material off of the top and bottom pieces before assembling the cabinet permanently.
STEP 2: MAKING THE BAFFLE MOUNTING BLOCKS
In order to make it possible to drop front and back baffles in to the frame and secure them in to place, our next task is to make some mounting blocks. These will consist of short sections of 2x2 furring strip with a thru hole bored and a 1/4-20 hurricane nut installed in one end, secured with a few drops of polyurethane glue.
Here's a look at the fasteners that we will be using:
Above is a hurricane nut next to the black-oxide wide-head 3" long fastener that I chose to go with the nut. The hurricane nuts are available through PE:
and the 3" L fasteners can be purchased from Woodcraft:
or in bronze from Rockler:
I used a chop saw to cut the furring strips in to 2-1/4" long blocks. I chose this length because it allows the 3" long fastener to thread in just past the full length of the hurricane nut when a 3/4" baffle board thickness is used. This will give the maximum angular play if holes are not perfectly aligned, etc.
On the 12x30" frames, I used three blocks per side, 12 per cabinet, or 24 for a pair of cabs. In the 12x39" frames I plan to use four blocks per side, or 32 per pair. Lots of chopping!
Once the blocks were cut, I bored a 5/16" thru-hole in the center of each block using a drill press. This is the recommended hole size on the PE web site for the hurricane nuts. But in the pine furring strip, you can start the nut in to the hole, flip over the block and lean your full weight on it and the nut will sink easily. Since I desired a more firm attachment between block and nut, I put a thin layer of polyurethane glue around the edge of the hole before pushing the nut in to the hole. I discovered the hard way that you need to place the nut+block WITH THE NUT DOWN on a piece of wax paper and let the glue go to work. This kind of glue foams up as it cures. If I set the freshly glued and assembled block down on the workbench with the nut on top, the glue initially ran down inside a bit and then foamed up inside the thru-hole, which closed and sealed it. You don't want that. Make sure to follow my tip and use the wax paper with the nut down and all will be good!
If you follow the directions above, you will end up with blocks that look like this:
The PU glue has cured and the nut is held fast, so it can't be pushed out in to the interior of the cabinet when you are threading or unthreading the fasteners.
(continued in next post)
.
The IKEA Akurum series of cabinets is designed for kitchen cabinets of various sorts - wall, base, over the refrigerator, and so on. There are a few useful sizes, such as:
WALL CABINETS:
IKEA Akurum 12x30" wall cabinet frame (12" deep) $21
IKEA Akurum 12x39" wall cabinet frame (12" deep) $26
IKEA Akurum 15x36" wall top cabinet frame (24" deep) $45
There are other sizes available in both of these series. The prices as of AUGUST 2011 are shown. These cabinets can be purchased in-store in the kitchen design area, or through the web site and shipped to the home. The frames are available in two melamine finishes: white or "birch veneer look". I use the latter, which I think looks pretty good for the price. The wall thickness on all cabinets is over 3/4" and the particle board used inside is actually pretty sturdy.
These IKEA products come as flat packs. You assemble them using some fasteners, dowel pins, and those cute IKEA pictoral instructions. Before you start, read through this whole tutorial as there are some slight variations.
STEP 1: BASIC ASSEMBLY AND TRIMMING
Assembly is pretty straight forward. Read the IKEA instructions. If you do not use any glue at this stage on the dowel pins, the frame can be broken down and re-built as needed. Try to build it once to get the hang of it.
There will be one variation on the assembly that you can practice: you will assemble the cabinets with the fasteners (that you turn with the screwdriver to lock the panels together) located on the inside of the cabinet. Doing this makes them hidden when the cabinet is complete. Luckily IKEA made these panels completely reversible, so just flip it over when you are attaching it. You should have something that looks like this:
Notice at the bottom that the edge doesn't look right? That's because IKEA designed in a small lip that sits against the wall, but we want to remove it, because it will be in the way. Here is another look at this extra "lip" of material:
The lip is not thick, and the cut edge will end up on the inside. You can use a table saw, circular saw, or even a little Dremel rip saw. Just make sure to cut this extra material off of the top and bottom pieces before assembling the cabinet permanently.
STEP 2: MAKING THE BAFFLE MOUNTING BLOCKS
In order to make it possible to drop front and back baffles in to the frame and secure them in to place, our next task is to make some mounting blocks. These will consist of short sections of 2x2 furring strip with a thru hole bored and a 1/4-20 hurricane nut installed in one end, secured with a few drops of polyurethane glue.
Here's a look at the fasteners that we will be using:
Above is a hurricane nut next to the black-oxide wide-head 3" long fastener that I chose to go with the nut. The hurricane nuts are available through PE:
and the 3" L fasteners can be purchased from Woodcraft:
or in bronze from Rockler:
I used a chop saw to cut the furring strips in to 2-1/4" long blocks. I chose this length because it allows the 3" long fastener to thread in just past the full length of the hurricane nut when a 3/4" baffle board thickness is used. This will give the maximum angular play if holes are not perfectly aligned, etc.
On the 12x30" frames, I used three blocks per side, 12 per cabinet, or 24 for a pair of cabs. In the 12x39" frames I plan to use four blocks per side, or 32 per pair. Lots of chopping!
Once the blocks were cut, I bored a 5/16" thru-hole in the center of each block using a drill press. This is the recommended hole size on the PE web site for the hurricane nuts. But in the pine furring strip, you can start the nut in to the hole, flip over the block and lean your full weight on it and the nut will sink easily. Since I desired a more firm attachment between block and nut, I put a thin layer of polyurethane glue around the edge of the hole before pushing the nut in to the hole. I discovered the hard way that you need to place the nut+block WITH THE NUT DOWN on a piece of wax paper and let the glue go to work. This kind of glue foams up as it cures. If I set the freshly glued and assembled block down on the workbench with the nut on top, the glue initially ran down inside a bit and then foamed up inside the thru-hole, which closed and sealed it. You don't want that. Make sure to follow my tip and use the wax paper with the nut down and all will be good!
If you follow the directions above, you will end up with blocks that look like this:
The PU glue has cured and the nut is held fast, so it can't be pushed out in to the interior of the cabinet when you are threading or unthreading the fasteners.
(continued in next post)
.
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