Translam SEOS 10 build

I bought a shorter router bit. It'll a down cutting spiral hing bit. Often used to make the recesses for door hinges. I need to build some doors soon so this purchase was a no brainer, despite the rather expensive $42.



It's not shown in the photo, but it came with another bearing that's about an 1/8" over size. Ill route the WG recess with the over sized bearing first, then the flush 1:1 bearing. The reason for this is down currying spirals have difficulty clearing the cuttings from the end of the bit. They are great for minimizing tear out, which is why I went this method in the burl. But they're a bit of a fight to push through the wood. So I'll cut using the big bearing and then the flush bearing should just be a breeze taking off a small amount. This should give a cleaner cut.

I already had this one, but it's also down spiral 1/2" and I'll use it for the woofer cutout.



Here's a test cut. Not fully recessed. And I gotta say, it looks bad in the photos, but great in real life. A slight gap all around makes me think twice about remaking the template. I'm not sure its worth it, but I hate to regret it. I gotta decide it I want it super tight, or a little room. Like I said, the photo looks at it in the worse possible angle.

 

Thanks MTG, but I went ahead and made a new template. It's almost to tight now.



Before making the WG cut outs, I got the sides flush using a rasp and a sanding block.



The rasp got the angle and bulk of the wood off.



And once smoothed with the sanding block.



Ok, time to make a big step in this project. Heart is racing



Ta-daa!



I meant for it to sit proud, as the waveguide has a naturally rounded top profile. If you've ever held a SEOS in your hands you know what I mean. They look good flush, but with a tall surround woofer and that rounded top on the waveguide, I thought this was a natural look. However, I think it's a bit to high. I should have tested my cut to the full depth prior to committing to this cut. It's no deal breaker though. Once the template is removed, going back to cut deeper is asking for trouble. Hopefully once the woofer is in, it'll make it look more balanced. It was a snug fit to get it in the recess and is nicely fitted all the way around. The new template was better.

You may also see how little meat is on either side of the waveguide. This also was intentional, however I was shooting for more like 2mm. I ended up with about 0.5mm and after final sanding there will likely be an edge. This is ok though, it looks kind of cool. But this may be why the waveguide looks to high. I'll have to think about recessing the WG deeper, but I'm a little gun shy doing that. At this stage, screwing something up would be major time wasted. I just want to cut the woofer recess and flush the ends of the cab, cut the terminal, and start the finishing process. Each of those steps could be catastrophic, but I'm so close I can see the light.

 

A little video explain this process a bit. I'd love to hear how else this sort of thing can be handled with less expensive bits. Hope you like farm animals.



Sorry, not sure how to imbed videos. I'm a YouTube idiot.

 

Ha ya, bad time to do the vid. They were in the middle of laying and they get real yappy. I think I'll do some more vids. They convey more information. I'd like to do them better though. I'm a hack.

 

Ok so I cut the woofer recess. Nothing special there. I put a tall scre in the woofer center. Flip my router edge guide upside down. Set the radius. Spin the edge guide around the screw. Test on scrap. Then cut the real deal if good. I did use that down spiral bit and got a nice clean cut.

So, carrying on. I couldn't leave the waveguide that proud. It looked bad. So I put the template back in place and felt I could line it up well enough actually. Using clamps was annoying and thought why not Brad nail it to the woofer cut out.



The MDF template easily pulled off. I just bent the nails back and forth until they broke off. Was simple.



Proof I'm not crazy. This is tear out. So thankful this is in the recess and not on the baffle. That's over 1/8" deep and would look awful with filler. Literally impossible to fix well. I'm thankful this didn't happen while flattening the baffle with my router sled.



Much better. Exactly what I was going for.

 

Haha! I heard Calgary got cold

Yes, PI probably would know a few tricks. I'm through most of it now, but still need to safely flush trim the top and bottom. I'm a little nervous about that.

 

dts, because it's not a very tall box, I figures this might be stiffer and easier. I'm not sure it was, but it's what I did. As far as materials, this was probably cheaper actually. Took an extra sheet of MDF, so something like $35. If I bought bendy ply I'd be another $90. Could have used thin mdp or 1/8" BB I guess. Still probably slightly cheaper this way. If it was a tower, no way, this would have taken 6 sheets at least.

My curve radius is also very small. Bending around that would have been difficult. I'll get some better pics tonight.

 

I'm not totally sure I'm understanding you, but here's my best shot. You design the cab volume based on the woofer you're using. For this woofer sealed, it likes between 30 and 40L. Sealed is more flexible than ported. With that volume you can design any shape or dimension you like, BUT there are some other things to consider.

1. Large flat surfaces require more bracing.
2. All the parts need to fit (see I went as narrow as possible on the waveguide)
3. Extra long dimensions can cause internal reflections.
4. In a ported enclosure, a slender tall shape can cause a change in port tuning.

Google golden ratio enclosure for "optimum" dimensions.

 

I personally use unibox and winisd, but hoping to upgrade to soundeasy soon. Been saving.

The only way I know to calculate bracing is with some kind of CAD. Most people ballpark it. You do have to increase the cab volume to accommodate bracing.

I have 2/3 of an acre. Not much, but it's within the town limits so it's quite large considering. Only animals are 4 chickens. They tend to like my shop. 2 even lay in my tool shelves. Annoying but funny. Its 10C here today. Felt like spring (rained though )

 

Well this was frustrating. I jigsawed out the woofer hole and...



So I measured to see where I went wrong. Turns out I was right on the money, except the woofer frame is beveled.



So I was about a mm all around to small.

So time for a new template.





Much better.



Now I'm excited. So close. Just flush the ends and the terminal. Then a 180g sand all over and finishing process. This weekend I'll hopefully be applying a finish

 

You really need to use winisd or unibox to find the correct volume. Vas does play a roll. But so does Qms, Qes, Fs, etc. Some people are really good at looking at the parameters and guessing a good size. Especially for sealed. But I just go straight to the software. Normally I build a test box first, at least for ported, but for this one I went straight to it. Worst case scenario I open the hole larger and put a different 10" woofer in there.

 

attaboys for everyone who posted in my thread ;D 8)

 

Not there, but if you're ever in Van, there's quite a few.

 

No sorry. Only some of the people who have posted.