SLOW build on a 2001 GMC Jimmy

[altoncustomtech 773]

Birch it is then.  I just hope that what Lowe's has is worth a crap.  There's not a lot of other places to go to get this stuff around here.

[CanUFeelMe 15]

I usually buy my wood at menards, seems to be the best on deals.

[dbsupra 69]

Thats a bummer.

I cant say im a big fan of Lowe's birch. All the stuff they have here is full of voids. You can use it though if you sort through and get lucky on a half decent piece.

I would rather use void free plywood.

Baltic birch is where its at if you can find it.

[porkchop 304]

The Alton family lives approximately 100,000,000,000 miles from anything

Hey bro, just as a quick check, look on Craigslist materials in your area, just in case someone may have some up for grabs.

[altoncustomtech 773]

I usually buy my wood at menards, seems to be the best on deals.

 

I dunno about deals, but they do have Baltic Birch.  At $75 a sheet I wouldn't call it a deal, but I wouldn't hesitate to spend it IF it's the best way to go.  

 

 

Thats a bummer.

I cant say im a big fan of Lowe's birch. All the stuff they have here is full of voids. You can use it though if you sort through and get lucky on a half decent piece.

I would rather use void free plywood.

Baltic birch is where its at if you can find it.

 

There's not a decent lumber place around here except for big box stores like Lowes and Menards.  While we do have some decent places they only carry the commonly used building materials.  I was surprised to find the Baltic Birch at Menard's though.

 

 

The Alton family lives approximately 100,000,000,000 miles from anything

Hey bro, just as a quick check, look on Craigslist materials in your area, just in case someone may have some up for grabs.

 

Craigslist for my area is useless.  I wasn't aware I had a Menards so close though, there's one in Princeton which is only 21 Miles away.  That's not ridiculously far for me to travel for something that's worth buying.

 

It's true though, for the most part I'm in the middle of nowhere and at least an hour away from cities big enough to have most things everyone else has ready access to.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Scratch that, they don't have the Baltic in stock at that store.

 

They do have a 13 ply regular Birch.

[dbsupra 69]

I've used the 13 ply before.  It is ok but still not void free that I used.  For sure better than the 5 ply stuff.

 

See if you can find something like void free Arauco ply or similar.

 

I didn't know you were out in BFE that sure does cut down the options.

[altoncustomtech 773]

I've used the 13 ply before.  It is ok but still not void free that I used.  For sure better than the 5 ply stuff.

 

See if you can find something like void free Arauco ply or similar.

 

I didn't know you were out in BFE that sure does cut down the options.

 

Yeah I went ahead and ordered the Baltic Birch.  $75 + tax + $14 surcharge for handling since it's a special order item.  It better make MDF look like particle board, that's all I gotta say about it, lol.

 

Yeah I'm out in the middle of nowhere for sure.  I'm also pretty sure that when Chop came down to visit and finally found the house he was expecting to see a bunch of barnyard animals and me walking out the door with a straw hat and bib overalls on, LOL.

[EPerez 236]

How come you wanted to use birch instead of mdf? I see a lot of people use birch instead of mdf is because it's lighter. Is it stronger too? I was thinking about using baltic birch for my box for the X 10s when i get them. I found a lumber yard that can order it in for me for around $75. That way it will help with the weight. For you I don't see a weight problem. Just curious on why you choose baltic birch.

[altoncustomtech 773]

A few reasons I suppose.  One is weight, not necessarily for the truck but for my benefit since I'm making it easy to remove so things don't get damaged when I haul stuff in the back.  Another is curiosity, because I've never used it before and want to see what the differences are.  It's supposed to be easier to work with as well which will be of benefit, or so I've read, which is one of the bigger reasons to me.  I swear MDF has to be the hardest material, next to concrete, on blades.  I may be picky, but it seems like blades just don't hold a great cutting edge with MDF for as long as they should.  My saw goes from sliding through like butter to having to use more steady pressure than it should, and definitely more than it started to, take to cut it.  Although that's also working with the blades that are available at the stores around here.  Ordering higher quality blades might circumvent that, but they can get expensive fast and since I don't do this for a living it's hard to justify the cost.

[EPerez 236]

Yea it would make it a lot easier to move the box in and out then. The only times I've cut things were for boxes and everytime it's been mdf. I can't compare to other types of wood, but I'm sure it's much easier to cut baltic birch than mdf lol The reason i'm going for it is, because it will be lighter and that's what I need.

[dbsupra 69]

 Although that's also working with the blades that are available at the stores around here.  Ordering higher quality blades might circumvent that, but they can get expensive fast and since I don't do this for a living it's hard to justify the cost.

 

I thought the exact same thing for a while.  My Craftsman table is fine, my Irwin blades are fine.  Not like I do this everyday.

I got a $500 gift card to Lowes.  I bought a Porter Cable $600 saw and Diablo blades.  Let me tell you it's a whole new world.

I'm not saying go drop a lot of cash on equipment, but you would be surprised the difference, even doing it as a hobby.  You would also be surprised how many random things you build just because you want to lol.

At a minimum, I would still go ahead and get some quality blades.  Most important is running the correct tooth blade for what you are cutting.

 

On a side note, did you ever get the wood?

[altoncustomtech 773]

Yep. Got it yesterday, lol!

Time to get busy on it.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Ok. Finally got started on the enclosure again. Work has been just shy of insane with us running most of our engines moving gas since September last year. In the last few weeks we've been slowing down on the amount of gas we're moving and engines we run so after getting caught up on a few things I had a little free time to start on the enclosure. So here's a few pictures to start it off, lol.

First cut. It is noticeably easier to cut than MDF, I'm looking forward to routing it for the plexi.

Got all the cuts made, beginning the assembly.

This is how I left it today. With any luck I can get there to work on it some this weekend but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[mccleery3 166]

Sweet!

[altoncustomtech 773]

Sweet!

 

ISN'T IT!!  lol

 

 

Yeah I'm SO ready to hear that XCON.  I think I'm gonna buy a couple of sheets of the cheaper 11ply Birch they have at Menards to build a play box for the 15" DCON/ICON subs.  Gotta do something with them, though I should probably just sell them, I'd rather have a little fun with them.

[altoncustomtech 773]

A few more updates. I'm at the intrakit part of the build process now. I have to use careful precision so that the holes and flush recesses all line up perfectly.

Here's the enclosure with all the regular panels attached.

Here I've clamped the top double baffle panel onto the enclosure. Once I got it aligned I measured out the centers for each of the three cuts I plan to make on this panel and traced the outline of the holes to be cut.

Here I've got the outlines drawn. I also used those outlines to know precisely where to put the screws that will hold the baffles together once they're ready to be glued.

Here I've clamped the front double baffle onto the front of the enclosure. Getting ready to measure and mark the centers for the three holes on this side.

This is how I had to leave it today. I got the outlines for the PR's drawn and if you look very closely you can even see the center holes. Those holes are drilled down to the first baffle beneath. That hole lines them up perfectly so I can transfer the hole for yhe plexi windows through both.

This is basically the design and what it should look like when its completed.

It's such a slow and delicate process at this point. One good little screwup and I'll have to scrap it and start over. Not something I really want to do with $90 worth of plywood. If I'm remotely lucky it'll come out looking great.

[porkchop 304]

I love this build already and it is not even done yet!

[SacredTanakh 67]

Nice Box! Those xcons are gonna sound great.

[mccleery3 166]

The sexiness of that enclosure is Ftw!!

[altoncustomtech 773]

I love this build already and it is not even done yet!

 

Thank you brother!  I'm really looking forward to getting it done.  Hopefully in time to make it to Slamology.

 

 

Nice Box! Those xcons are gonna sound great.

 

Thanks and there's only one XCON, the other two are passive radiators.  They're built to look exactly like the XCON, with BIG thanks to Aaron and Mark for giving the build house permission to do that for me!!

 

 

The sexiness of that enclosure is Ftw!!

 

Thank you sir.  Hopefully it turns out as good as I've drawn it up to look like.  Only time will tell.

[pmureika 31]

Awesome looking box.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Awesome looking box.

 

Thanks!  BTW, how's that Sundown 1200 treating you?

[altoncustomtech 773]

Okay, got a bit more done on the enclosure.  It's crunch time now, the cuts for the plexi inserts are ready to be made.  They're critical cuts cuz there's no going back if something screws up.  Once those three holes are cut I'll take the 3/8" rabbeting bit and cut a 3/8" deep x 3/8" wide shelf in the hole and on the plexi.  Once that's done I'll seal the plexi to the wood with silicone and sandwich the plexi in under the double baffle panels, gluing those in place at the same time.  Then it will be time for the sub/PR cutouts to be done with the router after trimming the edges up with my flush trim bit.  Yay, that was exciting, lol.  Onto a few pictures.

 

 

 

Here I've drawn on the cutout for the plexi window that's on the front center.

 

 

 

 

 

I've gotten the front double baffle screwed onto the front of the enclosure, everything is set and will be centered up and in good alignment at this point thanks to holes I drilled as reference points through the double baffles into the body of the enclosure.  The holes are drilled through parts/areas that will be removed by the cutouts so there's no worry about sealing them up later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the double baffle panels removed in the upper right corner?  Back down to the body of the enclosure now.  Getting ready to draw on the cutouts for the plexi panels using the holes I drilled for reference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I've gotten the first one drawn on, everything lined up perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All three done and the alignment has turned out as close to perfect as I could hope for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's where it stands when I left it today.  I'm praying I'll get some time this weekend to cutout the plexi holes.  If I can get past this point and get the sub cutouts made it's all downhill from there as it will just come down to filler, lots of sanding and applying the bedliner to get the enclosure finished.  

[bcst86 5]

dude thats awesome!