elvisjer
08-21-2008, 04:47 AM
Hello friends, it's time to play, "The I'm cheap, lazy, dropped out of automotive engineering school after getting 3 ASE certifications then switching my major to interior design, suck at woodworking tools, and have an obsession with severely under priced tools of low quality game!"
Ok, so what we've done here--by we i mean myself and the people i pretend to hang out with when I'm up at 2am at my garage i rent out in an industrial yard by a river in Seattle--is make a speaker ring for my Dayton mids without using anything except a drill and hole saw kit from harbor freight. The hole saw kit is the 18 piece that has various sizes that get very large, for $4.99!!! How? Follow these easy-to-complete steps, color inside the lines, make happy trees, and you'll have some great speaker rings!
MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. Drill
2. Hole Saw Kit
3. Ring Material
4. Scrap wood
5. C-clamp/s
6. Led Zeppelin BBC sessions to play while you work
Step I
Get your materials, i used bullet-proof polycarbonate for the rings because i have lots of scraps, it's fun, strong, and for fiberglassing i find it easier to hot-glue dowels to. Oh yeah, it also didn't require me cutting a piece of MDF off of my backing sheet most importantly; re-read intro statement about laziness if necessary. Put them on your work bench, or broken subwoofer you haven't gotten around to fixing in this case. Put the scrap wood down, and then put the ring material over it, ill call it MDF for ease even though that's not what i'm using. Clamp them together with some C-clamps, they cost only a few doubloons at harbor freight so it's no problem if you don't have any yet.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2783905594_f6f0b5c949.jpg?v=0
Step II
Find a saw that fits around the whole top of your driver, for this case i found one that would slide over it and fit perfectly flush with the edges. If you're going to be making a trim ring as well then use a bigger saw. If you want it to turn out wrong, use a peacock.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2783052495_a9646161f2.jpg?v=0
Step III
Now find a saw that fits around the inside of the driver, you're shooting for the nearest size to the largest part of the spider/basket. Remember, it's easier to sand away something then summon mystical wood-breathing dragons to add what you cut off in your stupidity. Be careful not to let the teeth touch your surround, they are sharp teeth. Hence the words, "teeth" and "saw".
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2783052483_d0c321a06a.jpg?v=0
Step IV
Trace the larger ring onto the MDF for the ring. The reason for this is because somebody will say you need to on a forum for some dumb reason, so it's better to avoid future flame wars and arguments. To trace a circle, place the saw on the MDF and use a magic marker to trace it's edge. A magic marker is a sharpie that you likely stole from a soundman, teacher, fellow worker, mechanic, or government authority so it cost you nothing. Otherwise it's just a sharpie. We want the MAGIC part here, it's very important. Now, put the SMALL--VERY IMPORTANT HERE--hole saw on the drill. Once again, SMALL SAW FIRST! What was that you asked? SMALL FIRST! Wait, did you say call a hurst? No, I said SMALL FIRST! Then, cut a hole leaving room for the width of the larger saw around it. How to cut a hole with these things? Pull the trigger and push.
[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2783905540_4ae9685961.jpg?v=0]
Step V
Now you have one hole cut, keep that bad boy clamped down! If for any reason you think it's slid, moved, or you didn't listen to me in hoping i would spank you--it takes more than that, sorry--just take the saw with the drill bit out of the drill, put it in the hole and if it fits, it's still aligned. Now, put the BIG SAW ON...you get the idea of the order of importance right? Using the same pilot hole from your first cut, simply cut the larger hole now. This will cut your ring right out! Now you also have a small circle of MDF or in my case polycarbonate, the combo of magic marker and slave-made harbor freight tools have turned it into a precious good luck charm. That said, put it on a necklace. If you only used a sharpie instead of magic marker, get rid of it ASAP because its now carrying the Ebola virus.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2783905488_fc25826da0.jpg?v=0
Step VI
Test fit. It fits. Word. Props to me....err you.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2783052433_ca1bed3d5e.jpg?v=0
Step VII
Put a crazy scary picture of yourself on this forum using your speaker ring as a monocle. This is absolutely necessary.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2783905524_f370d691e5.jpg?v=0
I hope you enjoyed this session kids, the J Jones method of speaker ring creation!
Ok, so what we've done here--by we i mean myself and the people i pretend to hang out with when I'm up at 2am at my garage i rent out in an industrial yard by a river in Seattle--is make a speaker ring for my Dayton mids without using anything except a drill and hole saw kit from harbor freight. The hole saw kit is the 18 piece that has various sizes that get very large, for $4.99!!! How? Follow these easy-to-complete steps, color inside the lines, make happy trees, and you'll have some great speaker rings!
MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. Drill
2. Hole Saw Kit
3. Ring Material
4. Scrap wood
5. C-clamp/s
6. Led Zeppelin BBC sessions to play while you work
Step I
Get your materials, i used bullet-proof polycarbonate for the rings because i have lots of scraps, it's fun, strong, and for fiberglassing i find it easier to hot-glue dowels to. Oh yeah, it also didn't require me cutting a piece of MDF off of my backing sheet most importantly; re-read intro statement about laziness if necessary. Put them on your work bench, or broken subwoofer you haven't gotten around to fixing in this case. Put the scrap wood down, and then put the ring material over it, ill call it MDF for ease even though that's not what i'm using. Clamp them together with some C-clamps, they cost only a few doubloons at harbor freight so it's no problem if you don't have any yet.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2783905594_f6f0b5c949.jpg?v=0
Step II
Find a saw that fits around the whole top of your driver, for this case i found one that would slide over it and fit perfectly flush with the edges. If you're going to be making a trim ring as well then use a bigger saw. If you want it to turn out wrong, use a peacock.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2783052495_a9646161f2.jpg?v=0
Step III
Now find a saw that fits around the inside of the driver, you're shooting for the nearest size to the largest part of the spider/basket. Remember, it's easier to sand away something then summon mystical wood-breathing dragons to add what you cut off in your stupidity. Be careful not to let the teeth touch your surround, they are sharp teeth. Hence the words, "teeth" and "saw".
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2783052483_d0c321a06a.jpg?v=0
Step IV
Trace the larger ring onto the MDF for the ring. The reason for this is because somebody will say you need to on a forum for some dumb reason, so it's better to avoid future flame wars and arguments. To trace a circle, place the saw on the MDF and use a magic marker to trace it's edge. A magic marker is a sharpie that you likely stole from a soundman, teacher, fellow worker, mechanic, or government authority so it cost you nothing. Otherwise it's just a sharpie. We want the MAGIC part here, it's very important. Now, put the SMALL--VERY IMPORTANT HERE--hole saw on the drill. Once again, SMALL SAW FIRST! What was that you asked? SMALL FIRST! Wait, did you say call a hurst? No, I said SMALL FIRST! Then, cut a hole leaving room for the width of the larger saw around it. How to cut a hole with these things? Pull the trigger and push.
[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2783905540_4ae9685961.jpg?v=0]
Step V
Now you have one hole cut, keep that bad boy clamped down! If for any reason you think it's slid, moved, or you didn't listen to me in hoping i would spank you--it takes more than that, sorry--just take the saw with the drill bit out of the drill, put it in the hole and if it fits, it's still aligned. Now, put the BIG SAW ON...you get the idea of the order of importance right? Using the same pilot hole from your first cut, simply cut the larger hole now. This will cut your ring right out! Now you also have a small circle of MDF or in my case polycarbonate, the combo of magic marker and slave-made harbor freight tools have turned it into a precious good luck charm. That said, put it on a necklace. If you only used a sharpie instead of magic marker, get rid of it ASAP because its now carrying the Ebola virus.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2783905488_fc25826da0.jpg?v=0
Step VI
Test fit. It fits. Word. Props to me....err you.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2783052433_ca1bed3d5e.jpg?v=0
Step VII
Put a crazy scary picture of yourself on this forum using your speaker ring as a monocle. This is absolutely necessary.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2783905524_f370d691e5.jpg?v=0
I hope you enjoyed this session kids, the J Jones method of speaker ring creation!