How to build a professional looking box

[stratusrt01]

Well, there's been a ton of questions about how to Build boxes, so I figured this might help you guys out. This tutorial assumes that you have a good selection of tools, if you don't, the tablesaw has to be substituted with a circular saw, the router with a jigsaw for cutting holes, and sandpaper for rounding corners. Better tools equal better results, of course, but you can build a professional looking box with a circular saw, saw guide, and jigsaw, it just takes more time, attention to detail, and patience.

Now, on to the pics. I'm going to do this in stages, to keep myself straight:

First thing you need to do is cut out all your pieces for your box based off your cutsheet or drawing. How you do this is up to you, but of course the most professional results will be achieved using a tablesaw. Mine is a Rigid Contractor saw with a 36" rip capacity.



Here's your stack after you've cut it all out to the sizes listed on your cutsheet or drawing:



If I was using a circular saw, I would dry fit the pieces at this time to make sure all the cuts were straight, and the dimensions were right. Using a tablesaw and fence, as long as you set the fence correctly, you're good to go.

Next thing I do is to round off all the edges on the ends of the ports with a router table. A handheld router with 1/2" or 3/4" will do, if you don't have either, use 80 grit sandpaper to smooth and round the edges where the port end will see airflow:





after I get mine off the router table, I still hit the edges with some 80 grit to smooth out any imperfections:



Now, this box is a flared port box, so I'll go over that as well. Ben Gailey's sticky on flared port is a good place to start learning the flares, so all I'm going to do is go over the actual cutting

First thing I do is measure out where my flare needs to be based on the cutsheet or diagram, and mark it on the wood.



Then we need to set the blade height, I eyeball it, but generally, you want to cut about 5/8ths deep:



Then I set the fence at the 1st measurement, and start cutting:



This box called for 1/2" spacing on the cuts, with one at 1/4" because the flare radius was not exact:




To be Continued...........

[stratusrt01]

OK, the next thing to cut out were the 45's for the corners, very easy with a tablesaw:

This design called for a 3 5/8" length on the 45's, so we measure them out on a sheet already cut to the length we need. Usually you'll have enough scrap to Build these.



set the blade at 45 degrees



line the blade up with your mark, you'll have to get low to do this one:



and knock it off the end. Then just reverse it, and run it throught the other way, and you'll have a perfect 45:





the rest are easy, just flip the wood over, and cut off however many you need with the fence set in place:

[stratusrt01]

alright, lets move on to the baffle. Some people prefer to cut them out before they screw the box together, some people wait. I do it first because it's less sawdust you have to clean out of the inside of the box and takes away the chance of hitting a screw with the router and busting a $20 bit.

First we measure out where we want the center of the holes:



Next, I drill a hole for the pin on the jasper jig:



Then we get to cutting. You don't need the greatest router on earth, the one I use for holes cost $50 at Walmart, and the Jasper Jig fits it perfectly:



to be continued, uploading more pics.....

[stratusrt01]

Now we set the pin on the jasper jig corresponding to the size hole we need. If you look closely, you can see we're set at 11 3/8", which is the cutout size for the DD 9512:



This is the greatest bit you can use for cutting holes. An upspiral cutting bit. Wizzes through MDF, and doesn't get dull.



We put the pin in the hole we drilled earlier:



and just let the router do the work in about 20 seconds. I normally use 2 cuts to get all the way through the mdf:



then we cut the 2nd hole



after that, we hit the holes lightly with some 80 grit to get rid of any imperfections, and the little sharp edge the router creates:



Then we set everything back over together and prepare to assemble:

[stratusrt01]

Now, I like to get everything together for assembly and clean up a little at this point, since we won't be dealing with sawdust anymore, and the router makes such a mess. Here's the tools I use, again, nothing too expensive, but they get the job done with ease.





I also use a countersink set I picked up at Walmart, and set the drillbit in accordance with the length of screw that I'm using to make my pilot holes:





And that's where I'm at up until this point. I'll update this as the day goes by, and I take more pictures.

[master467]

ahh..looks awesome..

[BIG MIKE]

good work rich....i would love to have all ur damn tools...be much easier

btw, delete my post if it clutters your thread

[stratusrt01]

the thing is that none of my tools, minus the tablesaw are expensive. The tablesaw was $600, but it has earned it's worth many times over.

[stratusrt01]

You know, I get back out there to build, and my battery dies in my camera, just my luck, so I'm putting this on hold for a couple hours until my camera recharges.

[Hugh G. Rection]

nice thread. you do this identical to the way i do it, except the jasper jig. i use a cut-off bit in the router with a bearing on the end of it, and i have a template i clamp to the wood. work well for square circles.

[nick]

Originally Posted by Hugh G. Rection

nice thread. you do this identical to the way i do it, except the jasper jig. i use a cut-off bit in the router with a bearing on the end of it, and i have a template i clamp to the wood. work well for square circles.

whats a square circle?

[Hugh G. Rection]

Originally Posted by nick

whats a square circle?

square subs. its hip to be square.

[stratusrt01]

Originally Posted by Hugh G. Rection

nice thread. you do this identical to the way i do it, except the jasper jig. i use a cut-off bit in the router with a bearing on the end of it, and i have a template i clamp to the wood. work well for square circles.

I have the same thing for Kicker subs also, works nicely on the router table with the straight cut bit with bearing.

[Hugh G. Rection]

Originally Posted by stratusrt01

I have the same thing for Kicker subs also, works nicely on the router table with the straight cut bit with bearing.

cant wait to see the rest of the thread. nice work so far!

[stratusrt01]

Well, I got a few pics before my camera died, so I'll go ahead and post them up.

It's assembly time!!!!!!!!!

Now for the disclaimer. Everyone has a different way of doing this, this is my preferred method.

This box is being built to handle high Power for daily driving and some SPL, so it will have a little more done to it than most. I know what a box will take and won't from years of doing it, so I suggest you do it this way, especially if your cuts aren't perfectly straight. For normal boxes that'll never see over 1500ish watts, I don't even use screws, but since this box is getting a lot of power behind it, we'll do whatever it takes to make it stronger:

First thing we do is lay out our first 2 pieces of wood. I prefer to do the bottom and back first, but it's all subjective, as long as you can get to the joint to screw or nail the next piece in, there is no right or wrong way to do it.



Then we lay on a nice thick bead of wood glue. Don't fall into the trap, woodglue is pretty much woodglue, whether it is titebond, elmers, etc. Use whichever you like. Don't use liquid nails!!!!!! It doesn't bond with the wood, it just sticks it together instead of forming a permanent bond.



You can't use too much glue, all it does is make a mess, that's easily cleaned up with a wet rag. Then we align the edges and corners nicely and put on some 90 degree corner clamps to hold it in place



Then we clamp it down. This is especially important if you are using brads instead of screws. You need to get wood to wood contact everywhere. Any place that isn't is a potential failure point. With screws, it's not as important, but it does help hold everything in place until you get the screws in



Now, I use brads to tack it together, although it will get screws, the brads do a nice job holding it together and making it easier to work with.

When you have it together, you should end up with a nice bead coming out of the seams, no real dry areas. Remember, the glue is what's really holding your box together

[Hugh G. Rection]

nice.

[sundownz]

Rich,

What tool is that you are using to hold the wood at a 90 degree angle and where can I get them? I quickly worked on a box for my Civic yesterday and I would burn it and destroy the evidence if it was for someone else *laughs* Since it is just for my personal use... it'll do. Those tools would have helped alot.

[Munkeeluv]

very nice work man

[stratusrt01]

Originally Posted by sundownz

Rich,

What tool is that you are using to hold the wood at a 90 degree angle and where can I get them? I quickly worked on a box for my Civic yesterday and I would burn it and destroy the evidence if it was for someone else *laughs* Since it is just for my personal use... it'll do. Those tools would have helped alot.

They are 90 degree corner clamps, I picked mine up at harbor freight for like $3 a piece, so I bought about 10 of them, just in case I'm working on multiple things at one time. And Jacob, you know you're always welcome to come down here, and we'll whip you up something nice.

[momentarylapse7]

That glue is runny as hell?

[Hugh G. Rection]

Originally Posted by momentarylapse7

That glue is runny as hell?

no, not runny, just lots of it.

[momentarylapse7]

Originally Posted by Hugh G. Rection

no, not runny, just lots of it.

No.. my glue sure doesn't run like that.. & I use just as much.

I use Liquid Nails: Wood though.. I dunno what you use?

[stratusrt01]

read closely, my young friend, liquid nails, albeit the wood type SUCKS ass for MDF. A good true wood glue is the only way to go, and lots of it, hence it oozing out of every crack.

[momentarylapse7]

Originally Posted by stratusrt01

read closely, my young friend, liquid nails, albeit the wood type SUCKS ass for MDF. A good true wood glue is the only way to go, and lots of it, hence it oozing out of every crack.

Damn it Rich, I'm not a child, bro.

They make a Liquid Nails FOR wood..

I think I just may have to do a 'glue test'.. SMH.

[Hugh G. Rection]

Originally Posted by momentarylapse7

No.. my glue sure doesn't run like that.. & I use just as much.

I use Liquid Nails: Wood though.. I dunno what you use?

i use tightbond dark personally. im thinkin on switching to elmers stainable glue, because when it dries it matches the mdf perfectly. the dark glue i use dries about the color of fiberglass resin, and the normal wood glues always dry that wierd yellow/orange color.