| What I learned about speaker box assembly [message #28950] |
Wed, 25 February 2004 16:45  |
BillEpstein
Messages: 886
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (2nd Degree) |
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Had the pleasure of spending time with a local professional, Boyd Creveling who graciously allowed me the run of his shop. When you want really high end entertainment centers or kitchen cabinets, Boyd is who you see in this area.
In his cutting room everything is hooked up to a big 2 stage dust collection system and there are 4 separate compressed air stations in the assembly area!
I chose a finish nailer and 1 1/2" 16 gauge nails to assemble some MDF boxes. Made a test shot and quickly gave that up. Split the wood right away! Stepped down to an 18 gauge pinner with 7/8 brads and that worked out.
I found I needed a couple of clamps to square things up and spied 4 of those Bessey K-body clamps in the corner. Now, I always thought of them as rich mans toys but was I ever wrong! The square heads meant instant equal pressure and the best clamp I've ever used!
Gotta have some.
Brads are so much quicker and easier than screws. And just teeny little holes to fill. You can buy a complete outfit from Porter Cable and others for $300. Compressor and pinner. A must have.
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| Re: What I learned about speaker box assembly [message #28951 is a reply to message #28950] |
Wed, 25 February 2004 21:22  |
wunhuanglo
Messages: 912
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (2nd Degree) |
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I have two Porter-Cable guns - an 18ga headless pin and a narrow crown stapler. The stapler leaves a larger hole to fill, but seems to make a far stronger connection (2 pins for the price of one?) and combats torsion. The 18ga pins in the longer lengths have a nasty habit of popping out of the joint at right angles to the drive axis - can't decide if it's poor technique or if they're susceptible to deflection.
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| Re: What I learned about speaker box assembly [message #28954 is a reply to message #28951] |
Fri, 27 February 2004 10:09 |
Bill Martinelli
Messages: 677
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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I have 2 Senco's and and 2 Bostich. The big gun will just about explode MDF and it sits most of the time now that I'm long away from contruction. I use the finish nailer for most all boxt projects with 1 1/2 nails for MDF and 2" for plywood. the 18g brad nailer is nice for trims, molding and blocking. Or, if you just want to stick something and peel it off later. Like you say they are prone to deflection and dont offer a lot of lateral strength either. I would be inclined to use the brad gun for a plywood over MDF. With MDF you cant get any closer than 2" to an edge and that can be cutting it close. 3" is beter margin and let your glue do the work at the corner.
Those staples are killer aren't they?! Those suckers really hold stuff down. I find trying to use them on MDF gives you twice the chance of poke out with each shot. Bill
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| Clamps [message #28967 is a reply to message #28950] |
Tue, 02 March 2004 09:31 |
elektratig
Messages: 348
Registered: May 2009
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Grand Master |
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There's nothing like a good clamp! When I decided I wanted to build speakers, knowing that I was lousy (I'd taken a Woodworking 101 course and would have flunked if they'd had grades), I looked around for the best clamps I could find and settled on the Jorgensen Cabinet Masters. Ridiculously expensive. For my birthday and the holidays I begged anyone who was even thinking of giving me a present to get me one. I'm a happy guy!
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