When I fill an order for completed speakers, I have the cabinets built by professional cabinetmakers and I take delivery of the cabinets and install the components in them. I can tell you that you'll only need a screwdriver to mount the drivers and crossovers into the cabinets, some white glue to attach the R13 insulation to the inside bottom, back and side nearest the port. You won't need a soldering iron or anything like that because the crossovers and cable assemblies are finished and ready for you to connect. You just press 'em on.

You can build a professional cabinet with sharp hand saw, a framing square and a eggbeater drill. A plane and chisel. Thats how some of the best furniture to date was build in the 17th century. If you looking to have an average life expectancy past 45 and finish these in less than 3 months, a few power tools would be cool.

The simplest and fastest process would be to go to Home Depot, or your favorite place to buy lumber that has these two things. Oak Plywood, and a Panel Saw. Buy the plywood you need for all the panels and have them cut all 12 pieces you need. buy iron on edgebanding and iron it on all exposed edges. nail up your cabinet with finish nails, fill the holes and finish.

corner cleats inside the box would make it stronger and you could blind screw everything from inside except the back panel.
A router would let you cut a perfect circle for the woofer and let you make a rabbet joint for the sides if you wanted. You can cut the woofer opening with a saber saw. You will need one to cut the horn opening and terminal block hole.

A skill saw with a good blade and a cutting guide would be as nice for cutting up sheet good as a table saw.

seriously, If have your panels cut on a good panel saw. All you need is a saber saw and a drill. From there, techniques and tools have no limits.

But remember.... The purchase of additional power tools for the aid in building project that is saving money. Are always Off budget!
so have it

Bill

fine print......
he who dies with the most toys wins. employees of the self employed woodworkers of America working in their back yards and outbuildings are not eligible. if you already had an accumulation of toolage but have since lost said toolage through divorce, please proceed to the bar. your friends are there. If you have one a similar contest in the past 3 months buy becoming deceased "with the most toys" you are no longer eligible.

I built my Pi's with a hammer, a jig saw, a chop saw (most convenient thing since our table saw sucks) a drill with drill bits and and screw bits as well... A screwdriver, a rip file, and a couple other tools I think.

I had home depot cut most of the wood on their panel saw. I HIGHLY recommend doing this, as the saw tends to be very accurate and you can return the wood if the cuts are bad. You can also get even a lot of cuts cheap if you are a nice and patient person, in most cases anyway.

It'd be silly to not use a 10,000 dollar panel saw instead of a 400 dollar table saw...

Anyway, that was my main list of tools, although I haven't finished them all up quite yet.

Adam

"I'm your evil Uncle Ernie....Fiddle around, fiddle around........."

I use cabinet grade birch veneer ply.

If doing a living room speaker, as opposed to commercial, or PA, I cover the edges with birch tape. To do this, I sand the cut ply edge and paint two coats of carpenters glue on the edge, as the first coats really soaks in. If any drips on the side to be stained, I wipe it away carefully with a wet rag. Otherwise, stain will not penetrate and a light spot will show there.

I thumbtack the birch tape to an old scrap of ply, and paint that with one coat of carpenters glue.

After all dry, I place the birch tape in position, and using an old household iron, set to a cotton/wool setting, I IRON on the birch tape, following with a dry cloth to hold it while it cools for just a second. This attaches the tape quickly and easily with no drips or runs of glue, as the glue is already dry.

Now, trim the excess with a utility knife. Hit it lightly with sandpaper and you are done, a beautiful edge.

More than 25 years of using this method has proven it. And it stays on!!! I have some spkrs in the house now more than 20 years old, the edges are still just fine.

And I use 7 to 10 coats of tung oil, hand rubbed, as per a post previously on here by another fellow, who described a method almost exactly as I use.

For PA and MI spkrs, I cover with carpet using contact cement, or with transportation vinyl.

While I will sometimes use MDF with veneer for indoor spkrs, MDF will not hold up for road use.