I held my breath, said a prayer and backed out the screws in the speaker box, the glue held perfectly. Exhale. I braced, insulated, sanded and primed the speaker - 1.5 hours. Only additional spending was $3.50 for the 1x3 pine for the braces. Also, I returned the $30 pack of insulation and got the HD insulation for $9.00. And since I'm re-using the screws, that saves another $5.

I learned I should go easy with the wood putty, it slows down the sanding. Using an electric sander is great, but I need a finer grade of sandpaper (220) to reduced the 'scuffing'.

I started on the second speaker box. Cutting the MDF took me about 1.5 hours rather than 9 hours. Woohoo!

I'm thinking of painting them black on the bottom half, maroon at the top with a 1" gold band running between them, sortof like a set I saw either here or in High Efficiency Speakers. I like the color scheme.

Updated Costs -

Tools:

Saber Saw.... 40.00
Circular Saw. 50.00
Carbon Blade. 40.00

TOOLS TOTAL.. 130.00

MDF........ 33.00
Glue....... 8.00
Primer..... 7.00
Insulation. 9.00
Screws..... 5.00
Paint...... ?
Sandpaper.. ?
Braces..... 3.5

TOTAL...... 65.50

Labor - Speaker Box 1
Actual.... 14.5 hrs
Remaining. 4 hrs (est)

Total..... 18.5 (est)

Labor - Speaker Box 2

Actual.... 1.5 hrs
Remaining. 8.0 (est)
Total..... 9.5 (est)

Hopefully I'll do as well or better with the 2nd box and not need the filler.