The Fairchild Ghost. Subwoofer project.

[ALXAndy]

Right so today's adventures. Yesterday I made the black back piece for the VU so I started by fitting that.

Connected and soldered the inside.

And.

I also machined these "ears" to cover the ends where the screws go on the DSP.

 

[Tattysnuc]

Stunning!

 

[ALXAndy]

OK so literally nothing done today. I had to have a good clear up etc. This was done yesterday.

And a huge thanks to @Cenedd for making this for me. It is a drill stop for a forstner bit, as I realised you can't put a speaker box under a drill press lol.

 

[Tattysnuc]

...just make sure you keep the drill perpendicular to the surface and also dont burn the surface when you reach depth. I'd hate to see you damage this project, but you probably aren't as heavy handed as me... judging by your work so far!

 

[ALXAndy]

Yeah totally. The holes on the grille are perfect guides being done on the press, so should be the perfect jig for nice straight pilot holes.

I've also learned during this that centre punching everything is awesome. Even acrylic.

Forgot to mention that I've ordered more gold Ti plated bolts. May as well fit the terminals and badges with them as I have a ton of m4 threadserts left.

 

[Tattysnuc]

Going back to your drill press - I'm in the market for one and I see they have that one on amazon reduced to £28 "like new". Worth a very small punt for someone who will only use occasionally? I'm low on tool-storage-space, so I tried using blocks with loads of holes drilled in them, which were ok, but not the same as it takes 1 hand to hold the drill, another to hold the guide and then my magical 3rd and 4th hand to hold what I'm drilling....

 

[ALXAndy]

Yup well worth it. One of the tools that I'm keeping. The bench was disposable and went in the recycling bin.

 

[LuckyBenski]

Going back to your drill press - I'm in the market for one and I see they have that one on amazon reduced to £28 "like new". Worth a very small punt for someone who will only use occasionally? I'm low on tool-storage-space, so I tried using blocks with loads of holes drilled in them, which were ok, but not the same as it takes 1 hand to hold the drill, another to hold the guide and then my magical 3rd and 4th hand to hold what I'm drilling....

It sounds like what you need is clamps.

 

[ALXAndy]

You can never, ever, have too many clamps. Sadly my 50cm ones are only about 40 and thus were not long enough for the last job so I got these.

12 pound something on the bay of fleas. These are to hold my metre ruler (metal) when I cut the final edges on the vinyl. They are stupid long lol.

 

[ALXAndy]

BTW Tatty, something to consider.

The ONLY thing I did not like about the drill press was my drill itself. It has no speed control, so pretty much deafened me. I had to have my face right next to it. If your drill doesn't have a speed knob then you will need ear protection for sure. It's annoying, as I never needed it to spin that fast. Unfortunately when you lock it off it goes to full speed.

 

[Tattysnuc]

BTW Tatty, something to consider.

The ONLY thing I did not like about the drill press was my drill itself. It has no speed control, so pretty much deafened me. I had to have my face right next to it. If your drill doesn't have a speed knob then you will need ear protection for sure. It's annoying, as I never needed it to spin that fast. Unfortunately when you lock it off it goes to full speed.

noted - thanks. I'll pull the trigger on buying it

 

[Tattysnuc]

It sounds like what you need is clamps.

can never have too many clamps....

 

[ALXAndy]

Well I did it..

Lunyee had a 5% off code, so it was £246. The only thing is it has 12mm rails. My old CNC I *think* has 10mm. So my 3040 kit will not work. However, I spoke to my mate last night and he said he can make me some from 12mm rod (stainless). Obs it won't be chrome coated, but I oil the rails a lot any way.

So the upgrades basically are -

500w brushless motor. It is almost silent on spinning.
Metal motor holder.
12mm rails.
Stop button. Could have done with this about 30 times.
Manual stepper controls.
48v PSU.
Limit switches. Again, these could have saved me from wasting lots of acrylic.

And whatever else I don't know about it yet. I never thought I would use the one I have now much, oh how wrong I was lol.

 

[ALXAndy]

And bodywork, go.

As you can see the grille now sits nice and flat. I will put more filler in later.

I realised then I had forgotten to actually check it fits.

It literally clicks into place.

 

[Cenedd]

However, I spoke to my mate last night and he said he can make me some from 12mm rod (stainless).

You'd be better looking at 12mm SILVER STEEL GROUND SHAFT ROD. Literally made for the purpose and it'll be 12mm all way down, round and without taper. You're looking about £12 for a foot inc postage.

 

[ALXAndy]

Awesome thanks. I wasn't sure tbh.

Well today I shall be doing all a la sod. Back totally gone. Up every 30 mins trying to find a position to stop it hurting. I failed.

Found it. 20 quid inc for a meter. I'll speak to Gary later and get it ordered.

Also. I started taking parts off of mine too. I noticed the things that connect the rails to the plate are plastic. The new one are all metal.

 

[ALXAndy]

Well I am either crazy or stupid. Probably the latter tbh. I decided to finish it. Knowing my luck I would have sat today out, and then it would pee with rain for a week solid. Knowing this was the last time I would have to take it outside in a while helped. Also, the weather was spot on. Cooler, with a nice cool breeze. So I didn't sweat ollies like I did yesterday. I also sat down instead of standing over it awkwardly.

It's since been brought in and hoovered profusely. Tomorrow I can set the grille in place, then do the magnet holes, woofer hole, woofer bolt holes etc. That will signal the end of all of the manual work and then it is all finish work like painting etc.

 

[ALXAndy]

Oh also.

Whilst changing around some speakers at home last week I gave my Revel M105 rear duties. This meant a thorough clean as they are piano finish. Any way, that has little to do with this but the grilles do. I noticed the magnets stick out quite a bit on the grille. So, I need to machine 8 5mm perspex pieces to protrude out so the fabric has enough clearance and etc. Shouldn't be an issue. I will wait til the new machine arrives and do it on that. Good way to give it its first workout !

 

[ALXAndy]

OK so I went back down at about 8:30 last night and stayed down til 10. I got the woofer hole marked, the centres pre drilled for the magnets and etc.

I then had nightmare #1. The drill stop Cenedd made for me was too small inside. This was clearly my fault (I tend to press a bit too hard and thus get too small a reading) but it needed resolving. After about an hour of trying to hold it still I realised I could not. Not without going into the sauna loft and getting my grips down.

Finally got it slightly larger so it would fit. First magnet down, which is now stuck in there lmao.

That is not an indent. I will need to sand the top half of the front again after today's antics so I will address it then.

I pre drilled a hole for the jigsaw to go in (I did not want to use the router, and had I then I would have had a serious accident tbh) and then I came to nightmare #2. As hard as I tried to position the screws so they would not go into the area where the woofer lives two did. Like I say, had I used the router? dear lord I don't even want to think about that. Now when cutting out fine holes I tend to use HSS cutting blades. Why? they are finer, and slower. So you don't end up going too fast and making camel hump edges. I then had to pre drill several more holes and cut up to the fouling screws. At this point I tried to file one but it would have taken all day. So, I busted out the angle grinder.

After that I used a new trick I learned online. You put two cable ties through the woofer to get it into the hole, but you can then also pull it back out without tipping the cabinet. Only pain is you then have two holes you can not mark so I punched all but two, pre fitted the threadserts (no epoxy) started all of those bolts, then punched and took the woofer out before finally pre drilling the last two. This time I got some luck. They did not foul the two rogue screws. And so...

As I said, minor sanding needed before I start painting. For now though? I need to start putting the tools away. So tomorrow I am doing diddly squat, and then Weds I will spend time putting all of the tools away so I can start painting.

 

[ALXAndy]

I have just realised what those black marks are around the magnet holes. It is pencil. It's pulled it from the lines close by.