Circles

[thekl0wn]

Yes, that's right, I make circles... Or rings as we like to call them in the biz... :D

But seriously, in the auto world there's a huge calling for MDF rings or baffles to mount drivers to. Many on other forums I'm a member of don't have the tools to make nice baffles. I have the luxury of having all the routers, jigs, and scrap MDF to make them. Plus, when shipping them, it gives me a chance to go see all the cuties at the UPS store! :p

I'll see if I can dig up some pics of different installs, and I think I have a few of the construction pics for the odd-shaped pieces. Nothing special, but it's enough to buy a new router bit here and there, and it saves the end customer quite a bit as well.

With the recent explosion in the fiberglass world, the rings are becoming almost a commodity, and I'm working on a deal with one of the local car audio shops to start turning out some rings for them on a regular basis...

[Don]

Wow, I've never heard of this niche. Share, share!

dawjr

[thekl0wn]

Here's the finished product (on my part) for a member of another forum. The space he had in his car to mount his drivers was odd-shaped, and he didn't want to trim anything so he needed his baffles on a skewed angle.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/thekl0wn/tech/P1010020.jpg

I'll try to get some pics of the different mounts for drivers, and some of the grills I've made as well.

[DIYer]

Cool...where were you when I installed my car stereo. I had to make mine out of lexan. They worked ok, but rattled a little at high volume.

[thekl0wn]

Cool...where were you when I installed my car stereo. I had to make mine out of lexan. They worked ok, but rattled a little at high volume.

Sounds like you could use a bit of deadening and some modeling clay! :D

[Don]

I love circular work. I consider myself a "bandsaw master," I'll post some solutions to project problems of years past.

Looks like good projects, Lee.

dawjr

[thekl0wn]

Here's a few more pics from that project...

Removing the excess material from the inner ring, with the template attached.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/thekl0wn/tech/P1010016.jpg

Pattern bit on the router table does an excellent job replicating the circles.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/thekl0wn/tech/P1010017.jpg

Good ol' Horror Freight sander did the job on making the skew. This wasn't to engineering specs, but I made a line through the center before I started, and simply kept that line parallel to the sander, and applied pressure to the side which needed the material removed, until it was the correct thickness. I then turned it perpendicular to the sander, and hit it quickly, to "true" it up.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/thekl0wn/tech/P1010018.jpg

[DIYer]

MDF sure is dusty...isn't it!!

[Dagster]

Yup, I'm thinking about doing something similar but for baffles. I'm building a CNC router and will be able to churn out perfect baffles one after the other when finished. I figure I'll charge enough to make it worthwhile for me and cheap enough to make it a no brainer for builders.

[thekl0wn]

Yup, I'm thinking about doing something similar but for baffles. I'm building a CNC router and will be able to churn out perfect baffles one after the other when finished. I figure I'll charge enough to make it worthwhile for me and cheap enough to make it a no brainer for builders.

Please post a thread on this build! I've been thinking about this for a while now! :D

[Dagster]

I certainly will. I can post some pics of the parts I have accumulated. I have 80% of what I need to start the build.

Here is the new thread: http://www.woodworkingbuzz.com/forums/showthread.php?p=268&posted=1#post268

[Dagster]

So kl0wn, Do you have any pics of the resulting speaker enclosures? I know the process you are talking about. They use the MDF for the structure and fiberglass over that and sand to contour right? Pretty cool idea of selling the rings to people. Do you sell to individuals or shops?

[thekl0wn]

The posted baffle was just that... A baffle. Gives a much better mount than just the door panel... I prefer to run the deadening, then mount the baffle, then use the modeling clay to seal, and then mount my driver. At least that method has been tried and testing on the body style of my trucks... I have plans in the works though for using some of these MDF rings, and they won't by mounting to the door panels... But suspended with F/G in a custom panel!

The typical rings for use with fiberglass usually feature a recess of some sort, to flush mount the driver. I, personally, prefer to use a much deeper recess, and then use that extra lip to hold my grills, which I usually make out of MDF rings, and then stretch 1-2 layers of grill cloth over, to create enough friction in the lip... Of course this only works for smaller drivers, because Xmax starts to come into play.