What I find funny about building your own box(AKA my worlog)

[ShadowA2J]

So I finally started to build my own box on Monday. I'll have pics up later. But I was putting it together yesterday, and realized something pretty funny. I am making a sealed box. So I go through all this trouble to make it perfectly air tight. I.E. Liquid Nails, screws, perfect right angles, awesome wood cutting skill, etc. So I take all this time to make it airtight, and today I am going to cut an 11 1/8 inch hole in the side of it. Kind of made laugh.

Anyways, so I have 2 Resonant Engineering 12 SE's that will be powered by a JBL 1200.1 in a sealed box. This is my first box, and so far it's been a lot of fun. Here's my purchases so far:

(1) sheet 4'x8' 3/4" MDF - $20
(2) Tubes Heavy Duty Liquid Nails - $3
(1) 1 Lb. Box 2" Drywall Screws - $4
(2) Radio Shack Terminal Cups - $8

 

[hydroxy]

gotta have pics =P just make sure you have some type of rubber gasket around the subs where it meets the mdf to ensure an air-tight seal. seems like everyone is building a box these days

 

[mhn3773]

yah good luck dude..im on my 2nd hand made box right now lol probably soon to be on the third(gunna port (=)

if u cant find a rubber gasket just use some 2" thick weather stripping type material should be like 1/8th" thick worked well for all the boxs i have put subs into

 

[ShadowA2J]

The Boys:

First box almost done:

General idea of what I'm thinking what it will look like:

Get almost done with the second hole, and my dad's 26 year old jig saw decides to break :fire:

The receipt says 1978.

 

[ShadowA2J]

Oh yeah, thanks for the heads up on the gaskets, something I hadn't thought of yet. I know it's not perfect, but it will be good enough, and I think it will be a pretty sweet first box.

 

[mhn3773]

id buy a roto zip...i bought one when i was making my 2nd box and i used it to but ALL of the wood...didnt even break out my circular saw once..i cut all the wood in my room lol (long story)..just wear ear plugs..its really loud lol

 

[hydroxy]

looking good. Dont go dissing old tools . They dont make them like they used to. Is the amp going in the middle?

 

[mhn3773]

yah esp since u can pick up some "old" tools at garage sales and stuff for like 5 bucks..whereas i spent 90 on a drill lol..brand new but i mean and old one spins doesnt it? lol

 

[Crankcase]

Normally all of these "Worklog" threads are anoying, but that 1978 receipt made my day! My dad did that also...still has orignal receipt for stuff like tools....Get a close up pic of the price LOL

 

[ShadowA2J]

Hydroxy - Yeah the amp is going in the middle. I haven't decided exactly how I want to do that yet. I was thinking of making it "float" in the middle there with some posts from the bottom, or even framing it out. I don't know yet.

Crankcase - The receipt actually has my Grandpa's name on it. Three generations have used that saw. I was thinking about writing Black and Decker and telling them about it. Hoping maybe I would get something out of it. You never know.

 

[hydroxy]

Normally all of these "Worklog" threads are anoying, but that 1978 receipt made my day! My dad did that also...still has orignal receipt for stuff like tools....Get a close up pic of the price LOL

lol why are they annoying?

 

[springtensi0n]

id buy a roto zip...i bought one when i was making my 2nd box and i used it to but ALL of the wood...didnt even break out my circular saw once..i cut all the wood in my room lol (long story)..just wear ear plugs..its really loud lol

rotozips are very very handy... so is hearing protection when using them i cut my friends cats of his super coupe with mine and pretty much went deaf. sawing through medal, under a car + an already noisey tool = terrible for your health.

 

[410Fortune]

You will want to: PAINT the inside of the box. MDF is not air tight.
Also you will want to insulate 3 sides of the interior of that box.

You should also consider a radio shack speaker wire hookup that will mount on the side of the box, so you dont have a hole for the wires.

Also you should run a bead of liquid nails along all joints inside the box.

with sealed being absolutely airtight is the key.

Not a bad job for a first box, I have built about 100 or so now I believe...and each time it seems they get a little better and tighter...

 

[ShadowA2J]

You will want to: PAINT the inside of the box. MDF is not air tight.
Also you will want to insulate 3 sides of the interior of that box.

You should also consider a radio shack speaker wire hookup that will mount on the side of the box, so you dont have a hole for the wires.

Also you should run a bead of liquid nails along all joints inside the box.

with sealed being absolutely airtight is the key.

Not a bad job for a first box, I have built about 100 or so now I believe...and each time it seems they get a little better and tighter...

Paint the interior, something I have never heard.

Also insulate 3 sides? What do you mean, and what will it do?

Went and bought the Radio Shack speaker terminals, but they have a hole in them. Right where the spring is. I'll have to see if I can get a pic of it.

Thanks for the heads up on the Liquid Nails on the joints, already did that.

And thanks. I'm not very good at cutting wood. Frankly it scares me. Using the saws doesn't scare me, just knowing that it is really simple to screw up, and it's not always easy to fix. But I'm proud of what I've done so far. I just can't wait until I get my amp in. I just bought it off Ebay a couple of days ago. Hopefully it will be all ready to go, just mount the amp and throw it in the truck when I get it.

 

[expo5.0]

i would paint the inside with polyurethane, and then spray the entire inside with rubberized undercoating (one can of the 3m stuff should work- tall can), then definitely still use a bit of the polyfill. probably 2 lbs per box.

 

[RFR2212]

Ya know, I've used polyfill on a few installs and have noticed no difference...

 

[burgo]

I have used polyfill in my stealth box, before I sold it, and I noticed quite an improvement. I also had built a wedge shaped box to fit behind the passenger seat of a regular cab 97 Ranger when I was in high school, and stuffed it too. From what I hear, polyfill really only does anything for small inclosures that don't have the amount of cubic inches specified for the sub. It makes the sub "think" or perform like it's in a bigger box than it actually is. That's just what I've heard, I'm not proclaiming to be a car audio expert though. :smoke:

 

[ShadowA2J]

I've always heard the same thing, polyfil is to trick the sub in thinking it has more airspace. So if the airspace is exactly what the sub needs, do I still need the polyfil?

 

[burgo]

I'm thining that you wouldn't use it. If the box you have made is built to spec with your sub, then that should be it. I have a box that is built to spec for my subs I have now, and I didn't bother putting anything in it.

 

[mhn3773]

i used a bit o polyfill because it quited the subs down one..but it smoothed them out also

they are kicker 15s...thats what the polyfill is suposed to do my subs are also in 2.8CF boxs