Speaker Build - CNO Grande

Thanks Mark, you didn’t tell us how much fun this is! :slightly_smiling_face:

Cheers,
Mark

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Glueing the inner front panel on.

There were a couple of experiments I wanted to try, a small panel line routed around the front panel. Saw this on one of Troels’s designs and thought it looked nice. Will see when it’s painted.

The other was a small 3mm radius on the top and bottom edges.
Made this jig so the router was supported either end.

The edge routed, looks nice although hard to see in this photo.

This shows the panel cut line and edge radius better.

First coat of primer, applied with a small roller.

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looks like its moving really quickly…

Hello, it did go pretty quickly, more than I’d expected. This is from a couple of months ago, so not “real time”, trying to catch up to where I am now!

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I wasn’t sure about the panel cut line after painting so filled one side to compare. I think I prefer it without?

Quite a bit of glue squeezed through in the driver holes, will need to put tape or something round there when I do the actual cabinets!

It was at this point I spent several weekends and evenings experimenting with ways of improving the finish (paint takes quite a while to fully dry through).

This was one of the better results, sanding and then waxing and polishing. However even with several coats of primer and top coat it was possible to see fibres from the MDF showing through.

In the end I tried an aerosol primer, top coat and lacquer, finish was really nice. So I think the best option is to get everything prepared as well as I can and get the top coats applied professionally… I don’t have the equipment and a dust free place with the ventilation etc needed to do this properly. Or the skill to be honest.
I took the cabinet to a local firm that does a lot of MDF spaying and their quote was very reasonable.

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CNO Grande Cabinets

Time to build the actual cabinets. I’m really glad I did the test cabinet first, learnt a ton by doing it and the result was encouraging.

I won’t post as many pictures for this apart from where I did things differently as it’s mainly the same, just with much bigger panels … and more of them.

The mitred corner joints on the test cabinet came out well but did need a tiny bit of filler. I think this was due to very small variations in the length of the panels.

So this time I cut the mitres for the top and bottom of the side panels together.

Then cut them to width. This meant they were exactly the same length.

Did the same with the top and bottom panels.

I also routed the horizontal rebates for the braces for both the side panels at the same time. This made sure they’d be exactly aligned too … and was quicker.

Test fitting the panels made so far.

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@Mark63 - great work. :+1:t5:

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Thank you! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Lots of holes to route out!

Dry fitting the panels prior to glueing. I decided to glue all the panels in one go! I thought this would allow me to get everything aligned nicely … risky, what could possibly go wrong? :grimacing:
I did a run through three times to get the clamps and straps setup first so I’d have more time before the glue started setting.

Glued the inner panels first then turned it all on its side, the tight fitting rebate joints helped here.

Then the outer panels. Made sure everything was square, several times!

One cabinet glued … as square as I can measure.

Really pleased with the mitre and rebate joints. No filler needed!

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Front panels were dowelled as before, I found the additional time this takes was worth it.

Front panels for both cabinets done, just held by the dowels. Starting to get an idea of what they’re going to look like, and starting to get heavy to move around!

Before the rear panel can be glued the area behind the midrange cabinet needs to be sealed with glue and the damping materials added.

Bitumen panels glued on.

Then the felt.

Lastly the dampening sheets.

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For the rear panel I departed from the plans slightly, I wanted easier access to the crossovers so I made the bottom third removable.

Glueing the bitumen and felt to the rear panel.

Glueing the rear panel.

Routing a recess for the terminal panel.

Glueing mountings for the threaded bolt inserts.

Rear of the removable panel routed to allow for strips of sealing foam.

Getting the bolts and inserts done took quite a while.

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This really is a nice process you’re allowing us to follow with you Mark, thank you. And to say you haven’t done wood work since leaving school you are obviously very capable, very professional looking. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished articles, wish I could hear them too.

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Thank you Nick, much appreciated, and I’m glad you’re finding it interesting :slightly_smiling_face:

School was several decades ago, so I’ve surprised myself! I’m certainly more confident now and have been really enjoying it.

All the best,
Mark

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So this is where I’m at now. I’ve done as much as I can before getting the drivers etc.

About three weeks ago I contacted Jantzen to place the order. I got a nice reply back saying that unfortunately they were unable to fulfil the order until the new year as they had too many to get through before then and they’d be in touch.

I must say that the communication I’ve had with both Jantzen and Troels himself has been fantastic.

I’m on holiday next week and have an idea for the cabinets that I’d like to try … depends how cold it is out in the garage, I’ve had a few evenings out there wearing three jumpers and a woolly hat :grinning:

Cheers,
Mark

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Mark this is looking awesome! Very satisfying to watch. Your attention to detail and precision is quite amazing given your experience, or lack of. What a shame we can’t see any more of the process until the new year! You must be itching to hear them.

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Great to watch them taking shape, thank you for sharing all the details! Bet you cannot wait to take delivery of the kit from Jantzen Audio!

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Thanks Mark! Yes can’t wait to hook them up … still quite a lot to do and I’ll be looking for any soldering tips you might have when I get to that bit :slightly_smiling_face:

Cheers,
Mark

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Thanks :slightly_smiling_face: I took a lot of photos along the way! Proved useful to remind me how I’d set things up when doing the test cabinet.

Hopefully we’ll see your project soon!

Cheers,
Mark

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Hi Mark, you’re welcome young man. I’m now 64 and I trained as a cabinet maker as an apprentice, but went into project management at 22, since then hardly anything made, now I’m going back to my tools, in retirement, I find it very hard, the finesse etc, so I can really appreciate your concerns, which makes all that you have done all the more impressive, looking forward to the rest of the journey with you!

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I’m so very jealous of your skills…I can barely put up a shelf

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