Have you ever had a speaker duplicated, (made) from a cabinet maker?

[sgleich]

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It looks like these have miter joints and are separating. That fix requires more that just veneer but could be done with some epoxy and band clamps. If making boxes that will be veneered, you don't need miter joints (which must be cut perfectly) to make cabs. Butt joints (or half lap joints) can be used, glued and even screwed if you fill and sand the countersunk holes. I have thought about using Meranti ply for cabs myself. It is marketed as Hydrotek and is a fine Marine grade ply. We use it instead of Baltic Birch as is contains zero voids, has is 11 ply in .75" stock and is way flatter than any Birch ply currently out there. (quality has fallen off a cliff in recent years) The Hydroteck is far superior, is about the same price per SqFt and looks nice on its own for say the baffles.

 

[GordonW]

Word to the wise- IME, FURNITURE-makers and/or restorers seem to do a much better job than KITCHEN CABINET makers, at building speaker cabinets.

Speaker cabinets need good fit-and-finish- both for appearance, and for sound (lack of air leaks, rattles, and such). A furniture maker probably will have much better capability of doing precision work, and will be more used to making precision joints and smooth finishes.

When I was working on selling my own speakers a decade ago, I wound up hiring and firing FIVE different cabinet shops- none of them could get their head around the requirements. Air leaks, errant staples that didn't staple anything (protruding into the inside of the box instead of into the mating panel!), seams that weren't straight or consistently sealed, rattles, bad (wavy, pockmarked, badly matched, unevenly stained, etc) veneer work... I just couldn't catch a break.

I then cajoled a friend of mine who did furniture restoration and building to work with me- and the VERY FIRST PAIR he built, was SPOT ON. We wound up building several pairs for sale (I still own the last pair we produced, BTW), before he just got so busy that we had to mothball the project.

Yes, the furniture guys are more expensive, and oftentimes so busy that you have to wait to get things done for sometimes frustratingly long periods of time- but the end result is worth it, IME...

Maybe other people have better luck with regular cabinet builders- and I'm sure there's some really talented and meticulous people out there in SOME "regular" cabinet shops somewhere (that I haven't found yet )- but that's been my experience...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[sgleich]

Word to the wise- IME, FURNITURE-makers and/or restorers seem to do a much better job than KITCHEN CABINET makers, at building speaker cabinets.

Speaker cabinets need good fit-and-finish- both for appearance, and for sound (lack of air leaks, rattles, and such). A furniture maker probably will have much better capability of doing precision work, and will be more used to making precision joints and smooth finishes.

When I was working on selling my own speakers a decade ago, I wound up hiring and firing FIVE different cabinet shops- none of them could get their head around the requirements. Air leaks, errant staples that didn't staple anything (protruding into the inside of the box instead of into the mating panel!), seams that weren't straight or consistently sealed, rattles, bad (wavy, pockmarked, badly matched, unevenly stained, etc) veneer work... I just couldn't catch a break.

I then cajoled a friend of mine who did furniture restoration and building to work with me- and the VERY FIRST PAIR he built, was SPOT ON. We wound up building several pairs for sale (I still own the last pair we produced, BTW), before he just got so busy that we had to mothball the project.

Yes, the furniture guys are more expensive, and oftentimes so busy that you have to wait to get things done for sometimes frustratingly long periods of time- but the end result is worth it, IME...

Maybe other people have better luck with regular cabinet builders- and I'm sure there's some really talented and meticulous people out there in SOME "regular" cabinet shops somewhere (that I haven't found yet )- but that's been my experience...

Regards,
Gordon.

Don't want to offend but Gordon is right. Some of todays "cabinetmakers" are not the cabinetmakers of old and that is because of what is "commercially acceptable" these days. We make furniture and also sell hardwoods to people with all skill levels. We sell to guitar makers, fine furniture makers and also to those who hot glue and nail stuff together. To make a box, it just takes the capability to cut square parts, a decent amount of clamps, the ability to make tight and square glue joints etc. To be veneered boxes is not that difficult though if your parts are square.

I would think that if someone could find a competent furniture or cabinetmaker who could make parts to exact and precise dimensions and have them be square, half the battle is accomplished. Glueing up is a chore but with anything to be veneered, you can use mechanical fasteners (properly countersunk screws) to assist in making the joints tight aside from just clamping. From there it takes a flat glue up surface, some decent clamps, a dry fit and glue up plan, some squares and above all a cool head as glue-ups can turn into a full blown panic situation.

Speaker cabs should be a cakewalk to someone who makes tight joints for a living and the sky is the limit in terms of cab sturdiness, thickness, materials etc. All that said, I have yet to make my desired large speaker, but am not worried about the construction aspect as that is what we do. For me, the sonic aspect is completely foreign as compared to the boxes but will stick to a tried and true design to solve that as far as cu. ft. and drivers.

 

[Lux Man]

If these were mine I'd either do what I could do myself and live with it or "B" keep my eye open for something new that pleased my ears rather than putting money in building a new cabinet. I'm just thinking of it from a dollars and sense standpoint. Are they worth sinking $200-400 into them? My son and I built a clone to match an orphan a year ago. It was more complicated than yours but we spent from 8 am to 10pm just making the cabinet, that's 28 man hours. It then needed more details done and the veneer put on, that was numerous more hours and then matching the stain was a whole other time consuming effort. If you are going to pay someone to build a cabinet it better be a pretty valuable speaker.

 

[FPorsche]

I am building my own Frazier Mark IV's. I bought my original set in 1973 then I gave them to my son-in-law in 2001. He has my Sony amp from that time but he didn't need the turn table so it went bye bye. It was a Dual 1214 with a Garrard stylus-cartridge. My cabinets are exact to size. Variance will be MDF vs particle board. I'm working thru the turntable replacement, found several in Canada, and I'm working on the speakers, capacitor, choke combo along with crossovers. Getting info on speaker specs is difficult at best.

 

[dlucy]

MDF should be a better material for a speaker cabinet since it has a uniform density that plywood and solid wood do not.

 

[FPorsche]

Yea and consistent. All surfaces are 3/4" and air horn in bottom is 1/2". $30 for the sheet of 4'x8'x3/4" MDF at Lowes. I don't remember what I paid for the 4'x4'x1/2" MDF but it wasn't much.

 

[hnash53]

Thanks for providing the pics. I think that actually seeing the damage... well, it doesn't look bad at all to me. Some good epoxy putty made from wood flour could get in the range of the color, and some regular wood putty would work well for smaller areas. Getting the epoxy putty down into the loose joints would be the messiest part of the job but would sure tighten them up. The banding/clamping suggestion is a good one, too. I think you can get off this job with surprisingly little.

 

[FPorsche]

Updating my post, I've just finished building my set of Frazier Mark IV's. My original 1973 set is owned by my son-in-law so I had everything I needed. I am using a set of Frazier 3x7 tweeters but the woofers are a set of Dayton DC250's from Parts Express. The inductor is 2.50 vs 2.25 ohms and the caps are 3.0 microfareds at 200vdc vs 50dc. Turntable is a Dual 1410 and the amp is a Sony TA1144, both of which were what I had back in the day when I bought the system from Haurer's Music in Kettering, OH. There is nothing like the output of this system in my very humble opinion. I can control each speakers bass and treble at each speaker as well as per channel at the amp and then the balance at the amp as well. I am posting a few pictures here as I tried to capture the progress through this endeavor. I am truly very happy to overwhelmed with the results...Grand Funk, Three Dog Night, Hendrix or the Young Rascals have never sounded so good. Now all I need is my old set of drums to play along. I have many more images.

 

[malden]

Uh, Arctic Birch is probably not possible as birch doesn't grow in the Arctic, perhaps you're thinking of Baltic Birch, a favorite of British speaker builders?

 

[62vauxhall]

Ironically I've been scouring for a someone with a wood working shop to do a very small job - not building speaker cabinets. Normally I do these things myself at a friend's place who's very well equipped for woodwork but he's been laid low by some medication for an infected hand tendon and his wife forbade me to impose myself as he would want to be involved.

What I found is that these days there are millworking and cabinet shops galore and as mentioned, all too busy making kitchen cabinets, vanities and the like. There are joinery shops but they seem to be booked to the hereafter making high end custom furniture. I was pointed to a retired guy who's shop I visited three times but he was never there and there is no signage with a phone number. Wound up taping a "please call me" note to his door this afternoon.

They're long gone but there used to be pay as you go woodwork shop years ago. Maybe a trade school or even high school with a woodworking class might take on the job?. Or maybe an adult education course you could take where building your speaker boxes is your project.

One thing I learned and someone already pointed it out (I think) is that you can never build for less what it costs to buy. You really need to like doing these kind of things.

I wanted more equipment storage space not long ago so replicated two copies of an Ikea type stereo stand that was probably at most $50 fifteen years ago. I did make them but the cost of materials which was the cheap stuff, was about $75 per stand. I did it over a a couple of weeks but there is probably 8 to 10 straight hours of work invested plus the time needed to round up the materials and I had to borrow a friends pickup to get everything.

 

[FPorsche]

Frazier Mark IV for those following along:

That's a pretty simple cabinet to build. Especially if the owner can add in the bracing and ledgers for panel attachment. The major cost of such a project will be any veneer and finishing work required. If an owner liked the finish of a light plywood like Baltic Birch, veneer could be bypassed. I'd suggest to get some quotes from a cabinet maker for the cost.

 

[FPorsche]

I built my copies of a set of Frazier Mark IV's for about $100 per cabinet. I have a post on here with some of my many pictures. Inside before buttoning up.

 

[loudnoises]

It could take more time saving the front and rear panels than making new ones. The new cabinet veneer won't match the other speaker. You'll need to veneer both of them if that's a concern. I've made MDF speaker boxes for an AK'r and shipped them flat packed. The customer supplied a detailed drawing therein saving a lot of time and cost. On this basis a second box adds just a small incremental increase in milling cost. The material isn't all that much. Better if you can find a local guy and save the shipping, but if you can't PM me.

This.
Reusing any of the old cabinet will likely end up costing more in the long run. Not only will you have the removal and cleanup time, you'll be working around old glue, holes, unseen water damage etc.
I can make 2 of something in about 1.5 the time, as you are duplicating motions and not adjusting tools.

If you really like the speakers, get a set made, from new. Probably cost the same to make 2 new as refurb one.

 

[WaynerN]

A friend did these for me. The veneer is teak wood (inside and out). Several modifications were done to remove "oddities" from the original cabinet design and were also made into left and right hand versions.

'ner

 

[Grav]

If the veneer has lifted, and that's the major complaint, try taking a warm iron, put a layer of cloth over the lifted veneer, and iron the spot(s). Often you can soften the glue that binds the veneer to the substrate, and weigh it down for 24 hours so it makes good contact while it re-cures. I usually set the iron on the "Cotton" setting, but you may need more or less heat depending on the glue. And be careful not to scorch the veneer...try it on the bottoms first to get the setting right. If they used contact cement this won't work, but generally that's not the case.

 

[mdn69]

I have a cabinet that suffered water damage and probably cannot be repaired, and I may not be able to find an orphan to replace it. Just wondering if anyone has had a cabinet maker duplicate a cabinet for you, and what cost could I be looking at? I think some of it can be saved, (front panel with cutouts for speakers/baffle/trimmer pot, and the back for terminals).

Craig Graybar in West Allis may be able to give you an idea of what would be involved for a repair like that.

 

[GlenGC]

your cabinets don't look that bad.. unless you're obsessed about cosmetics, i'd personally suggest keep them

in Australia we have a glue called tarzans grip, slow working time glue.. i don't know what the composition is but in such cases what i do is, get this glue get an injector needle thick enough to push the glue but thin enough to go inside the corner openings..
i inject it in thru all opened areas.. this glue cures slow and it foams and bubbles up filling all the gaps. it will bubble out.. once dried shave off the extras, and add some hot glue sealant from inside or maybe add a few corner supports.

cosmetically might not be perfect.. but they ll work just fine

 

[Freds.Bands]

I paid $100 for a 4'x8'x3/4" of BB locally. Finishing up on a crosscut sled for square cuts, then onto cutting the BB panels.

 

[totem]

A friend did these for me. The veneer is teak wood (inside and out).

Quite impressed they look very nice.

Your mention of the veneer being "inside and out" speaks volumes to those who do fine wood working.