Stevie’s 12” FRFR Cab Build Thread (Basschat Cab v3)

[LukeFRC]

8 hours ago, stevie said:

If you're a pro woodworker, yes. I tried it with my router and made a complete mess of it. Honestly, it's really easy to round off the edges using sandpaper.

Should I not ask? 

[funkle]

11 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Damp cloth over the top and an iron works  as well. 

As for the clamping, ,you can over tighten and the glue does not need megatons of pressure. 

If you are short of clamps, put one in the centre with a sacrificial piece of wood stretching the length of the cab. This will apply pressure to both ends. 

Funkle, you can get a really good rounded edge just with a sander. I tried it first on the prototype and had the same results on the alpha builds that Stevie and I did. We both got really good results. 

All great advice. The clamping in particular is something I want to touch on.

In retrospect, one of the reasons the baffle panel may have warped a little was that I clamped it in pretty hard, probably harder than I should have, in my naivety. This meant it went in very firmly indeed against the bracing, which may have contributed to the shape change. 

There may be a delay in the sander, so I may simply start hand sanding. 

[funkle]

The water trick worked nicely on the clamp marks. Nice one @stevie

Ok, this ply is super easy to sand. I used 100 grit paper by hand on this corner, just to test it out. Took me under a minute.

It’s just a start, but this stuff is really really easy to sand. 

So...

Made a quick cardboard block for the baffle to stop my sanding going in. Game on!

I’m unexpectedly at home today and tomorrow, so I’ll see what I can get done. 

[stevie]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Should I not ask? 

I gouged a line along the side of the cab. It was a prototype anyway and I just made good with wood filler. Unless you're using those big plastic corners, you only need to round the edges off slightly

[RichardH]

11 hours ago, stevie said:

Blue Aran say that Tuff Cab doesn't cover filler very well but that's not been my experience.

I found that the surface finish was very slightly different where tuffcab goes over sanded filler. May be because the filler is smoother than the rest of the cab (well it was in my case!). Hardly noticeable though, and it adhered just fine.

[funkle]

Ok, I think I’m done with sanding. It took a while, but doing it by hand was very Zen. Oddly enjoyable. 

I kept having to just check and recheck the fit using the metal corner I’m going to use (same as one of Stevie’s ones he used). 

Started with 40 grit and ended with 100 grit. Not sure if there’s any point going finer or not. 

Best bit of advice for doing this, I received from Stevie, who I will quote: ‘The main thing is to match the curve on the cab corner with the inside curve on the metal corner and then continue that curve throughout the cab.‘

I experimented first on one of the rear corners to get the right depth. 

I bevelled very slightly the edges of the input panel. Also very very slightly the front edges around the baffle, next to where the grill will go. 

It really looks very handsome now. And feels great. Lol

I’ll start putting the damping in next, though I can’t do it at the bottom until I receive, and glue in, the small round disc of wood from Stevie. 

[funkle]

I think I can see one tiny void in the ply at the top left front corner of the cabinet, visible (just) in one of the pics above. It’s tiny...but I’ll maybe use just a tiny touch of wood filler on it. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by funkle

[funkle]

Did the felt. Didn’t glue on the bottom parts yet, but cut them so they are ready to go. 

From the front:

Looking through the woofer hole:

Looking up to the top left of the cabinet:

And over to the right and up:

As per Stevie, there’s no felt above the upper brace except on the left hand panel. The port and its surrounding area are to have no damping material. 

The felt needs sharp scissors, but once cut, can lose tufts easily. I treated it carefully. 

Once I can glue in the bottom bits, it will look like this:

I need to buy the battens tomorrow, and get some scrap wood to practice painting on. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by funkle

[stewblack]

Following this with interest and excitement. 

[Chienmortbb]

4 hours ago, funkle said:

Did the felt. Didn’t glue on the bottom parts yet, but cut them so they are ready to go. 

From the front:

Looking through the woofer hole:

Looking up to the top left of the cabinet:

And over to the right and up:

As per Stevie, there’s no felt above the upper brace except on the left hand panel. The port and its surrounding area are to have no damping material. 

The felt needs sharp scissors, but once cut, can lose tufts easily. I treated it carefully. 

Once I can glue in the bottom bits, it will look like this:

I need to buy the battens tomorrow, and get some scrap wood to practice painting on. 

Battens? 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

Battens? 

Presumably for the grill. I wondered about it too.

[funkle]

7 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Battens? 

For the grill, indeed. 

[funkle]

A few minor updates, while I experiment with Tuffcab and different rollers. And wait for the crossover, Celestion driver, and brace for the bottom panel to arrive.

First of all, put some foam tape on the handle and horn. 

I did a quick test fit of the horn to see how good the seal is. With the bolts and T nuts and foam, it all looks and feels pretty solid. 

Did some checking about where to put the feet as well. I traced out where the corners will go and visually lined up where the feet look good in relation to that. Plus made sure the feet won’t screw into a side panel by accident (though screwing into the side of the baffle is ok, apparently). I’ll drill pilot holes before I paint. 

Here’s the rollers I’m experimenting with. A cheapo closed foam one and a standard furry one. The latter gives better results so far, but neither is quite right. So I’ll need to keep experimenting. 

And finally, I got the battens and cut them to fit. Stevie lists 11mm x 15mm softwood battening in the parts list, but B&Q seem to sell it as 10.5mm x 15mm. I checked with Stevie and this stuff is fine. Don’t make the mistake I did first time round of getting 10.5mm x 25mm. 🤪

It’s all glueing into place at the moment. 

Next up, I’ll paint the baffle and battens. I need to decide if I extend the matt black paint beyond that to the inner edges of the front lip of the cab, or whether I Tuffcab everything past the battens outwards. We shall see. 

[stevie]

This is the kind of roller sleeve you need for a stippled finish. I've seen them in DIY stores but I can't remember which particular ones.

https://www.trade1st.co.uk/texture-stipple-mini-paint-roller-4-inch

[funkle]

1 minute ago, stevie said:

This is the kind of roller sleeve you need for a stippled finish. I've seen them in DIY stores but I can't remember which particular ones.

https://www.trade1st.co.uk/texture-stipple-mini-paint-roller-4-inch

Thanks Stevie. I recognise those as also being sold directly as ‘Tuff Cab rollers’ by Blue Aran. Also sold the same way on eBay. The pricing in your link is very good for that number, though...

[stevie]

I suppose that just highlights the problems of buying and making in small quantities.

[funkle]

Ok, starting to look like a cab now. Lol

I decided it was just easier to make baffle and battens and edges all matt black, right out to the front edge of the cabinet. I think it will look better as well, and that particular surface is unlikely to receive direct trauma. 

It’s still drying. Some bits may need a second coat or touch up later. 

[LukeFRC]

How are the batons fastened in?

[funkle]

31 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

How are the batons fastened in?

Glue. That’s why you see the clamps a little earlier. 

By the way. Word to the wise. Wipe your glue off better than I did...otherwise you’ll get uneven paint like this:

That was from when I was glueing in the baffle. Thought I wiped it all off well enough...obviously not. 

Either I sand that excess glue off and repaint, or I add more paint to the rest of the baffle. However I suspect sanding off the extra glue there is probably the only solution that will work. 

[funkle]

Ok, looks like I was wrong. I got 3 coats of paint on the baffle and it all looks much more even. No sanding down required. Nice.

 

I’m doing another coat or two anyway, just to get it perfect, if I can. It dries quick, so I may as well. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by funkle

[funkle]

Baffle is done. 

Drilled the pilot holes for the feet. 

I’ve done all I can until I receive the proper Tuffcab roller and the remaining parts (crossover, compression driver, and round brace for the bottom panel) later on next week. 

My experiments with Tuffcab in terms of its durability are good. It resists hard hits with a hammer, gouges with a screwdriver, and scoring with scissors well. The more layers, the better. I can get through it with enough force, but this is true of any covering.

I tried out a ‘primer’ layer with a 50:50 mix of water and Tuffcab and then applied a normal layer of Tuffcab on top of that, but this turns out to penetrate no better than the normal stuff applied directly in multiple layers, and is no more durable. May as well just use multiple layers of straight Tuffcab, as far as I can tell. 

I forgot to add. Tuffcab does not significantly fill gaps in wood. I’m going to go over the cab and fill even small voids/gaps - not that there are many - because of this. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by funkle

[LukeFRC]

I’m intrigued by posts number 11 and 13 of this thread where he gets a leather kinda effect with duratex which is the US equivalent to tuff cab 

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/eden-410xst-vs-fearful-12-6-1.1080738/

[funkle]

Nice. No idea how he did that and he doesn’t say...you could PM him and ask? I’m guessing some kind of sponge or a specific rag...

Edit: I'm totally wrong. @LukeFRC check out these instructions....this looks amazing for a leather look and I might try it out! The answer is...cling film!

https://www.acrytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DuraTexR-Leather.pdf

Edited September 1, 2019 by funkle

[funkle]

Talkbass has a lot of threads on Duratex. I didn't even think to look there....but @LukeFRC got me looking. Thanks mate.

Here are some links of interest (first thread has comments from cab builders, very good):

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/duratex-question.966795/

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/another-cab-makeover-thread-duratex-content.1109207/

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/another-duratex-cab-revival-eden.1131860/

Consensus seems to be to do 3 coats. Can either do 2 smooth and 1 textured, or vice versa. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by funkle

[LukeFRC]

3 hours ago, funkle said:

Nice. No idea how he did that and he doesn’t say...you could PM him and ask? I’m guessing some kind of sponge or a specific rag...

Edit: I'm totally wrong. @LukeFRC check out these instructions....this looks amazing for a leather look and I might try it out! The answer is...cling film!

https://www.acrytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DuraTexR-Leather.pdf

Yeah have already asked him. Bottom coat black, top coat the ox blood colour. Leland Crooks apparently worked out the technique and there’s a thread I haven’t found on @Bill Fitzmaurice‘s rather good forum