Need help with braces for AA box please (1 Viewer)

[Curt Badry]

i am building an adire alignment ported enclosure. I do not have a table saw yet. So when i buy my MDF at Home Depot, i am going to get them make all my cuts. Looking at the PDF. for the box, it's hard to tell what the actual dimensions for the braces are. Could someone who has built one of these enclosures please tell me what the dimensions for all three braces are, thanks.

 

[Dan_M]

There's a panel cut table for each design on the PDF. This should tell you exactly how big to cut each piece. Section 4.1 lists the 85lL Adire Alignment. These tables are what I used to make all my cuts for the 142.5l version and everything fit perfectly.

 

[Patrick Sun]

One caveat: places like Home Depot won't cut the MDF to spec, just rough dimensions. If you could find a local wood shop that would cut to spec, that would be a better option because it'd be a miracle if all the panels fit together if Home Depot cuts the MDF for you.

 

[Owen Bartley]

Another option would be to brace a different way. I've seen things like:

a) dowels cut to length and glued into the cabinet like seen here. This you could do yourself with hand tools pretty easilly.

b) I stumbled onto this page with a few solutions

c) found this one by accident too, some interesting bracing

c) use something like 2x2's glued to the internal corners... look in the corners in this pic.

Just shows you you don't have to do everything EXACTLY like Adire had planned, and if you can't cut to exact size, trim 1/16th here, clean up an edge there, etc. this might be a better way to go. Hope these are of some help!

 

[minhG]

some may chide me for saying this but i'll say it anyway! the outside dimensions to me are more critical to get perfect then the braces. I cut my braces free hand with a jigsaw and they lined up fine.

and keep in mind places like home depot will get it within an 1/8 and if they're good 1/16, so be prepared to fill in the gaps if you want a perfect finish on the outside.

in my case I had home depot cut the mdf panel into equal 24" pieces (8 of them) and then trimmed them myself at home. you can get it straight enough with a jig saw (tough) or a circular saw. the problem with getting HD to cut it to dimension, is that if they're off by an 1/8, i find it difficult to trim that small a piece--maybe i'm just not as good with the saws



and if you alter the bracing method, make sure you take into account the change in volume

 

[Jason Dalton]

I've seen more than a few people say that the cuts they got at home depot were off by more than 1/8", I'm talking like over an inch. I'd buy a circular saw and a straight edge and cut them myself.

 

[minhG]

Jason,

guess i was lucky the time i did it, but that one time i didn't need precise cuts!

i think it depends on the person you get operating the saw, and how busy things are, do not go in on a saturday afternoon asking for this!

 

[Curt Badry]

thanks guys for all your suggestions,
I found the dims for the braces on the PDF. I guess i didn't scroll down far enough.
I just spent 2 hours at Home Depot getting my MDF cut to SPEC. That's right TO SPEC!!. I lucked out and had a young kid(18 maybe) working the saw. I told him that i wanted it cut as close as possible, and he showed me how to line everything up and let me clamp down the saw where i wanted it. I used a tape measure and took into account the blade width, then he cut it for me. It took along time but every piece was bang on. I was so impressed i ran to the closest liqour store and bought him a case of beer for letting me line up each and every cut. (saved me countless hours of sanding/filling).
So i'm pretty happy, tomorrow after work i'm gonna start on the assembly. I bought two 4x8 sheets of Gloss Black Laminate to finish the sub with, it was alittle expensive(cause they had to special order it) but i think it will be worth it.
Thanks again for all your guys help. I'll post some pics when i'm all done,
Curt.

 

[Curt Badry]

thanks guys for all your suggestions,
I found the dims for the braces on the PDF. I guess i didn't scroll down far enough.
I just spent 2 hours at Home Depot getting my MDF cut to SPEC. That's right TO SPEC!!. I lucked out and had a young kid(18 maybe) working the saw. I told him that i wanted it cut as close as possible, and he showed me how to line everything up and let me clamp down the saw where i wanted it. I used a tape measure and took into account the blade width, then he cut it for me. It took along time but every piece was bang on. I was so impressed i ran to the closest liqour store and bought him a case of beer for letting me line up each and every cut. (saved me countless hours of sanding/filling).
So i'm pretty happy, tomorrow after work i'm gonna start on the assembly. I bought two 4x8 sheets of Gloss Black Laminate to finish the sub with, it was alittle expensive(cause they had to special order it) but i think it will be worth it.
Thanks again for all your guys help. I'll post some pics when i'm all done,
Curt.

 

[Cam McFarland]

Tell ya what ,Curt.

I ended up going out & buying a Sears table saw.
Had a decent one on sale last weekend & also an additional 10% off
as well. It was $199.99 on sale with an additional 10% disclount & came to ~ 165.00 with taxes.
Already used it to build sub cabs for my truck & ext. enclousre for plate amp as well.

Best thing since sliced bread & cuts time down immensly.

Never been much of a do-it-yourself type gut but now, my
GF askes me to do something thing for Her & I gladly
say

DO IT YOURSELF


dang I love that joke

 

[Cam McFarland]

Tell ya what ,Curt.

I ended up going out & buying a Sears table saw.
Had a decent one on sale last weekend & also an additional 10% off
as well. It was $199.99 on sale with an additional 10% disclount & came to ~ 165.00 with taxes.
Already used it to build sub cabs for my truck & ext. enclousre for plate amp as well.

Best thing since sliced bread & cuts time down immensly.

Never been much of a do-it-yourself type gut but now, my
GF askes me to do something thing for Her & I gladly
say

DO IT YOURSELF


dang I love that joke