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Stereo Integrity HT-18D2 [design/build] 3 of 3

Continuing from HERE.

12/19 – Attaching the dowels to the baffle

I started by placing the baffle on the box – face up. Added the PL to the dowel, carefully avoiding the hole. Then lifted the baffle to put the dowel in place. I kept the baffle raised slightly until I got the bolt started, then used the power drill to get it close, holding the dowel in its proper orientation (I had marked the side I had determined best to be facing the cut out, and each dowel and hole were numbered). I got them plenty snug to stay put, but avoided burying the bolt head into the baffle.

I should note that I made the holes in the dowels somewhere between 1.125-1.25″ deep. The inserts are 0.78″ long. This gave me some room behind the insert to snug the 1.75″ bolts without messing with washers or finding shorter bolts. I figured it would also be good should I need/want to add a second baffle, and can’t find bolts exactly the right size to be tight right at the end.

Once they were all in place, I clamped the baffle to the cabinet roughly between each of the dowels. Checked to be sure they were all plenty tight against the other end, then removed the bolts.

The bolts had anywhere from 1-5 threads coated in the PL. Any more than a few threads could only have gotten “wet” upon removal. Then I took some varied-length clean 1/4-20 carriage bolts and threaded them in the holes to keep out any expanding PL. I unthreaded them a 1/2 turn or so every 45 minutes for a couple hours.

The minimal squeeze out toward the cutout was easily wiped away.

 

After clamping the baffle to the cabinet, this was the condition of the bolts.

 

Temporary bolts used to keep the PL out of the inserts.

 

All in place.

UPDATE 12/20

This morning I removed the carriage bolts – they all came out easily and clean. If there are any PL artifacts in the inserts, it won’t impede function. I kept the clamps on until late afternoon.

As much as I trust the PL, I was very cautious carrying this around.

 

Baffle side of the dowel.

 

As it sits now. Final gluing of the baffle to the box and the 8 dowels to the rear wall.

UPDATE 12/21 – COMPLETED (but not finished)

 

Assembly complete.

 

Lined the walls with a healthy amount of polyfill.

 

Gasket tape.

 

I was going to first install it with the rubber gasket that came with the driver, but I was too eager to drill the holes larger to fit my bolts.

 

Driver installed.

 

Problem #1. The PAPER THIN veneer on the plywood shaved off when I was flush mounting. The wort of this was at the back of one of the sides. I was leaning toward paint anyway, as my tests with wood finish on this veneer were not satisfactory. So in the end, this is a non-issue, thankfully. My initial test of flush trimming didn’t reveal this problem because it was where the side met the top – and the top and bottom were made from a different plywood with a thicker veneer. Live and learn.

 

Problem #2. The outer layer of the ply chipped in the upper right corner of the baffle.

 

Story continues with EQ’ing HERE.