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2x8 cab from an IKEA RAST nightstand

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  • 2x8 cab from an IKEA RAST nightstand

    IKEA sells a little solid-pine kids nightstand called the RAST: RAST Nightstand - IKEA

    I saw these a few years ago, and immediately thought they might make a good starting point for an easy DIY speaker cab.

    I'm no carpenter, and in the past, I've just screwed one of these things together (the way IKEA intended), cut front and back panels from pine planks and screwed them into place, and made a usable, if somewhat ugly, cab.

    I happened to have a RAST lying around unused, and wanted to turn it into a 2x8 cab to use with a low-powered DIY valve guitar amp. The housing complex in which I now live has a wood-shop, with a router and a table-saw, among other things, so I had the opportunity to make a slightly better-looking cab this time.

    I was able to borrow a biscuit-cutter and use that to join the four outer panels, all of which came from the RAST. The front panel is plywood I found dumpster-diving at a construction site (finances are tight, I had to get creative!) Outside dimensions are about 20" wide x 16" high x 11.5" deep. The CD is in the picture to give you a visual idea of the size of the cab.

    I spray-painted the baffle black, and stapled on some blue mesh fabric I found on clearance sale at Michaels (arts and crafts store). I used the router and a round-over bit to round over the edges of the wood. That was a bit of an adventure, because the router is table-mounted, and the pine planks have slight amounts of bowing, which made it challenging to get a uniform round-over the full length of each edge.

    Currently I have a piece of pine plank closing off about 2/3 of the rear, but plan to do some experimenting with both a closed and open back to see if one sounds better to me.

    Finally I gave the whole thing a thin coat of clear polyurethane varnish. I probably should sand it down with fine sandpaper and give it a second coat one of these days. But I couldn't resist trying it out first.

    The front baffle is held in with screws, so it's removable, and I plan to try a couple of different speaker sizes on different baffles. The baffle that's installed now has two 8" speakers mounted on it, both unconventional choices for a guitar amp. There's one of these: https://www.parts-express.com/grs-8f...-51fw--292-430

    And one of these: https://www.parts-express.com/8-ceil...aging--300-010

    Used individually, the GRS speaker is a fairly neutral and balanced sounding speaker, which lets the amp decide the character of the sound. The other one - the cheap ceiling speaker - has very little bass, but has a more "vocal" sounding midrange, and sounds quite good for single-note lead playing, though not so good for chords and strumming, due to the lack of bass. One of these days, I may try putting together a simple first-order crossover network and using the GRS as the "woofer" and the other one as the "tweeter" to see how that sounds.

    I don't know if anyone else is interested in any of this, but I thought I'd share, just in case someone else finds anything useful here.

    -Gnobuddy
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Looks great - and I'm always a fan of a repurposed item. Looks like you could easily fit a single 10" or even 12" speaker. I hope to hear that it's free from rattles.
    This isn't the future I signed up for.

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    • #3
      Wow! It even has a built-in CD stand
      Experience is something you get, just after you really needed it.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Leo_Gnardo View Post
        Looks great - and I'm always a fan of a repurposed item. Looks like you could easily fit a single 10" or even 12" speaker. I hope to hear that it's free from rattles.
        Thanks! Yes, 1x12 fits, and is on my list of things to try. No rattles so far, but I've only been driving it with a mighty 2-watt (push-pull 6AK6) amp, and that too, turned down to apartment-friendly levels!

        -Gnobuddy

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        • #5
          Originally posted by nickb View Post
          Wow! It even has a built-in CD stand
          Not a very good one, it took a few tries to get that CD to stand!

          -Gnobuddy

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          • #6
            I looked into this, especially since you can't buy the necessary clean 1x12 planks for $15 plus $10 to ship to my door. The issue I found was that it's only 20.5" wide. The chassis I have is 20" wide so I'm SOL by one inch. Otherwise it's a great idea. A standard 19" chassis would probably work. And like you said, a few pieces of scrap wood and you are there. I would use the full rectangular dimensions and fill the pre-drilled holes with dowel or bondo. $10 more in tolex and a handle and it's quite the deal. Just not wide enough for me.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              I looked into this, especially since you can't buy the necessary clean 1x12 planks for $15 plus $10 to ship to my door.
              Agreed, also, I think many people who might like to build their own guitar cab may not have access to a table saw. Or may be uncomfortable with the idea of using one.

              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              Otherwise it's a great idea.
              Thanks! And finally there is a reason to actually go to IKEA, even if you have XY chromosomes!

              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              A standard 19" chassis would probably work.
              I think it would. According to my aluminium yardstick, there is just a little more than 19" in between the uprights. Definitely at least 1/16" more, maybe 1/8" more. As long as the 19" chassis doesn't have screws with big domed heads sticking out of the ends, I think it will fit.

              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              I would use the full rectangular dimensions and fill the pre-drilled holes with dowel or bondo.
              That was my plan, but I got lazy after I built it, and left the little screw holes unfilled. So far.

              Since I wanted to see the wood itself, I didn't want to see screws or nails, so I borrowed a biscuit-joiner and used it to join the planks. Cutting the slots for the biscuits was easy, but the tricky part was keeping all the bits square while gluing them. The biscuits allow lots of slop, so I had to come up with something else to square up and clamp the boards while the glue set. And I had to put a little thought into the glueing sequence, so I could still get the biscuits into place before gluing the final joint!

              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              $10 more in tolex and a handle and it's quite the deal.
              Right? Especially if you compare with the prices of ready-made cabs on Ebay, etc. Since I didn't Tolex mine, I think the cost came to under $50 Canadian, including sandpaper, poly varnish, screws, and the grille cloth I used. It could probably be done for $40 in American money.

              Originally posted by olddawg View Post
              Just not wide enough for me.
              Murphy's Law strikes again!

              -Gnobuddy

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Gnobuddy View Post

                Thanks! And finally there is a reason to actually go to IKEA, even if you have XY chromosomes!


                -Gnobuddy
                Swedish meatballs and cinnamon rolls, hello?

                I think most Ikeas also have a "scratch and dent" section where they sell stuff that was returned or whatever, but also often have extra wood panels that are pretty cheap and might work well for baffles, etc.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by glebert View Post
                  Swedish meatballs and cinnamon rolls, hello?
                  If you saw my cholesterol numbers, you would understand why those aren't a draw for me. Apparently I picked the wrong parents, it's a genetic condition in my case.

                  Originally posted by glebert View Post
                  I think most Ikeas also have a "scratch and dent" section where they sell stuff that was returned or whatever, but also often have extra wood panels that are pretty cheap and might work well for baffles, etc.
                  Good suggestion, I'll keep my eyes open if I ever go to an IKEA again. They (IKEA) seem to be systematically eliminating all actual wood products, though. These days, if it's not plastic or particle-board, its glued-together bamboo shreds.

                  A few years ago, they sold a solid-wood shelf ("Fabian"), and I found a music-related use for a pair of those: Fabian electronic piano stand - IKEA Hackers - IKEA Hackers

                  -Gnobuddy

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                  • #10
                    If the cholesterol is a genetic problem for you, then eating the stuff ought not to matter. It won;t be the source of your problem.

                    Just trying to help. have a meat ball.
                    Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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                    • #11
                      I have the same problem. I was told by my doctor that eating the right foods will/can help with the symptoms despite it being largely a hereditary problem. It does help. I was able to vastly decrease the dosage of cholesterol medication I have to take saving me lots of $.
                      "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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                      • #12
                        When I went to the IKEA website it said that this unit is only available on site at one store in the entire country. BUT.. it's available online. The unit is on sale for $14. Direct shipment to my zip code was $10. No meatballs though.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Enzo View Post
                          If the cholesterol is a genetic problem for you, then eating the stuff ought not to matter. It won;t be the source of your problem.
                          According to the doctors, your own body makes cholesterol, in my case, way too much. But, if you eat meat, you get still more cholesterol into your body and bloodstream, this time cholesterol made by the beastie that you're eating.

                          I'm trying to move closer to a "whole plant-based food diet" ( The China Study - T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, https://www.forksoverknives.com/plan...nt-based-diet/ ). But North America is one of the worst places in the world in which to try to become vegetarian; our idea of vegetarian cuisine is unpalatable @#$! like boiled spinach or iceberg lettuce salads, and hardly anyone has a clue how to make good-tasting vegetarian food. Countries with a long history of Buddhism or Hinduism, on the other hand, have had time to develop entire cuisines of delicious vegetarian food.

                          Originally posted by Enzo View Post
                          Have a meat ball.
                          I might have to do that. You guys have reminded me how good those IKEA meatballs used to taste!

                          -Gnobuddy

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by olddawg View Post
                            When I went to the IKEA website it said that this unit is only available on site at one store in the entire country.
                            Not a good sign. It used to be shown in stock in every IKEA within reasonable driving range (there were three or four) when I lived in Los Angeles a few years ago. I'll bet that this is yet another example of an all-wood product being phased out. No doubt they will replace it with something made of plastic, bamboo, or particle board, and costing five times as much.

                            Originally posted by olddawg View Post
                            Direct shipment to my zip code was $10. No meatballs though.
                            I have a feeling that meatballs shipped to your door may not be all that much fun to eat.

                            Just watch, Jeff Bezos will start planning to drop meatballs onto your lawn from a drone any minute now...assisted by his army of impoverished, overworked, employees (Amazon workers now living, sleeping in ?tent ghettos? outside the warehouse ? NaturalNews.com).

                            -Gnobuddy

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                            • #15
                              That's awesome. the H & W are very close to a Deluxe.
                              Vote like your future depends on it.

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