A useful subdivision...

[Mark Lavelle]

I don't know about you guys, but I find this to be a very interesting aspect of building a nice amp. I know I'm a hacker in this area, and I always appreciate hearing from the folks who take their woodworking seriously.

What are the best sites/sources for help on learning how to build a good (great?) box? I've got a router (plus table) and a table saw, but knowing what to do with them is another thing entirely...

[Matt R]

I'm with you Mark,
Too bad there isn't an episode of Yankee Workshop w/ Norm Abrams featuring guitar cabinetry. At least this forum looks like a good start. Maybe someone will bite.

[Enzo]

We came heah to histahric Williamsburg to see the sort of amplifiah George Washington used. As you can see, this cab is solid cherry with oak inlays. The 6L6s were hand turned on a lathe from solid alder. (Bettah sustain, yup.)

[steve]

A while back I actually used the web submission form on the New Yankee Workshop site to suggest that Nahm build a furniture grade cabinet for a guitar amps chassis, a la Vero amps.

Never heard back, though.

[Enzo]

Maybe you could get Bob Vila to do it, then they could sell it at Sears.

Long live the SIlvertone.

[elroy]

finger joint jig photos

heres a couple photos of a finger joint jig, i've attached

[Mark Lavelle]

Doesn't that thype of jig require a dado blade set?

[elroy]

yes, need dado blade. i'm useing a ajustable dado in the photos, there kind of a pain to get set up, but there alot cheaper than a good set of dados, someday i'll throw the cash down for a good set, this works, i've built 10 cabs with it.

[petemoore]

Dado

dado's nice blade to have.
I built a 2x12'' OVERSIZE cab, from antique pine, it sounds a touch more like an accoustic guitar body than an 'enclosure', I planed the pieces to a little more than 1/2''.
...and used a DADO to cut the top, bottom, and sides so the baffle board is inset to them. I also dado'd the sides and top so theres a corner where they meet. Strong enough for Govt. work, add a few dowels...a wood only cabinet that isn't about to come apart.
Sounds a great 'room ambience', my other 2x12'' oversize unit is plywood, has a back, and projects better.
Table saw with DADO, and regular blade [and a few other items...can make real nice cabinets.
I pressed the cupped boards flat during the dado cutting, so the dado cuts would be straight and inline with the top and bottom.

[bob p]

I don't know about you guys, but I find this to be a very interesting aspect of building a nice amp. I know I'm a hacker in this area, and I always appreciate hearing from the folks who take their woodworking seriously.

What are the best sites/sources for help on learning how to build a good (great?) box? I've got a router (plus table) and a table saw, but knowing what to do with them is another thing entirely...

Now that you mention it, the new forum format offers us some advantages that we didn't have before ... permanence of the threads.

Assuming that the threads will no longer scroll off into oblivion, it would be a really great idea for people to document their projects with photos along the way. Then we could have some great How-To reference threads related to different facets of amp building.

One online resource worth looking into is the Wood Magazine list of online articles. For example, here's one about dovetails. The actual articles in the magazine are much better, but here's alot of information available online.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/sto.../dovetails.xml

[Joe L]

Source of cheap dado set

yes, need dado blade. i'm useing a ajustable dado in the photos, there kind of a pain to get set up, but there alot cheaper than a good set of dados, someday i'll throw the cash down for a good set, this works, i've built 10 cabs with it.

It's easy to spend $200(Freud) to $300(Forest) on a good dado blade but I lucked in on a great deal. Harbor Freight sells a lot of junk but you can find a few gems amongst the trash. They sells a dado set model #44566 that normaly retails for $59.99 but is often on sale for $29.95. The good news is the outer blades have 42 teeth and the chippers have 6 teeth - more than most of the good dado blades. Also the carbide is long wearing The bad is that the chippers are erratic in diameter and flat bottom dados are a matter of luck depending on the set you get.

However. I found a sharpening service in New Orleans (I think they are Beerman Precision Incorporated) that take mail order blades and will true up a dado blade with a fantastic edge for only $25!. So I got 1.5 years of good dados with my cheap set then resharpened through this service and get perfect flat bottoms for only $55! - total invested. Check with your local resharpener to see if you can get the same deal and if not, give Beerman a call and tell them what you want. They really understand woodworkers needs.

I keep a spare set for when the original set gets dull but it is so sharp I expect a couple of years before I need them touched up. At $25 flat rate for a dado set resharpening I'm not concerned.

One warning, this set like most will leave a small v-groove on the edge of the dado which is irrelavent if you are covering cabinets with Tolex. Use a router for perfectly flat dados but realize that two short pieces of carbide on a router bit will have 1/10th the life of a dado set.

It wouldn't be fair to mention this without pointing out that Frued has a Box Joint Dado set in the $80-90 range with plans included for a simple jig. The tool can do 1/4" or 3/8" pins depending on blade placement and appear to do a great job.

Still looking for the perfect jig...