Need advice on STRAIGHT piping installation

[daz]

I install piping by holding it against the edge of the baffleboard or whatever it's going on and visually checking for straightness with each staple or 2. But no matter how hard i try the end result is often a bead that is not straight enough. Can anyone give me some tips and tricks on how to make it go on straight? Thanks.

[tubeswell]

Hmmm... practice?

Working from one side works for me

But I have heard other people staple each side-middle and bottom/top-middle then work the corners and then the bits in between

There must be a whole lot of ways

On the other hand a little bit of wave gives it that handmade look. :-)

[daz]

It's not as big of a issue when tacking it straight into the wood. But when it's on top of grille cloth it's a lot harder because the base it's on is not straight and even. Maybe the way to go is tack on thin wood strips over the cloth then tack the piping. All i know is that "handmade" look doesn't do it for me.

[Vintageheadboc]

How about posting some pics and shows us what kind of application you are doing

[daz]

Ok, i have a pic already uploaded so here ya go. But it's hard to tell that the piping is not real straight. the pic just doesn't show that as much as you see it in person. I just redid it with a different color today and it's still not straight enough. So i'll probably be redoing it a 3rd time and hope to get some tips before then. The piping on the upper part is much straighter than the piping around the baffle. so it's really the piping thats applied over grille cloth that is hard to get straight.

[Vintageheadboc]

Try piping it the opposite that your doing right now. Upper panel complete piping
speaker baffle in a U ...

[daz]

Yeah but then 3/4 of the speaker baffle will still be unchanged.

[PRNDL]

Are you stapling into the baffle board or the amp?

What are you using for a guide or edge when you align it for stapling?

Did you initially make a few staples then add more between them?

I'm also seeing some issues with the grill cloth (as if you need something else to pull your hair out over). For those, the trick is to fold the top edge using along the cloth line, then fold one of the sides the same way (it looks like you did that correctly on the left side). Then you pull it taught to to the right and down while stapling. The second trick is to use plenty of staples.

Also, I've noticed that some (not all) grill cloth shrinks back with time, which means you've got to redo it.

Has this happened to anyone else?

PS
I recall that someone had a book specifically on how to install grill cloth on amps.
At the time, I thought it was a pretty easy job, but now I wonder if it's not that straightforward.

[daz]

Stapling it to the baffle board. and i would do a couple staples then line it up for a couple more. the big problem isn't my work. if it were a straight piece of wood i'd have no problem. but the cloth on the edge makes it uneven, and i can't figure out a way to eliminate that.

And i DID figure out the trick to doing the cloth, and it did come out perfect except for the top edge. I stapled one side then did the other using the horizontal lines in the cloth's pattern as a guide to line up with the bottom edge. As you can see it was the bottom edge i used as the guide because it's dead on. Then when i did the top and bottom edges i accidentally stretched it a bit when doing the top. i just left it because i didn't think it was noticeable. (plus it was my second try and i was sick of pulling staples !) With the piping it is more noticeable tho, so i'll probably redo the top edge staples when i re-pipe it.

[PRNDL]

The piping is stapled to the cabinet in my little Marshall cab. The baffle board is a tad bigger so that it pops into place behind the piping, if you can visualize it.

I believe that was the idea behind the suggestion to put it around the top part instead of around the baffle board. You'd be stapling through tolex instead of grill cloth, which might make a big difference.

It's a real nice looking amp.

I've found that the greatest difficulty is quality, especially with little things like this.

[daz]

That sounds like it would work great, but for me it wouldn't be worth what i'd have to go thru to pull that off. See, the baffle goes in from the front because there are 1x2" strips inside that the baffle butts up against and is bolted to. I can envision how i could do it, but it would be a lot of work and trouble just to get the piping straight. Maybe on the next build if i do another.

It's a real nice looking amp.

I've found that the greatest difficulty is quality, especially with little things like this.

Thank you, and yes, i feel the same way. It's not hard to make a real nice looking amp, but it's the tiny details that don't seem to matter much to the eye of the builder (unless they're anal about that stuff like me) that are the things which keep it from looking totally professional. And those are indeed often the hardest things to get perfect. Mainly because as individuals we don't have the machinery and tools and all that fender or marshall does. Each amp is usually a one-off and there are no molds or jigs etc etc designed to punch them out easily with perfection. But hey, it's all just fun for me anyways. I don't need the piping to be perfect.....i just have no life and therefore too much time on my hands !

[PRNDL]

Believe me when I say that the same issues come up all the time with custom builds.

On one of my amps, the solution was to put the piping between the baffle board and face plate board, instead of around the speaker. I also put in a square TV style board.

Notice the right amp has a defect in the face plate. It's not square. I've since fixed that.



The main problem with being a builder is you can see all the tiny defects in your work. Some buyers are very picky about them, while others could care less as long as it has the "tone".

[daz]

That pretty much makes the point i made in my last post.....we don't always have the best tools as home builders or small companies. even the simplest tools like a table saw are unavailable to me because i live in a apartment ! with a table saw and drill press and a few other things like that in a garage i'd have the ability to do a much better job. but then WTF....my amp sounds better to me than those i bought form manufacturers who have all the tools they need and engineers who should know a lot more than i do but are hampered by businessmen who force them to compromise thier product to save 10 cents per unit ! Maybe the crooked piping ain't so bad after all.

[daz]

Breaking news.....i had a 1 foot piece leftover and i held each end and pulled it as hard as i could and sighted down it only to see it was very crooked ! So this stuff probably isn't going to get very straight no matter how i install it. I got it from a auto upholstery place. I wonder if the stuff you get online from amp supply sites is any different? i doubt it because i'm sure the manufacturers who make this stuff all make it for the same purpose, that being for use with upholstery, mainly auto. So it's likely all the same. I even tried clamping one end and pulling the other end tight while heating it up with a hair dryer and it won't get straight. does anyone have insight as to whether there are brands/suppliers that are better in this regard or is it all like this as i suggested is likely? I hate to buy it only because it's about a buck a foot plus shipping, while the guy at the upholstery shop charges me around 2 bucks for 6 or 8 feet ! i'd pay that if i knew it was straight, but i'd hate to pay 15 bucks or so only to find out theres no difference.

UPDATE: well, here we go again. Just got the color i wanted in the first place and i'm about to re-pipe it again. this time i intend to try stapling one end then pulling it very tight and stapling it to the other. That might help, but as i said the stuff isn't perfectly straight even when stretched so we shall see. On a side note i went to a different auto upholstery store this time and they said they make thier own piping but had some old rolls of the stuff i asked for that they never use any more. So i find they had the perfect color and asked for 7 feet. They cut me what turned out to be 18 feet and when i asked how much he said don't worry about it, we never use it anymore anyways so it's trash to us. Now THATS a deal !

[Vintageheadboc]

Breaking news.....i had a 1 foot piece leftover and i held each end and pulled it as hard as i could and sighted down it only to see it was very crooked ! So this stuff probably isn't going to get very straight no matter how i install it. I got it from a auto upholstery place. I wonder if the stuff you get online from amp supply sites is any different? i doubt it because i'm sure the manufacturers who make this stuff all make it for the same purpose, that being for use with upholstery, mainly auto. So it's likely all the same. I even tried clamping one end and pulling the other end tight while heating it up with a hair dryer and it won't get straight. does anyone have insight as to whether there are brands/suppliers that are better in this regard or is it all like this as i suggested is likely? I hate to buy it only because it's about a buck a foot plus shipping, while the guy at the upholstery shop charges me around 2 bucks for 6 or 8 feet ! i'd pay that if i knew it was straight, but i'd hate to pay 15 bucks or so only to find out theres no difference.

UPDATE: well, here we go again. Just got the color i wanted in the first place and i'm about to re-pipe it again. this time i intend to try stapling one end then pulling it very tight and stapling it to the other. That might help, but as i said the stuff isn't perfectly straight even when stretched so we shall see. On a side note i went to a different auto upholstery store this time and they said they make thier own piping but had some old rolls of the stuff i asked for that they never use any more. So i find they had the perfect color and asked for 7 feet. They cut me what turned out to be 18 feet and when i asked how much he said don't worry about it, we never use it anymore anyways so it's trash to us. Now THATS a deal !

If you want to straighten out the piping before you put it on. Heres a simple trick that I do. Alot of times that piping is twisted or crooked when you get it not to mention stiff. cut the length you need and put it in boiling water for about ten minutes then remove it and and hang it up..