Tools

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Tools</div> <div> <A HREF="id139.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phoenix Panels"><U>Phoenix Panels</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id140.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phoenix Woofer"><U>Phoenix Woofer</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id141.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Orignal Woofer"><U>Orignal Woofer</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id142.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Xover Assembly"><U>X-over Assembly</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id143.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tips and Techniques"><U>Tips and Techniques</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>MCDougall</B></FONT>     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CCCC66" FACE="Arial" >|  </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" > <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MCDougall"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phoenix Construction"><U><B>Phoenix Construction</B></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="03ef4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Tools</div> <div> Basic tools required to build and finish Project Phoenix</div> <bR> <div> Table saw (optional as you could have a cabinet shop cut the pieces for you)</div> <bR> <div> Sander</div> <bR> <div> Router (preferably a plunge router but not required)</div> <bR> <div> Jasper circle cutting jig (not absolutely required but should be seriously considered. The</div> <div> Panels required rebates(routed inlays) for the drivers and the jig makes this much easier </div> <div> to accomplish. </div> <bR> <div> Drill</div> <bR> <div> Clamps - at least three pairs capable of spanning the width of a panel or the height of a woofer</div> <div> cabinet. For the Elite panel a min of  4-5 pairs is required</div> <bR> <div> Something to secure the wood pieces together</div> <div> Options are </div> <div> Screws - drill and suitable bits, wood filler and putty knife</div> <div> Brads - requires a brad nailer</div> <div> Biscuits - requires a biscuit cutter</div> <bR> <div> Appropriate tools for securing veneer to wood if not using pre-veneered MDF</div> <bR> <div> Appropriate tools for applying finish</div> <bR> <div> Building the Phoenix components, panels and woofers, does not take any special tools beyond</div> <div> what is commonly found in a home shop.  In my case, being in an apartment meant that a</div> <div> table saw was not part of that set and I used a local cabinet shop to cut the sheets of MDF</div> <div> into pieces for me. The rule measure twice, cut once certainly applies here. There are a number</div> <div> of pieces that make up a panel or woofer cabinet so the chances of mis-cutting are greater.</div> <div> Take your time to make sure everything is cut to the proper size. </div> <bR> <div> Even using a professional cabinet maker to cut the pieces, I still ended up with the ribs on the panels being about 3/16" too wide (higher than the sides). This didn't show up until I was gluing the ribs into place.  To correct this, I glued everything up and then put a board across the back and used the spiral upcut bit on the router to trim the ribs flush to the sides.</div> <bR> <div> Dremel Tool with miniature routing bit and vertical holder</div> <div> This set-up makes it very easy to cut the holes out of the veneer once it has been glued and partially</div> <div> finished. Because of the rebates, it is almost impossible to use a flush trim router bit in a conventional</div> <div> router to do this because the depth of the flushing edge of the bit is too long to sit in the rebate area and</div> <div> have the cutting edge at the veneer level. There is no flushing bit for the Dremel but I used the roundover</div> <div> bit and adjusted the height so that the bottom of the beginning of the roundover was level with the veneer.</div> <div> Since the veneer is so thin, the tiny curvature is irrelevant. </div> <bR> <div> I found it was much cleaner to glue and partially finish the veneer before cutting out the required</div> <div> holes (tweeter, spline, terminal mounts) as there was no tear-out (splintering on the edges) especially</div> <div> using the Dremel tool.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>