18Watt.com

Hey everyone!

I've built several other style cabinets in the past but I'm struggling to understand how a traditional 18 watt baffle goes together.

I've downloaded and read through the super nice plans from http://modulusamplification.com/FREE_CA ... NS-W6.aspx and that helped clear up a few things but I still don't understand the baffle and valence relationship.

I know you're supposed to attach the grill cloth across the top before you attach the valance but you can't (or at least I don't seem to be able to...) staple into something that is only 1/4" thick without it splitting. You're also supposed to staple the center piece of piping onto the valence before you glue it down to the baffle.

If anyone could show me some *detailed* pictures about how this works I would be extremely appreciative. Thanks!

I'm not sure why you're using 1/4" for the baffle? I've never seen one less than 1/2". Looking at the drawings you linked, they show the baffle board, and the baffle strips, to both be 1/2" (12mm is 0.47 inches, round up to 1/2"). Look at pages 19 and 20 and they show the individual pieces with the correct measurements.

1/4" wouldn't be strong enough to support the staples, never mind a speaker.

Yeah - I meant 1/2" for the baffle itself and then 1/4" for the strips.

So you're saying both the baffle *and* the strips are 1/2" then? If so, the entire baffle assembly is 1" correct?

corliss1 wrote:Yeah - I meant 1/2" for the baffle itself and then 1/4" for the strips.

So you're saying both the baffle *and* the strips are 1/2" then? If so, the entire baffle assembly is 1" correct?

Look at page 15 where it references the baffle strips, they're also listed as 12mm. So according to those docs, yes, 1" total.

Ah - I gotcha - I just missed that the way the drawings were broken up for some reason. I really can read I swear

Thanks!

corliss1 wrote:Ah - I gotcha - I just missed that the way the drawings were broken up for some reason. I really can read I swear

Thanks!

Haha, no problem. It's a nicely detailed doc, but I could see how some of those details could get lost the way it's laid out.

Any thoughts on how some builders do this with hardwood? I know you can get hardwood in 1/2" as well but then there'd be a visible seam/transition between the hardwood and the black-painted baffle piece up by the controls. (I'm assuming front-mounted combo controls when I say that)

Piping? Is that the area you're referring to? There's tons of tricks to working with hardwoods and laminate fronts. Sometimes there's a combination of tolex and hardwood, or different types of hardwood with nice contrast. It's really just a matter of creativity and planning ahead.

I was concerned with the top area under the controls. Although this isn't a high-res picture you can get the idea

http://site.humbuckermusic.com/blog1/wp ... 00x202.jpg

It looks like they do a gloss black (or something similar) behind that blue panel.

Oh, that's the control plate. That's usually metal or plastic, only sometimes wood. I get mine made from bnplasers.com, they do a great job. I make the designs, and then they create the plates. They actually made both my control plate and name plate in this photo:



Here's another photo from a different amp where you can see just the control plate attached to a chassis: