I just realized that I've been seriously negligent on my arcade cabinet updates. I actually finished it a few months ago!
Next up: The speaker panel.
First off, I created a template on 1/4" MDF to help me rout out the speaker holes. The old butter dish gave me a round stencil for the cutout.
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Measure twice; cut once. Because I always measure incorrectly the first time. |
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Speaker panel cut out with speaker guides attached |
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Speakers secured in place. |
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Speaker cover dimensions laid out on speaker panel and cut to size. |
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Parts Express Pressfit Speaker Grill Guides |
With the cover still clamped as shown above, I drilled through both the cover and the speaker panel with a small-diameter drill bit. This would ensure that the grill guides would line up correctly when I installed them. I widened the holes to 7/32" on the speaker cover, and 11/32" on the speaker panel. It takes a LOT of force to get these guides into the holes. (Note: I recommend hammering these into place before you completely assemble the cab. In my case, I waited until the cab was nearly completed. When I hammered the female guides into the speaker panel, I ended up partially ruining the bondo patch I'd made in the joint between the speaker panel and the marquee panel.)
Then I primed & painted the cover black, and covered it using speaker fabric and spray glue from Parts Express.
To do so, I cut the fabric to size so it would wrap completely around the front and back (with the overlapping seam on the back, not passing through any of the holes in the cover). I sprayed the glue onto the back surface of the cover only, let it dry for a few minutes, and then wrapped the cover with the speaker cloth. I cut the speaker cloth inside the hole for the dials, and wrapped it in a way that the cloth would adhered to the glue. Then I hammered the grill guides into place, so they would also help keep the cloth tacked down on the back.
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Speaker cover completed and installed |
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