Cabinet Building Book?

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Hey folks,

I've been thinking of trying my hand at cabinet building.

The info I've been able to find online pretty "sketchy".

I'd like a book that goes into details of the woodworking aspect as well as covering/finishing.

I expect most any book will talk about design, etc.

Any favorites to be recommended?

I've been eyeballing the book from London Power:

http://www.londonpower.com/books/spkr.htm

I've read these books are top of the line.

Any confirmation on this one or recommendations on others?
Of course, online info is good too if anyone has links.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Any comments on this?

 

[doc]

I can't comment on this particular book, but have one of the others from him and its good. For the price its a no brainer. I'd probably just go to the library and look for general woodworking books and books on stereo speakers otherwise. The truth is for most of the "standard" guitar cab designs there was never any real engineering involved - just throw the number of drivers you want into a wood box of appropriate size and configuration, so other than construction details its not rocket science. Some (detuned cabs, ported cabs, etc.) do involve some actual speaker design. Let us know what you think if you get the book - I've come close to ordering that one myself.

 

[phsyconoodler]

You need to find a book about dovetailing and box joints or finger joints as they are also known as.When you learn these basic skills the rest comes easy.Jumping right in can be the best way to learn.Try using some old pieces of wood to practice on before you use the good stuff.
I use a Porter Cable dovetail jig and the results are professional.the biggest thing you need are the proper tools to do the job.A table saw with a dado blade and a simple jig you can make yourself is the key to doing nice finger joints.then the rest is learning measurements.Measure twice,cut once.Keeping the workpiece square is the biggest thing for a nice cabinet.

 

[chaz]

Fane used to have some pretty good stuff online, don't know if they still do though. Most stuff you're gonna find online in good detail is stereo or PA info. Good tools, basic skills and desire will get you there. I suggest you copy existing stuff as a starting point and then reading/absorbing as much info as you find and apply it as desired. There are some general rule of thumb practices which you will learn copying classic designs and you can tweak from there.

 

[rooster]

The O'Connor book is great if you want to get into detuned cabinets. He pretty much abandons conventional speaker design in the beginning of the book and goes straight into detuned. You may like the sound, you may not. There are plusses and minuses to the concept.

rooster.

 

[phsyconoodler]

O'Connor is very biased,pun intended,towards his own designs or ideas,and is very closed minded to stuff that has worked well for eons.
But,he has some good contruction methods like his idea for supporting speakers on baffle boards.

 

[jockman]

I have the london power book, it is VERY informative, to the point of being very boring, it has a hell of a lot of tech stuff, and the cab building section is really common sense, although pretty well written. I read it once, and bought a cab....

Jon

 

[9fingers]

Look at http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/. Bill has detailed plans with woodworking & finishing directions. I have not built one but hear fine things about his designs. I intend to build some.

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

I have the london power book, it is VERY informative, to the point of being very boring, it has a hell of a lot of tech stuff, and the cab building section is really common sense, although pretty well written. I read it once, and bought a cab....

Jon

Does it go into woodworking details on how to get good joinery and square cuts, etc?

 

[RL in Fla]

Does it go into woodworking details on how to get good joinery and square cuts, etc?

Join up over here Paul ... Good folks ...

http://www.woodworkslive.com

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

Cool! Thanks for the link.

I'll check it out.

Paul

Join up over here Paul ... Good folks ...

http://www.woodworkslive.com

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

I've been looking at the Porter Cable jigs. Seems the best bang for buck.

One thing that's holding me back on that is if I need to do something over 12" wide (the 4200 series are 12"). I have a Dr. Z Z-Best cabinet that's 13" deep. Is there any trick if you need to build a cab wider than the 12" template?

 

[teleamp]

Does it go into woodworking details on how to get good joinery and square cuts, etc?

No, it basically tells of the different cabinet types and is stronly biased towards detuned cabs.

 

[teleamp]

I've been looking at the Porter Cable jigs. Seems the best bang for buck.

One thing that's holding me back on that is if I need to do something over 12" wide (the 4200 series are 12"). I have a Dr. Z Z-Best cabinet that's 13" deep. Is there any trick if you need to build a cab wider than the 12" template?

I do dovetails with a Leigh D1600, it has a 16" wide opening. Got mine from woodcafters.

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

I do dovetails with a Leigh D1600, it has a 16" wide opening. Got mine from woodcafters.

I'd LOVE to have one of those Leigh units!

A friend of mine answered my question though. He has a Porter Cable 4212 and if you need a wider span than 12", it's easy just to move it down on the work piece. Apparently everything lines up fine.