I'm putting together two of these bad boys for some si18 Subs. I'm not done yet but I have managed to glue one of them up so far. They are so perfectly cut that I only needed titebond wood glue and painters tape.
First I ran my fingers along the wood channels where the glue would go to make sure they are clear of any dust or packing material debris. Then i dry fitted the whole box to make sure the panels are in the right way. The top and bottom panels are not a perfect square (as its designed), so it's important to dry fit to see which way they go.
Then don't over do the glue, put a bead on the bottom piece keeping about an inch from the ends. Pop in the two braces and finally the third brace to fit on top of them. Press down and you'll see some glue squeeze out. If it comes out the sides, wipe it away. It's important to wipe it away because now you will reassemble the box with the remaining pieces without glue, line up all the edges by hand and them use your painters tape to tape up all corners.
What you are doing is letting the box itself BE your clamps. When dry, take the tape off and the remaining dry pieces. Now we are going to glue all the sides on. Put glue where ever MDF will touch MDF keeping the top piece dry. Wipe away any glue that might touch it. Then put the top piece in place and use your fingers to line up all the panels, keep checking the corners and seems to get them as close to perfect as you can, then use painters tape to hold them in place.
When dry, pull the tape and then inspect the inside. Squeeze glue into any seams you can see inside, its ok to use your finger to drag it up and into place. Then put the glue down for the top piece and put it back into place, it should be a tight fit. Line it up with your finger and let it dry, hold it in place with painters tape.
Finally use lots of glue on the backside of the baffle and put it on top. Line it up with fingers. Put weight on it. Done.
BTW, I'd never seen an 18" sub before these showed up. They are enormous. I mean really freaking big!! Intimidating even.
First I ran my fingers along the wood channels where the glue would go to make sure they are clear of any dust or packing material debris. Then i dry fitted the whole box to make sure the panels are in the right way. The top and bottom panels are not a perfect square (as its designed), so it's important to dry fit to see which way they go.
Then don't over do the glue, put a bead on the bottom piece keeping about an inch from the ends. Pop in the two braces and finally the third brace to fit on top of them. Press down and you'll see some glue squeeze out. If it comes out the sides, wipe it away. It's important to wipe it away because now you will reassemble the box with the remaining pieces without glue, line up all the edges by hand and them use your painters tape to tape up all corners.
What you are doing is letting the box itself BE your clamps. When dry, take the tape off and the remaining dry pieces. Now we are going to glue all the sides on. Put glue where ever MDF will touch MDF keeping the top piece dry. Wipe away any glue that might touch it. Then put the top piece in place and use your fingers to line up all the panels, keep checking the corners and seems to get them as close to perfect as you can, then use painters tape to hold them in place.
When dry, pull the tape and then inspect the inside. Squeeze glue into any seams you can see inside, its ok to use your finger to drag it up and into place. Then put the glue down for the top piece and put it back into place, it should be a tight fit. Line it up with your finger and let it dry, hold it in place with painters tape.
Finally use lots of glue on the backside of the baffle and put it on top. Line it up with fingers. Put weight on it. Done.
BTW, I'd never seen an 18" sub before these showed up. They are enormous. I mean really freaking big!! Intimidating even.