Gert's Revelator Build

[GearSlave]

Or maybe, Gert's possible ZRT build. I'm not yet sure if I'll use Zaph ZRT XO, hence the title. But maybe I will, or not.

Aaaaaaanyway, so I've had some time to do a bit of work. Progress is really slow, slower than normal actually. But between family and tools that break it's to be expected.

As shown elsewhere, here's what I'm hoping it would look like when I'm done


I've cut the top, bottom and all the bracing for both speakers


Here's a close up of all the braces finished with the router's flush trim bit.


And here's the internal braces


Next up, I've got to cut the vertical back support and kerf/mount the sides. I'm hoping I'll get that done next weekend.

[Mike M]

Gert, that looks awesome. Will be following this thread with great interest. Maybe one day I will feel confident enough to take on projects like this.

Regards
M

[dotVIBE]

very cool.

may I request some "in action" pics. router action, kerf action etc. show of those skills boet!

[GearSlave]

Thanks guys. There is still a lot of work ahead. I'm especially not looking forward to finishing the carbon fibre...

@dotVIBE. Good idea, I'll grab a few more as I work.

[Ampdog]

very cool.

may I request some "in action" pics. router action, kerf action etc. show of those skills boet!

Yah, sommer show us the boet also.

[JimGore]

I'm especially not looking forward to finishing the carbon fibre...

It's not too difficult, you must just take your time with it, otherwise you will find yourself redoing it a couple of times.  It takes longer to redo than it does to do it slowly and correctly the first time.

[GearSlave]

Hi Ian,

I've noted the advice given at the bottom of this thread
http://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,4566.270.html

I'm a noob when it comes to CF and Fibreglass, but what is "e-glass"? Can you elaborate a little on the reason to put e-glass on the MDF before the CF? I was going to put a layer of epoxy (with black added) on the MDF before putting on the CF though. Also, the CF I'm going to be using has already had a thin layer of epoxy added (as I understand it). This makes it stiff'ish already and easier to preserve the straightness of the CF. It apparently also makes it easier to handle and apply, although you can't use it to do funky shapes anymore (fine with me) as it is designed for large flat surfaces. My brother is more the expert here so hope he'll chime in as well.

Any thoughts on where to get the black pigment that is compatible with the epoxy?

[JimGore]

Hi,

You can get epoxy pigment, e-glass, carbon fibre, kevlar, etc at AMT http://www.amtcomposites.co.za/index.html.  They have branches in CT, DBN, and JHB.

The reason I recommend the e-glass route is becuase laminating epoxy is very expensive, and you will need to get your substrate nice and flat & even in colour.  Cheapest way is to use e-glass (a woven fibreglass, not the standard chop strand) with polyester resin and black pigment.  This is also much easier to sand down as it cures more brittle than epoxy.  That being said, if you can afford to use only expoxy, then go for it.

Do not use polyester pigment with epoxy, or vice-versa.  They are not compatible.  Pigments are very cheap, and come in thick paste form from AMT.

Regards,
Ian.

[GearSlave]

Ah excellent!

I'm aware of AMT as I will get the CF from them. Didn't know what E-Glass was so didn't know who to ask. Bonus it comes from the same place, thanks for the heads up!!!

[ByronH]

Loving those curves! I noticed that the MDF part at the bottom of the stack appears to be thinner than the rest, or are my eyes messing with me? Have you opted for a thinner MDF base to integrate with the metal baseplate?

[GearSlave]

Aha! I was wondering if anybody was going to pick that up!

Well, I'm going to have an 80mm cavity in the base of the speakers for the XO and the thinner mdf will be used in the base as a brace as it doesn't form part of the enclosure proper. I'll still get a sketch out to show it a little better.

[ByronH]

Cool

[Robert_E]

Gert are the speaker sides non-circular curves? How did you cut them out so perfectly?

[GearSlave]

Here's the design done with Autocad


I messed with it for some time till the profile looked the way I wanted. It was a compromise between getting the look I want and surface area to make up the desired volume. Once I was happy with the design, I printed it out over 3 pages (hence the vertical lines for alignement) and cut the shape out. Once cut out, I traced the shape onto a piece of wood and cut this out with a jig saw, going very very slow. Once this was done, I made sure everything was smooth and true on a vertical sanding wheel. This piece now became the template and it was simple to make copies using the router's flush trim bit.

[Robert_E]

O ok thats cool using the sander. Hehe I thought maybe you have extremely good control over the router or jig-saw.