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On 8/10/2004 11:48:18 AM Tom Mobley wrote:

On the inside grilles these 45 edges meet the blunt side of the front panel. On the outside grille the 45 matchs the inside of the sidewall of the cabinet. The panels meet at a 90 in back. This way, all the grill panels are identical and interchangeable. 3/4 x 3/4 glue blocks with velcro will hold the panels. They will be at 45 angles to the front of the cabinet. This will leave the inside grill floating a little ways on the font, but no big deal.
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Thanks for the compliments...

I understand what you are getting at... and explains why my doghouse angle doesn't match the grill angle. BTW, it's not actually 45degress if the opening is 10-1/4"... but the fact that they are symmetrical is the important thing.

Any other little items before I finalize the grills drawings? I may split these up into several 8-1/2 x 11 drawings... unfortunately AutoCAD doesn't have an easy "export to jpg" mode.
Later...
Rob

well, I bit the bullet, went out and bought a large table saw and a $50 80-tooth Freud blade. It was a display model since the vendor isn't shipping the rails with the saws right now. I'll go thru the adjustments Sunday, see what I can get going this coming week. Home Depot has some reasonably nice looking "Birch/Maple" 3/4 plywood for about $40/sheet. First one will be a test mule, built out of that.

Saw is a Ridgid 3650, cast iron stuff, weighs almost 300lbs.

Should a post a bunch of pics of the cut and build?

Absolutely, Tom!

We would all like to see it as it goes along. It will help the rest of us gauge the amount of grief involved...

DM

Tom,

Congrats on the new toy(tablesaw),I love mine. I have been doing woodwork for about 20 years as an on again-off agin hobby. I seem to use it for general use more then the hobby use, but then again, anytime I can smell burning wood is good. Enjoy your new toy and let us know what your next plans are.

Scooter

Congrats Tom... the belle should be a fun build. It definitely has some challenges but drawing up the plan really gave me a better idea of how simple it's construction is in comparison to the Klipschorn.

I think progress pics would be a great idea... I'm a su¢ker for those howto pages...
Good luck, and let us know how it goes...
Rob

Cast my vote for the "YES" pics! I only wish I had taken the time to document my build. The plans Formica has produced are spectacular. Would have been nice to have them so I wouldn't have had to take my factory Belle out of commision during the process as well as had to run in and out in and out to remeasure, check, etc. There were so many little 'gotchas' that I can now look back and say 'phew-ee, glad it's over....but at the time it was rip roaring fun. I think the hardest part was keeping the fine wood 'fine' during construction. I used Elmer's Contractors Glue - the 'Pro-bond'. Tried several other types.....all suppose to be 'contractors grade' but always came back to the Elmers. Went on the smoothest, not too thin, excellent adhesive properties. One thing that really helped was using an air brad gun to set the initial tack. Glue, press the pieces together and clamp, clamp, clamp. I must have purchased 25 clamps of assorted sizes. Corner clamps, pipe clamps, c-clamps of many different sizes and shapes. You will have to get very ingenious with the construction of 'jigs'. to continue though, glue, press together, clamp, hit it with a brad nailer, drill then screw.

I wanted to answer some of your final measurement questions but was confused about exactly what you were referring to by 'baffle board'. Plus, subsequent posts pretty much nailed all the questions. If there are any further measurement questions or requirements, let me know. "Yes', the grilles lay against the angle of the doghouse on the inboard side, and are held in place on the outer sides by 1/2"x1/2"x6" pieces of wood that are screwed from the top and bottom of the bin. So if you're looking at the top (or underneath) of the bass bin, you will see the screw heads holding the angled side of the doghouse and these pieces of wood. Kind of an "M" pattern.

I will print and take home your latest AutoCad drawing and review against my factory Belle for accuracy.

I used TITE-BOND II glue, which worked great and is reported by some woodworkers to work better than others.

Since that is all that I have experience with, I will recommend it. It dried well even at below freezing temperatures. I build my cabinets in the dead of winter on the back porch!...yes, I'm an idiot.

DM

While I admit to not trying to build on the back porch in the dead of winter.....Tite-bond II was one of the glues I tried and IMHO only, Elmers Pro-bond worked much better for me. The Tite-Bond had a 'thinner' characteristec than the Elmers.

Edward,

ELMERS PRO-BOND sounds like its worth a try. I would have preferred thicker, actually. I'll give it a try next cabinet.

DM

The elmers pro-bond is a polurethane adhesive, and is supposed to work great on mdf. I have a bottle at home, and have not had the chance to try it yet. The instructions on the bottle say to wear gloves, it can stain your skin and also it tends to work best if the surfaces are slightly dampened, like wiping with a damp cloth.

They are sellin on Ebay from 1k to 1500.00. By the time you buy the drivers, the wood, build corssovers, grills, etc., etc. I wonder if it's all worth it. At the end of the day you still have a clone and not an original. An original Belle is an investment and a clone well is a clone....Personally I'd rather save my pennies and own the real deal. I don't want to offend anyone but I don't care for the looks of the Belle. It looks like a big box. A mini K-Horn might be a cooler project.

Im going to build a pair of "clones" since they are far less expensive than NEW Belles. Like many, Im using new K33s, JBL CDs with Altec 811bs and maybe Beyma tweeter (really a ALK clone) Im building them for the quality of sound and not resale value or marketing acceptance. I own factory ugly LSs and Heresys so my clones will be done in fine furniture tradition. And as far as a box goes, these are far more interesting for most people to look at than the basic grill covered monitor. My LSs have always gotten a great deal of attention from visitors unfamiliar with horns.

I think Tom and all the other contributors to this thread have done a great service to DIYers and the continued support of Klipschs' all horn loaded designs.

Just my opinion though

taylor

Fortunate for me i finally found a belle , so now i don't have to build one .

One thing i will say , someone at klipsch had there head up there a$$ when they designed the junction box to the k-33 driver hidden between the headset riser and the base bin.

One or 2 simple 2 cent screws in that junction box would save someone an hour of work plus the pain of dismantaling the entire headset , just for makeing the mistake of removing both the k-33 driver connection screws located inside the lower chamber .

Anyone who's been to this party knows what i'm talking about , anyone who has'nt just say so and i'll post some pictures of what " NOT " to do when removing the K-33 .

Hmpf. I've never seen a real belle, I've been wondering how that wire got from the crossover to bass bin. Looking forward to seeing the pics. Sorry about the hassle. I think it's politely termed "discovery learning."

Tom : Inside the woofer chamber , right at the top is 2 small holes drilled through the cabinet . 2 small screws go through conectors for the k-33 and the screws go through these " tiny " holes and connect to a plactic juntion box ( that is not fastened down except when these screws hold it ) thats located inside the headset spacer.

The entire headset has to be dismantled in order to reach this plastic junction strip , if you remove both the woofer screws at the same time then the junction moves out of position and you must remove the headset to re-align it in order to get both screws attached.

You also have no clue which hole is for the positive or negative unless you mark the inside of the woofer chamber .