Boombox MDF

Hello everyone

Another COOL boombox for the collection !

This time it`s not from Plexiglas as always but rather from MDF ( Medium-density fibreboard )

It`s actually pretty fun to work with this material ,it`s very easy to saw, lightweight in compare to the 4mm Plexiglas and a most important it`s the best material for speakers enclosure

Enjoy this , and let me know what you think

Roey

I bought 2 MDF plates.

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1 plate 6mm MDF

1 plate 8mm MDF

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The reason why i chose those Thicknesses was due to the weight issue.

The best was to choose a 10mm MDF wood , but it would weight much more , and if you plan to carry the BOOMBOX with u , it would be nice not to lift a 10kilo weight.

Since it is much easer to work with a smaller peaces , i decided to cut it in half .

Materials and equipment needed

In general you`ll need a lot of tools
Driller+Set of drills
Clamps
Regular saw , electric saw
Working Gloves
Caliber
Glue for wood - Adhesive for wood
Set of speakers + Crossovers
Amplifier - Lepai TA2020+
Wires for speakers
Bolts and nuts

The speakers came with a Template of it`s size.

Took it and placed it on the MDF , marked it with a marker and off we go to the cutting

It`s amazing how easy it is to saw this material .

You will decide what size the boombox would be , so you will need measure and cut the desired angles.

Start with the bottom - since it has a direct relation to the speakers cones.

then from there choose the length of the side angles - it could give your BOOMBOX a deeper length.

The overall dimensions of the of the boombox ( Internal ) will have the biggest affect on the sound , especially the woofer .

After i sawed the desired pieces , i made sure they fit perfectly to each other.

In this project i decided to connect the angles to each other without aluminium angles but rather with "elmer's glue" - as far as i understand it`s the best glue for wood.

And it did the job excellent.

Your will need to glue the pieces together , clamp them if you can - and let it dry overnight - that way it would strength the bonding of the pieces to each other

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I added a middle MDF 8mm angle.

I understood that the woofers must be separated one from each other in order to function at it`s best.

I don`t know how much of that is true , but who am i to argue with other audiophiles , and for me it`s a good idea to add this angle since it would strengthen the overall boombox.

Since the cutting don`t always come out straight, although you attach the parts to each other with glue , there are cracks here and there.

And for the acoustics to be good , the woofer box should be sealed perfectly .

I bought a Wood Sealer product , you just mix it a bit, and it`s a ready to use product.

Apply a good layer of it to all the cracks you see , and let it dry for 24 hours or so.

After the wood sealant has dried , sand it using a Sanding Paper or like i did with a sanding machine

After spending some time on the web , i understood that by adding an additional partitions to the boombox enclosure the sound will improve , and moreover it will allow the "air" to flow in a better way threw the reflex port.
So , i measured the height and width of the box , marked it and cut 4 equal pieces.

I glued all 4 pieces to the boombox , and added a layer of sealant to it.

Sometimes you just want to rush things out.
The best is to let it dry on it`s own , but if you want to speed things out use a strong fan for half an hour or so.
it will do the job

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After verifying that all cracks are sealed and nothing is loose ( and all is dry ), you need to saw two pieces for the upper enclosure.

i sawed the corner to attache in the future a Reflex port .

Got with the speakers two great crossovers , applied glue + two bolts to each Crossover

This step took me forever !

I didn`t know what material to choose to wrap the box , i bought a few materials :

1. Burlap cloth ( Jute fabric )

2. Plastic Canvas

3. Tablecloth - just like the one that you have on your kitchen table.

I started to wrap the box with the Jute fabric , but it didn`t came out good , it had a lot of creased sections, maybe it was due to the glue that i used , on maybe it was due to the fabric itself.

The plastic was the second option , but that came awfull- it scrathed and was hard to glue.

The last and best option apperantly was the Tablecloth - it is strong enough ,durable , good looking , and very smooth material. + it looks weird in a good wy - just look at the pic

Wrapping Time! Phase 3
The Tableclosth was the best sloution

I want to be able to open the upper case, so i installed 4 hinges with screws

on top of them.- the upper case will " sit " on the screws, and for the strengthening i will close it with 4 nuts.

It looks aweful but i will wrap it with some MDF piece to hide the hole

For the air to move outside efficientlyd the channels must be free of barriers.

I cutted the pieces to fit the passages perfectly , and glued it all with Elmer`s Glue

Wrap the upper case cover , then we need to drill holes for it to fit the Screws

How will you know where to drill the holes ?

Well i found a great way to find where to drill them.
Just take some paint- or some mixture of gypsum , put a little bit with your finger on top of the screws.
Now, take the upper case, and easly place it on top of the box - make sure that your place it slowly because if you move it then all the paint will smear all over the board and you will not know where to drill the holes.

LED - most important on all products

Since the battery pack will not be integrated inside the box ,i driller two holes for the connectors.

From within the wires will go to the amp.

Moreover , the Terminals that will connect to the crossovers will be from within like all normal speakers .

on all other boomboxes that i have built , the battery ( 12v 7a) was within the boombox case.

That nice, but that took me extra space from the box, and i had to compromise on the space for the woofer.

This time, i decided to build an external case , which will hold both of the 12v 7a batteries = 12v 14a overall.

This way, if you want to charge the batteries , you don`t have to take the entire boombox with u, but rather just the battery case.

Start by putting the batteries on the MDF wood , mark with a pen, and cut with a saw.

Create additional angles for the sides of the battery holder.

I created also the upper case a bit bigger

Moreover , you will need to create an additional ports to connect to batteries to the Amp

After finishing all , it`s time to pump up the Boombox and hear the great great sound that came out of it

I`m quite happy with the result , the sound is awesome!!