JL Audio 10" IB Install Progress - and question...

[steined]

So my wife decided to help document the process of installing the JL 10" IB Sub (Free Air, Infinite Baffle).

Had a hell of a time getting the measurements translated to the RotoZip circle cutter for some reason. As you can see when I am cutting the 3/4" birch plywood I was smoking the bit, apparently I smoked the bit when I cut through the fiberglass with it. Once I broke that bit and put in a new one it cut that plywood like butter.

Below is the ring that was treated with water seal. This will serve as a backer behind the sub in the storage compartment. The sub will screw through the fiberglass into this.
Finished Ring with prelim marks. You can see I had a hell of a time cutting this with the bit I used to cut the fiberglass with. I didn't have much issue cutting the fiberglass so I'm guessing I smoked that bit on the glass. It was a carbide bit even!



Here I am cutting a cutting board to be used as the "gasket" for the curved area of the storage area that faces the captains chair. Some items of note. The RotoZip melts the hell out of the board and if you get into the plywood underneath it does a nice job making a composite wood like substance that is very hard to get off!!

Again cutting the inner ring of the "gasket"

"That's hot"
Oh "THAT'S" how this is supposed to cut through wood!
Here you can see the sub "hanging" in the hole. It looks too large but it won't sit right in there on its own, it fits when you hold it in there.


I still have to finish the "gasket" I sure wish Yamaha wouldn't have made that into a curve there. It would have made life so much easier!

 

[Rigger]

Thats gonna look nice!

Here's what I did

 

[steined]

I wish I would have put my sub there!

Ok. So now I am at a crossroads. My cutting boards are not sanding well, they are coming apart when there is sufficient heat during sanding them, so I need to re-evaluate how to fill that gap from the concave surface of the storage area on the top and bottom of the speaker.

It looks like the gap at the maximum is 3/8" at the top and the bottom of the sub, it also looks the gap tapers to zero within 2.5" to 3" DOWN from top dead center of the circle. So if I start with 3/8" thick material I'll be sanding at least 3/8" away from that section of it.


A couple of thoughts

1.) I should have paid to have this installed

2.) I could buy 2 pieces of 3" x 3/8" actual dimension board and sand it down with the two sided tape / sanding paper trick I think it would sand better than the plastic and be a little easier than the plastic.

3.) I could buy JB Weld "Sticks" to fill the gap. That made me wonder if there is something better than those weld sticks that I could use? Some sort of filler epoxy that isn't runny?

@Glassman do you know of any generally available product like the JB Weld stick that I could use for this?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

[tdonoughue]

My vote would be the 2 piece option of #2. I think you have better odds of keeping that together and getting a nice sand off of it. I would epoxy or super glue the 2 pieces together and then sand. Probably super glue. Epoxy too thick will clog your sandpaper when you get to it.

My 2 cents.

 

[txav8r]

I personally think you should just press on in the direction you started. But throw out the cutting board and get a piece of King Starboard. The think is this. What I would have done is to affix sandpaper to that wall before cutting it, and rub my piece of Starboard up and down the wall until the shape of the wall with sandpaper on it, carves the edges off the Starboard, and makes the bezel that you need. Since you have already cut the hole, you have to kind of guess and mill it a little at a time. It does not have to be perfect, you can caulk the edges and make it perfect after you get it mounted. But it does have to be 100% motionless when the big bass driver is loaded up and moving fast. So it needs to be secure. I think trying to fill it will make a mess and create more work. At this point, make a template of the curve. Transfer the curve to the top edge of the Starboard and bottom edge. Get a random orbital sander and work that piece until those edges line up from top to bottom. When it is close, your done. David, what do you think? @David Analog Also, Earmark may have a stock bezel ring with that curve already cut. If you can wait a bit, I have to cut one myself, if I decide to use that spot. If I do, making two just takes twice as long as one. Maybe you can buy our sheet of Starboard, and I can make it. Not saying "let's do it", but I am saying we could!

 

[steined]

Thanks @txav8r. I guess I mis-understood one of your previous posts about the sandpaper and the order of operations! , Furthermore I'm not sure why it matters in terms of making the "front" or cabin facing bezel. In terms of the "back" bezel, well, yes I can understand that one

To clarify, I am trying to fill the gaps behind the bezel of the speaker and the finished fiberglass on the storage area. (See below)



I can try the starboard, but I'm just not sure how to transfer that curve to the starboard. I have the piece that I cut out, so I'm assuming I could use that to trace it out to some extent, but the 3d nature of it is confounding me.

I emailed Earmark a few times regarding this particular bezel and they didn't know what I was talking about and insisted that all I needed was a ring, so I decided I knew better than that and would try it on my own. They deal with 100s of boat models I'm sure so it certainly isn't their fault!

With regard to the ring, I was going to place it behind the speaker and shim it where needed for the screw mounts, but maybe I should be sanding it as well?

If only I had an Earmark local

I was thinking something like the JB Weld stick material to fill that gap as the cutting board was a PITA

I'm ordering some KS from Amazon Prime and we'll see if it is any better.

 

[Rigger]

You'll find the King Starboard easy to work with and should fill your need nicely. I'm trying to find a picture that someone has - they mounted there sub in that exact location and had a ring that filled the voids. It looked really good!

searching…..

 

[Ronnie]

Ii was thinking have tap plastics or someplace similar make the part for you. The install look great so far. Did you cut the hole in the boat using a rotorzip? I tried to do that twice (two different boats) but ended up using a jigsaw instead because I kept breaking rotorzip bits and when they didn't break using the rotorzip seemed to be the slow way to go compared to the jigsaw but maybe I set the rotorzips speed wrong, I had it up as far as it would go.

 

[Glassman]

@Glassman do you know of any generally available product like the JB Weld stick that I could use for this?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

This would fall under "Other ideas"

You can use MDF to make your ring. It sands easily, however, once finished, coat it with a sealant or resin. You don't want raw MDF getting wet - it swells.

I personally would cover everything (including speaker ring) with tape, then wax the tape liberally and use a mixture of plastic filler (Bondo) and chopped strand fiberglass (you can buy a can of Kitty Hair).
Press the filler material into the voids and smooth with a flexible plastic Bondo spreader - making sure not to jam too much in there and go past your opening. Once the filler sets up you can remove the speaker - once fully hardened, pop the part off and then finish it - sand, prime and paint. If you use a high gloss white that matches, you'll have a custom job!

 

[txav8r]

You have to get that big woofer flush, in terms of security. It can have irregularities and small voids, but when you start sucking down the screws from the speakers bezel to the wood ring in the compartment, you will distort the bezel and it can crack in time, you may even bind the speaker itself, if it isn't fairly flush. Solid fillers will work, but they will have to be applied before the speaker is tightened down. I do think you could use the cutout piece as a guide. I am headed to the airport, so let me get home today, and if you like, PM me your number, and we can talk about it for clarity purposes.

 

[tdonoughue]

@Glassman , of course you would. That is why we call you Glassman... That is the ultimate.

Personally I did the MDF ring (different location) and sealed it good. But @txav8r and I agree, I think. You can use the plastic piece you have and double it up to double thick, then sand as he said. Or get the original thicker stock he mentions, which I have heard is very nice stuff, but not cheap. I don't think it is too late to do the sanding bit as he describes, but you have to use shorter strokes so you don't fall into the hole too much.

 

[steined]

Thanks to @txav8r for the words of wisdom earlier. I purchased some 1/2" starboard and started over again with a new ring. I won't say it was difficult work, but it was tedious work sanding it down with the short strokes. Let's just say I got a workout and I'm sure the neighbors were wondering why the boat was rocking in the driveway!

I got well over 3/4 of it flush, and I'm going to fill the remaining 1/4 (all at the bottom) with a little jb putty, much more manageable than trying to make up the whole gap that way.

I considered the fiberglass route when purchasing the starboard but the parts guy at the marina said the starboard was easy to work with. It's easier than a damn cutting board for sure!

I had to go purchase longer stainless screws to mount the woofer, but luckily Lowes carried #10 x 2" for a reasonable price.

Lessons learned...

Use starboard, plywood, mdf, wood for the spacer. Don't mess around with cutting boards. They melt with the rotozip and don't sand worth a damn.

When sanding something into a bezel, don't cut out the hole prior to sanding.

That's about it for now. Haven't wired it up yet. Gives me something to do tomorrow!

 

[tdonoughue]

You have to credit any thread that ends with a 1am 'lessons learned' post.

Congratulations on the progress. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[txav8r]

@steined , I am glad to hear that you were able to mill that board into submission! You will love the performance and durability of that woofer!

 

[steined]

Woo!

I have it installed and wired up. I have some tuning to do but my initial by the ear tuning seems very good so far. I also need to run a nice bead of white caulk around the edges and clean up the grime from my fingers and she'll be good to go!



20/20 hindsight, I'd have a pro do this. I'm fortunate enough to be able to work whenever and wherever so it was OK for me to spend so much time on it, but I'd likely pay someone to install a sub in that curved spot, or put it elsewhere!

What is nice about the woofer in that spot is my marine cooler still fits there and it really doesn't impact storage as that area is kinda of useless anyhow.

 

[Craig]

Looks great, when you get buttoned up come on down to Somerset and I'll let you do it again (joking). Do you still run the polks with your sub or did you replace them?

 

[steined]

Looks great, when you get buttoned up come on down to Somerset and I'll let you do it again (joking). Do you still run the polks with your sub or did you replace them?

Haha. No chance of another install! I'd be happy to drink beer and supervise that job though!

Yes I still run the polks. I like them. For now at least!

 

[0627Devildog]

@steined - No offense intended here. . . . .

But just a brief note to anyone following the pictures above. . . . it's NOT a good idea to do this kinda work barefoot OR in open toed shoes.

 

[steined]

@steined - No offense intended here. . . . .

But just a brief note to anyone following the pictures above. . . . it's NOT a good idea to do this kinda work barefoot OR in open toed shoes.

I live in Kentucky, it is required to perform all outdoor activities barefoot!!!





On a serious note, the number of times in and out of the boat that day relegated shoes to an absolute afterthought! Probably not bad advice!

 

[0627Devildog]

Just don't go welding anything. . . . . = )