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The Encore

The Encore
Design Goals
Driver Selection
Enclosure Design
Enclosure Assembly
Crossover Design
Conclusion
Parts List
About the Designer
- Enclosure Construction & Assembly -

Since I used the Dayton pre-fabricated cabinets, construction was fairly limited from my end, and involved making the cutouts for the drivers and ports. For the baffles, I used a router with the Jasper Circle Cutting Jig to make the recesses and throughholes. As always, I made sure to protect my baffle finish with some masking material; in this case I applied a few strips of 3" blue painter's tape.

For cutting the ports on the rear of the cabinet, I chose to use a hole saw instead of a router. The hole saw produces a less precise cutout, but can be quicker in setup time and less dusty. In situations where the hole will be covered by a plastic terminal or port, I find the hole saw technique to be perfectly legitimate.

I'd like to share a little trick I developed when it comes to using a hole saw in MDF, which normally doesn't work very well. Start by using the hole saw as normal to begin the cut. However, once the circular portion of the saw gets a short ways into the wood, stop drilling and take the hole saw away from the wood. Now, using a roughly 1/8" drill bit, drill several holes through the wood along the circumference of the hole saw cut. These extra holes will provide a place for the MDF dust to eject from the hole saw teeth, eliminating the burning and binding that usually occurs. With this technique, you should be able to do the remainder of the hole in one pass.