Printer Friendly Forum Posts - is this enclosure possible?

Hey guys

Im new to this so this would be a huge undertaking for me especially, let alone someone who has expertise in fiberglass enclosures. But i wanna try so screw it haha.

I wanna make an enclosure using a car sub and amp but for home theater use. Its been done before so thats not the issue. But I wanna try making it look like this!!!:

https://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/product.asp?section=systems&sub=ls&prodid=282

possible or not? I mean, i dont think i could get it to look exactly like that, but something close would be awesome!!

any suggestions, feedback?

thanks

ashok

that link doesn't point to anything useful try just posting the pic of what it is.

As for a car sub in a home theater application it's not a problem at all

I'm currently running an infinty beta 12 with a 250 watt plate amp from parts express. That is just in an mdf box with casters on it. Just make sure your components will match up alright, power, impediance, etc.

So your question is basically can you make it look like what ever that link shows.

I think this is the link he wanted.
https://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/product.asp?section=systems&sub=ls&prodid=282

And anything is possible with time/money/know how.

You posted the same link he did. it's alright though maybe it's something on my end that is making the picture not display.

sorry guys for the broken link

i cant seem to upload a good picture of the bang and olufsen sub but heres something similar to the idea I have

posted_image

and yes, i plan on piano black as well, so thats probably exaclty how i would want it to look. and i planned on running a dayton reference high fidelity 12" with a crown XLS-202.
any suggestions on how i could start this? I was thinking maybe getting a really big styrofoam ball or something and coating that to get an initial shape?

what do you guys think?

I like the B&W much more than the the B&O. If you want to make it off a styrofoam ball, you have to decide if you're going to use a sacrificial mold or if you're going to cast a seperate mold to get this shape.

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xclusivecustomsinc.com

xclusivecustoms wrote:

I like the B&W much more than the the B&O. If you want to make it off a styrofoam ball, you have to decide if you're going to use a sacrificial mold or if you're going to cast a seperate mold to get this shape.

Yes I do too. Im definitely going to try and mimic the wilkins. And im not sure what you mean by sacrifical mold or separate mold? I figured I could just cast a mold of the ball and then go through the steps of building the enclosure.

But now as i think about ur choice of wording---"sacrificial", i wondered if it would be possible to even just coat the sytrofoam ball itself and carve out a hole for the driver, which could serve as massive insulation! ( or was that what you meant in the first place lol?)

Gee, I remember seeing bubbles being used as skylight, some were acrlyc some fiberglass. I'm sure if you spent sometime looking for something premoulded, it would be simpler than starting form scratch. You can alway build box inside or reinforce as needed.

wow thats such a good idea, didnt even think of that

i need to just start looking around for ordinary things that could be used for this job. a see through fiberglass ball would be extremely cool too ( even though the piano black is my favorite)

what do you guys think of the driver and amp im thinking about using? And just generally what do you guys think of the project?

A sacrificial mold is commonly used to make one-off gas tanks. You make your plug out of styrofoam, cover it with a barrier material and then fiberglass on top of that. After the fiberglass has hardened you pour a solvent (such as gasoline) inside of the ball which disolves the styrofoam. This technique is very effective for complex single production products, but is not very enviromentally friendly.

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xclusivecustomsinc.com

Yeah man I made a sphere out of gf using a japanese lantern ball thing. OOOH MAN! It sucked balls. Sucky sucky sucky. It's one thing to gf something flat or kinda curvy or something. but something totally round. I got flashbacks of kindergarden. It was a big mess. But yeah it's possible.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!

That really looks interesting , Got my wheels to turning, The first thought I had was to mold the inside of an atv tire maybe even fill it with great stuff (expanding foam) cut rubber off after dry and you should have the basic shape.and then just go from there. But as we all know sometimes it takes more than a few thoughts before it works

what kind of problems did you run into 5150 azn? And did you end up getting it done? If so, attach a pic. Im now reconsidering this project because of time/experience. Even though using my estimated $350 worth of drivers and amps would sound like a $1500+ sub if done properly, i might just get a $300 HSU.

( someone give me some positive feedback on the project so i get enthusiastic again loll)

sounds like it would be pretty easy to me (this coming from someone who hasnt done fiberglass before) but for a mold i would think make some rings and glue them to a beach ball and a bit of fleece to smooth the rings out should work just fine. after you get the first coat on just deflate the beach ball and pull it out (or cut) usually glue wont stick to plastic to well so the beach ball should pull off the wood if using regular elmers glue. if not just cut it off. if you want the amp mounted on with the speaker think of using it for the base. just remember that if you enclose the amp make sure you invest in some fans to keep it cool.

erm..i m new here..and i reli liked the idea...i think i could build it up wif FG...but my onli prob now were...wut r the measurements i need? as my 12" driver needs 1ft³ to perform properly...can any1 tell me wut diameter sphere should i make for this enclosure?many thanks in advance

kelvin--- wrote:

erm..i m new here..and i reli liked the idea...i think i could build it up wif FG...but my onli prob now were...wut r the measurements i need? as my 12" driver needs 1ft³ to perform properly...can any1 tell me wut diameter sphere should i make for this enclosure?many thanks in advance

Kelvin, I think you may be over your head on this one. However if you do plan to go ahead on this more information is needed. The diameter of a perfect sphere with the volume of 1ft³ is 14.88 inches. However, There is more math involved. You need to subtract the volume of the sub you're using (especially important with such a small enclosure volume) also you need to subtract the amount of volume that you had to remove to have a flat surface to mount the sub on. I could mathematically compensate for the driver volume, but that difference in the sphere is beyond my calculus.

grantd..ic..thanks for the info..for now..i m plannin on usin a sphere wif a diameter of 16 inches...which resulted wif a displacement of ard 1.24 ft² ..slightly some extra displacement..and after the removal of the part for the flat surface for the driver..i will do some calculations on tat again..and update here again....

problem #1 was trying to keep the ball from rolling over when you are putting the fg mat on. Also you have to keep the ball from sitting in it's own puddle of fg. I solved this problem by hanging the ball on a string.

Problem #2 when putting fg mat on the ball. The mat would slowly slidedown the side of the ball.

Problem #3 resin rolls down the side of the ball, making a big puddle.

I'll get you a pic later.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!

5150azn...i m waiting for ur pics...coz it can b used as great reference..hope u wil upload it when u r free

im not seeing an atv tire. sorry. but i do get what you are getting at with that idea. i still think a beach ball with a speaker ring out of wood glued to it wrapped in fleece would be the perfect shape.