attaching cloth to mdf

I'm in the middle of making a custom sub box for my bimmer, and I'm just about done the frame of mdf. I went to Fabricland and bought the cheapest fabric they had because a piece 5' by 6' cost me $3. Also went to a local marine shop and bought 24 sq ft. of mat and a quart of resin (the guy said it's enough for 2-3 layers). The problem I'm having now if attaching the "fleece," as you guys call it, to the wood. I've heard start in the centre, use hot glue gun and staples, and keep stretching outward. How do I go about doing this? Also, once I have that on, how do I attach fiberglass onto the enclosure? and do I go over the fleece onto the mdf to seal it or..? Any help is appreciated thanks in advance. (sorry I don't have any pics, don't have a camera I'm 17 and broke).

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I spank imports

Go here and if you need more help just post it here.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

I can't see the pics. They're small red X's...

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I spank imports

it is easiest if you have rabbited edges and speaker rings etc...that way you are actually stapling below the finished edge of the project and your fiberglass buildup will cover the staples...that howto is great even with out the pics...

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Fiberglass Guru.

Rabbited edges?

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I spank imports

a rabbited edge looks like this..

           ___
          |      |      you staple your fleece into here
          |      |    /
          |      |___
          |             |
          |             |
          |             |
        -----/\        |
                  \/-----

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Fiberglass Guru.

And what's that drawing supposed to be of? Where is the speaker ring/sub?

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I spank imports

wow looks like you have alot of investigating to do before you attempt this project i would look into this alot more before you waste your money on all the material

Man, I have the frame built and I'm only fiberglassing the front, I just don't know how to attach the fabric to the sides and stuff. As for the diagram of the rabbited edge... where is this on my box??

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I spank imports

It'll be nearly impossible to explain it over the net, try some tutorial DVD's will make all the confusion go away, if you go to a store that sells router bits and ask them for a "rabbiting bit" and you may understand from there, you actually cut a small groove on the top side towards the outside of your ring, this will allow you to staple below the actual surface of the ring so finishing it out is easier.  Don't take this wrong but you really need to do some more research and get some pics of the steps before you actually try to do this job, you will be wasting time and money and will probably get even more confused,,,,

OK, this is a quick diagram of what I have... The purple lines are the fabric (couldn't draw it that well).

So I want to attach the fabric from the base of my enclosure (it has a lip), to the INSIDE of the speaker ring? I want to subs to have a sunk in effect.

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I spank imports

You need a training dvd so you can see how to get a flush or 'sunk' look,,,,

this is as basic as i can draw it for you...

essentially all the edges are rabbited more or less..



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Fiberglass Guru.

Cool thanks alot, that's just what I needed. I'm gonna start the fiberglassing in a couple of weeks or so and post some pics. I'm going on vaca for 10 days, and when i get back I have to take apart the box to rabbit those edges. One more Q though, you said don't attach the back until all fg work inside is done.... my box right now is ready to go I can install subs and listen, it's just that I put and overhanging lip 3" around each side so I can add 2-3 layers JUST FOR THE LOOK. right now, the sub box is functional, just looks bad. Do I need to change the box and remove the front face so I can work witht he fg on the inside of the box? Thx again for the drawing.

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I spank imports

crazyoldcougar wrote:

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this is as basic as i can draw it for you...

essentially all the edges are rabbited more or less..

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Nice illustration, good detail.

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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.

i dont think it is necessary to rebuild the box...but you could end up with the "new" front sealed chamber resonating..between the mdf face and the new fibergalss face i mean..

as for your situation you are going to have a hard time attaching to sub cut out...you are most likely going to have to build a trim ring that fits just outside the outter edge of the sub, rabbit it and then go from there...

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Fiberglass Guru.

crazyoldcougar wrote:

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i dont think it is necessary to rebuild the box...but you could end up with the "new" front sealed chamber resonating..between the mdf face and the new fibergalss face i mean..

as for your situation you are going to have a hard time attaching to sub cut out...you are most likely going to have to build a trim ring that fits just outside the outter edge of the sub, rabbit it and then go from there...

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If you'll see in my crappy diagram, the orange squares is the trim, don't know why i called it a speaker ring. The sub will go onto the face of the enclosure, and the trim will go around that to make it flush. Sry for the confusion with the quick sketch.

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I spank imports