# 2x12 Russian Birch Build



## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

I have 2 cabs waiting for grill cloth and handles. Taking forever to arrive.
Cleaning up the other day I found a nice big piece of black tolex I had bought to put on a pine cab. I could not bring myself to cover the pine. 

I decided to build a Russian birch 2x12 and use the tolex.

I bought a 2'x4' 3/4" sheet at the local lumber store. Checked it was square and crosscut it into 2 pieces. Roughly 27" and 21"


I then set the tablesaw fence to 11 3/4" and ripped each piece into 2 pieces. 
A top and bottom with 2 sides.



















Now what? My beloved dovetail jig that does so well with pine will make a mess of the plywood. I will rabbet the sides and sit the top and bottom in the rabbets. It will double my gluing surface and make a strong joint. 

I use a scrap of the ply to set the distance of the blade from the fence. 










Next I set the height of the blade to a 1/2"
Basically the distance from blade to fence is the thickness of the ply and the height is how of a shelf I am making for the ply to sit in. Hopefully the pics help.









Now that the blade is set I run each side through the saw twice, once on each side.










4 more cuts to complete the rabbet.
I will stand each side on end and make the final cuts.
First I use a piece as a guide and set the tablesaw fence and blade height to trim out a nice square rabbet.
Once set I use a piece of wood to help keep the piece square to the fence while running the sides through.


















All cut. Let's see if they fit.



















Looks good.
I am going to glue and screw the frame together. As I am tolexing it I am not concerned with screw holes showing.
Dry fit and drilled screw holes. Always predrill before screwing into ply or you risk splitting the wood.
The result is a nice solid square frame. 










This will be my first Russian birch closed back cab. I have to say the build time will be quicker than my usual pine build.
A lot less cutting and sanding. So far I am quite pleased with the result


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Nice project !

Is there a reason why the groove Is so deep
versus half and half ?


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## YellowBrick (Mar 7, 2015)

Thanks for sharing the story. I enjoyed the pictures and everything  Nice table saw you have there. I'm a bit jealous. Please post pics of the finished cabs!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Nice, I look forward to the progress!


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Louis said:


> Nice project !
> 
> Is there a reason why the groove Is so deep
> versus half and half ?


I am not sure if there is a rule of thumb for how deep the groove or "shelf" has to be. My thought was I wanted the "shelf" to be as large as possible to allow for as much gluing surface as I could get.. that, and that's what the guy in the video I watched did


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Ocean7 said:


> Thanks for sharing the story. I enjoyed the pictures and everything  Nice table saw you have there. I'm a bit jealous. Please post pics of the finished cabs!



My hope is I might inspire other members to give cab building a shot.
I do like my table saw. I sold a guitar to finance the table saw. I miss the guitar but a good table saw makes life in the shop so much easier. I had a plastic base contractors saw before.
It really was not up to the task. 

I will be posting pics of all my cab projects up until the finished product.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Sunday shop fun. Frame done. Time for the baffle and back panel rails. 
1x2 pine as usual. Glued and screwed.
I put a center support in the back panel. Probably does not need it but I tend to try and make the cab as strong as I can. I would rather build it over spec than under.
I cut a little spacer to make sure the rails are set back evenly. I made it the thickness of the baffle + a bit for grill cloth. Should sit in nice and level. 
You can see the spacer in the first pic sitting on a rail.




























I better spend some time watching tolexing video's as the cab is pretty close to done.
I am considering painting the inside of the cab. I don't paint the inside of a pine cab but I do apply a sealer.
Any thoughts on that? Good idea, bad idea, m'eh?
.. also rolling around in my head.. 2x12 or 1x12 or 1x15 or 2x10.. I don't have any speakers lying around driving this project.
I was more interested in building something I had not done before.


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## YellowBrick (Mar 7, 2015)

Great job. Looks like you are the kind of person who cares for details 

So you have screws going through that thin slice of wood for the joint (first pic in your previous post)? Isn't that a bit fragile?

I can certainly understand the sale of a guitar for a table saw. It pays in the long run.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Ocean7 said:


> Great job. Looks like you are the kind of person who cares for details
> 
> So you have screws going through that thin slice of wood for the joint (first pic in your previous post)? Isn't that a bit fragile?
> 
> I can certainly understand the sale of a guitar for a table saw. It pays in the long run.


I have the screws going through the thick side into the shelf. 
Agreed. Screwing through the thin side would be fragile.
I should have taken pics of the gluing and screwing of the frame.
I sure don't miss using that rickety contractor saw


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## YellowBrick (Mar 7, 2015)

Thanks for your reply. I keep coming back to this post. I can't wait to see the next steps especially the tolexing 

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By the way the best video I have seen on the subject is from Uncle Doug on YouTube. Make sure you watch them (he has a great sense of humor too).


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Are you going to use piping for your grill cloth? I didn't allow enough space for the piping when cutting the piece that holds the speaker. After putting on the grill cloth and the piping, I found the piece too tight but got it into place with a little force. Still bothers me to this day but I'm too lazy to redo it all so I leave it as is. Someday I'll have to fix it but not today. Great work and pics. You may have inspired me to finish the second one I cut while the saw was all set up.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Guitar101 said:


> Are you going to use piping for your grill cloth? I didn't allow enough space for the piping when cutting the piece that holds the speaker. After putting on the grill cloth and the piping, I found the piece too tight but got it into place with a little force. Still bothers me to this day but I'm too lazy to redo it all so I leave it as is. Someday I'll have to fix it but not today. Great work and pics. You may have inspired me to finish the second one I cut while the saw was all set up.


I am not going to tackle piping this time. I want to get to a point where my tolexing is acceptable  I would like to try. Lol, yes.. Have been there before. Had to take the grill cloth off.. shave the baffle.. reinstall grill cloth.. Great fun 
As it is my first time tolexing I am not even going to cut the baffle until I have tolexed the cab. I did not like the idea of leaving room for both grill cloth and tolex, this way I only have to deal with grill cloth.. Which I have gotten better at 

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Ocean7 said:


> Thanks for your reply. I keep coming back to this post. I can't wait to see the next steps especially the tolexing
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> By the way the best video I have seen on the subject is from Uncle Doug on YouTube. Make sure you watch them (he has a great sense of humor too).


I looked up the Uncle Doug Tolexing video and realized I had watched at least two of his video's before.
Thanks! I now feel I am ready to give it a shot. His videos are great.. Rusty really is not much help in the shop  .. Much like my cat.


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## YellowBrick (Mar 7, 2015)

Howdy!

How is the tolexing doing. Did you start yet? I can't wait to see more pictures 

Uncle Doug videos are great. I learned more watching them than reading a dozen of books on tube amps.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Ocean7 said:


> Howdy!
> 
> How is the tolexing doing. Did you start yet? I can't wait to see more pictures
> 
> Uncle Doug videos are great. I learned more watching them than reading a dozen of books on tube amps.



Tolexing is done. It was ummmm.. a little painful doing it. I am happy with the results though. I did not do a great jog trimming the inside lines but they will never be seen so I am ok with that.
Instead of sealing the inside with a wood sealer I used a paint + sealer and am happy with the results. I did not take a lot ..or any.. pics of the process so if you want to see how it was done you can lookup Uncle Doug on YouTube. Great video's. 



























Next is the back panel and front baffle. Hopefully I can get to that this week!


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

very nice job. It's looking good!


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Holy slow build. A few moths later.. and a few dozen beer on the deck later.. It's time to finish this cab. Past time  I honestly was not entirely sure where I was going with this cab but I have it nailed down. I am going to use it vertically. Why? I like the foot print. I have the speakers. Celestion V30 and a WGS Reaper 55hz. Both 16ohm, wired for 8. 

I do have a question.. Speaker position.. I keep thinking the V30 on the bottom and the Reaper on the top but I really have no argument as to why. I know I can just flip the baffle if it does not work out but am curious as to what other people would do. 

More pics.. 











The Green Meanie..











Back panel.. Open back.. Vents are placed behind each speaker. Small hole for jack plate..










Have black Fender grill cloth, black corners.. Still going to call it the Green Meanie though


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

Done. The Blacked out Screaming Green Meanie. Sounds great. Very happy with the speaker combination. The only thing I do not like is that I can see the silver tips of the bolts holding the baffle and speakers through the grill cloth. Not a big deal. Next time I take it apart I will take a Sharpie and blacken the ends of the bolts.. Nit picking? Yup.

From the back. 










From the front.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

KanataGuy said:


> Done. The Blacked out Screaming Green Meanie. Sounds great. Very happy with the speaker combination. The only thing I do not like is that I can see the silver tips of the bolts holding the baffle and speakers through the grill cloth. Not a big deal. *Next time I take it apart I will take a Sharpie and blacken the ends of the bolts.*. Nit picking? Yup.


Careful, then you'll see black tips showing through the grill cloth. You may have to paint them green like the baffle. Just a thought.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Guitar101 said:


> Careful, then you'll see black tips showing through the grill cloth. You may have to paint them green like the baffle. Just a thought.


Isn't the baffle painted black on the front side?










@KanataGuy...Congrats! Great looking cab!
Purely out of curiosity, where did you get the idea for the back panel design? Interesting approach.

Cheers

Dave


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Good point. There's holes for speakers on both sides. I'm confused. Either way, pretty nice looking cab.


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## SurfGreenTele (Jan 24, 2010)

Great work! I too am jealous of your table saw. Uncle Doug's tolex & grill vids saved me...I would've bombed without them.

Also, I found that piping was the easiest part - I just went inch by inch pushing it against the face of the grill and stapling. I was worried about trying it, but it went on really quickly.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

SurfGreenTele said:


> Great work! I too am jealous of your table saw. Uncle Doug's tolex & grill vids saved me...I would've bombed without them.
> 
> Also, I found that piping was the easiest part - I just went inch by inch pushing it against the face of the grill and stapling. I was worried about trying it, but it went on really quickly.


Thanks. Lol, Uncle Doug saved me as well but I did not do as well as you did. I am going to try piping next time. It really does add some pop to the cab.


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## KanataGuy (Mar 25, 2014)

greco said:


> Isn't the baffle painted black on the front side?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I struggled a bit with the design for the back panel. It is the first cab I have built with offset speakers so I did not feel the usual approach of an open middle panel would be best. 
I spent a lot of time just checking out other open back designs. It seemed to me most designs have the back open directly behind the speaker, or close to it. I was going to cut 2 offset rectangles
behind each speaker and then thought.. Why do they have to be a rectangle? I have a perfectly good circle cutting jig. I determined how many square inches I would have removed if I had gone
with a open middle panel and cut the circles to a size where together they would equal that number.. or thereabouts. I like to try something new if I can convince myself it might be a good idea. 
It worked out well. Does not sound flubby or cavernous. Right where I hoped it would be. Since then I have been thinking of ways to add directional vents and/or the ability to open/close the back 
ports as much or little as the player sees fit. One idea is to take the circle I cut out and mount it back into the hole on a center axis so it can be opened left or right and to the degree that works best.
.. and then I think that I might think too much.. 

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Guitar101 said:


> Careful, then you'll see black tips showing through the grill cloth. You may have to paint them green like the baffle. Just a thought.



Good point!


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## SurfGreenTele (Jan 24, 2010)

I like the idea of the cutouts mirroring the speakers. If only I had a circle cutting jig...I had to do my speaker cutouts by hand with a keyhole saw - that was fun haha. >_<


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

KanataGuy said:


> I struggled a bit with the design for the back panel.
> 
> .. and then I think that I might think too much..


I suspected that you had done some research and had applied some science and engineering to come up with that design.

I believe that "thinking" about something challenging can be very enjoyable. However, "thinking too much" (as you say) or 'over-thinking' is an easy trap to fall into and can lead to interesting (and often somewhat comical) results that one might prefer not to have ever thought of. *Please understand that this statement is not directed at you or your design.* I admire your approach and the thinking and research involved. 

I once met a design engineer...what an enlightening experience! I swear that his brain was wired differently than most fellow humans...LOL

Often, my problem is in deciding which solution to a problem/design issue is "the best" and then, after using that solution, I begin to believe that I have just thought of a better approach. I'm quite sure that I am in good company..LOL. After all, it is a process. 

Sorry to ramble on. Please keep us posted as to what you decide to do regarding the "directional vents"...if, in the end, you decide to pursue that challenge.

Cheers

Dave


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