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Custom Building a Yuichi Arai 290 horn (or two)

DIY and custom designed projects
Nchebe said:
OK, so a bit late now, but next time get y'all some of these:
View attachment 852
They come in all the common dowel diameters. Drill holes, put these locating pins into holes, line up the other piece, press down and hey presto! Drill where the pits are... Had great success with these.
Click to expand...
Yup, too late but genius, will definitely remember.
 
Ok - time for a bit of an update - progress is low due to work commitments, distractions, laziness and distractions. Oh, and incompetence as a result of a lack of patience - measure twice cut once etc.

Need to make the side-walls:

20230715_134719.jpg

There we go...
20230715_151212.jpg
 
Then, add a dash of paint and attach the fins - screw those little dowel plugs - if your measurements are not 100% on then you can't get it 100% right. Using only one that can pivot does the job just as well.
20230803_140954-EDIT.jpg

Now, we can add the sidewall and the top part. Voila.
20230906_075044 (1).jpg

Lastly, the other sidewall. Unfortunately, this will have to wait, as thing don't line up 100%. I'd be happy with >95%, actually, but I need to do some work.
 
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naboo said:
Then, add a dash of paint and attach the fins - screw those little dowel plugs - if your measurements are not 100% on then you can't get it 100% right. Using only one that can pivot does the job just as well.
View attachment 2599

Now, we can add the sidewall and the top part. Voila.
View attachment 2600

Lastly, the other sidewall. Unfortunately, this will have to wait, as thing don't line up 100%. I'd be happey with >95%, actually, but I need to do some work.
Click to expand...
Wow. Wow wow. That is epic epic work
 
Some lessons learnt worth noting:
- unless you are really experienced, you will make mistakes. So, build one horn, then the other. Learn from your first mistakes.
- clearly you have to paint the insides prior to assembly. Leave the outside until everything is assembled and ready, you will only muck it up otherwise. Resand, repaint.
 
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This JBL 2446 is f-ing heavy. 13kg according to the specs, I think it is closer to a ton. You have to countersink the bolts at about 6mm leaving a measly 9mm of Birch Ply to carry the weight. That is where the birch proves it's value. Strong like ox.
 
If you want to be 100% on the safe side, pop over and get some offcuts of 20mm birch ply (17 skins in 20mm, my favourite plinth material)
 
Also @fdlsys that would make the throat longer, not sure to what extent an extra 10cm makes a difference (I'll wait for the smart comments).

Either way, thanks for making me think through this...I came up with an easy way of making it stronger. Will Post details when I get there.
 
I still need to figure out some of the finishing, but before I get there, I need to figure out how much time, effort, money to spend on finishes.

That all depends on the sound. I've committed myself to not speak about how things sound until at least a fortnight or so.

But in the next hour, shit is gonna get real.

Finally.
 
And speaking of screw, I managed to screw this up (don't even ask). Update to follow in a...who knows.
 
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