Assembling the Fullrange Speakers, aka Tab A into Slot B

I may have mentioned that it's pretty important to get stuff square.  If I didn't say it before, well, here's proof. 

It's not too distressing at this point.  Given the method I used, things came out pretty well.  I had 5 of 6 places where the boards weren't exactly square, and/or didn't line up. 

I just put the relevant pairs into a vice and used a file to get them sized the same and square.

Having said all of that, I've pretty much determined a band saw is the next big item on the list.  I could have made the majority of my cuts with it.

One thing that happened during this process is I made a lot of sawdust.  A lot.  I vacuumed the workbench quite a few times during the filing process.

Although it makes a mess, it's somewhat reassuring.  I get the feeling that something is actually being done.

I need to make some holes in the front and back of the cabinets - in the back for the terminal cup, and in the front for the speaker cutout and the bass port.

The Fostex plans have measurements for the front holes, but I have to wing it for the terminal cup.  I got the cup from Madisound (where I also got the speakers), and I need to suss out the size to make the hole to mount it.

So I used my trusty Starrett calipers to measure it.  If you have really sharp eyes, you'll see it's 2.64 inches across.  Sorry, I did not convert that to millimeters!

I divide that number by two to get the radius (1.32 inches) and set my compass to due North...I mean, set it to 1.32 inches.  I can then transfer a circle to the board.

The pressure's on now.  One slip and whoosh...my back panel is gone.

I pondered for a while how in the world I was going to make the cutouts.  I think a lot of DIY speaker builders use a router, but a) that sounds a bit scary and b) I don't have a router (YET).

So while perusing the local Ace Hardware independent affiliate which is NOT a big box store, I found this neato circle cutter.

Whatcha do is put it in your drill press and the thing automagically cuts a hole in your board.  This will either be a way cool thing, or a major disaster.  Stay tuned.