Monday, November 7, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 4 - Week 1

Week 1

This week i have been finishing up standards and my crossover for my speakers. This incuded re-etching the tracing for the PCB and soldering all the wire to the PCB board. I have also filled in my final brief and did my evaluation. The power point is now fully up to date and finished. I am please with the complete out come of my speaker and believe that the process went very well.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Unit Standard - 7534

Solid Works Wire Design - Crossover

PCB Layout - Circuit Wiz - Crossover

PCB Wire View - Circuit Wiz - Crossover
Artwork View - Circuit Wiz - Crossover

 2D Design Tool Settings


Pre-PCB layout - 2D Desgin - Crossover
Roland EGX-350 Cam Machine
Engraving Bit for Crossover

Engraving Bit installed in EGX-350

Copper PCB board - Pre-Engrave - Ready to engrave

Engraving in Process - EGX-350


Final Product - Copper PCB Engraved - Crossover




Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 9

Week 9

This week i finished creating the crossover in 'Circuit Wiz' and traced it out '2D Design'. '2D Design' was a lot faster than the original idea of tracing it in 'Freehand'. Circuit Wiz was really easy as i have already used it in other subjects. 2D Design wasn't hard to use, but it did take quite awhile to get use to the program as it had been a year ago since using it. So i pulled out the tutorials and asked a colleague. I also started etching out my crossover in the CAM machine. Mr. Hawkings is currently taking our class and showing the students how to setup the EGX-350 Cam2 Machine.

Problem In-counted: The EGX-350 was cutting way too deep.
Problem Solved: I adjusted the depth and started again.
Next Steps: Finnish etching out my crossover and solder all the components

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 6

NCEA Exams

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 8

Week 8

This week i worked out the values of the Capacitor and Inductor values for my crossover and put them into my Circuit Wiz design. The two crossover over frequencies i have used is 1000kHz and 3500kHz. The Capacitor values i have used are based off the Loudspeaker Cook book. I also went down to Jay Car to purchase the capacitors and inductors


Problem In-counted: Converting the capacitor and inductor values into their correct form. e.g. mF, uH, F, uF H
Problem Solved: I researched online on how to convert these values.
Next Steps: To Finnish off the 2D design work and to cut out the crossovers.

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 7

Week 7

I started on creating my crossover in Circuit wizard. I have acquired advice from the expert teacher, Mr. Hawkings. He suggested that i do a Dual (2) two-way 2nd order Bessel Crossover, as it is to advance to create a 2nd order three-way Bessel crossover. The Dual two-way crossover will achieve the same results as the 3-way. You place each crossover between the Tweeter and Mid, and between the Mid and woofer.

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 3

Week 3

This week i started to glue my box together using a high strength all-purpose glue.  We used ratchet clanks and ties to hold the boxes together while the glue settled. We also used the racket clanks to apply more force to the box as normal clamps would not apply enough pressure to the box.

Problem In-counted: The initial idea of put the strap directly to the box wouldn't work as the glue would stick the straps to the box.
Problem Solved: So we made wooden clips that went along the side of the box and placed paper in between. The clips also helped to apply the force from the straps evenly over the box.
Next Steps: Wait for glue to dry and to foam my box.

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 5

Week 5

I started to foam my box. it was quite tricky and tight trying to put the foam into place while trying to staple it onto the box. Things were initially going good until the foam was thrown out. This delayed the foaming process so i worked on my paper work and blog.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 4

Week4

This week i finished off glue my box together. The box turned out well and seemed very sturdy. On top of gluing my box, I helped out many other people finish their box of and help glue them together. 

Problem In-counted: Some boxes were odd shaped and didn't fit the designed brackets for the square boxes. 
Problem Solved: Packers were placed instead and clamps were used instead of ratchet clanks. 
Next Steps: Start working on my crossover.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Unit Standard - 7481

Speaker Box - Sketched & Pre-Extruded
Speaker Box Shelled + Section View

Speaker Box - Post-Cut Rear Ports
Speaker Box - Pre-Cut Front Holes
Speaker Box - Pre-Cut Rear Ports

Speaker Box - Post-Cut Front Holes
Final Box Unrenderd


Technical Drawing of Speaker

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 2

Week 2

This week i finished off cutting out my box, preparing it for gluing. One of the main things i had to do, was to check that the holes would support the speakers and that terminals would fit through the holes. This meant i had to Chisel squares into a side. The edges around the side of the hole had to be filed back to that the speaker would sit in snug and would be flat against the wood.

Diary Blog - Term 3 - Week 1

Week 1

Mr. Mac gave the class a brief over view of what's happening this term, what is expected of us and when the dead lines are.This term we should have the boxes complete, including cut out, foamed, glued, painted and our crossovers finished.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 9

Week 9


This week i helped cut out my friends wood and helped setup the table saw. A few bits a pieces had to be modified to adjust due to the over cut and under cut of the table saw. Things went smoothly after many cuts.

Problem In-counted: The guide was set to long on the table saw, so wood was getting caught in the saw.
Problem Solved: We adjusted the length of the catch so that the wood would flake away from the saw.
Next Steps: Cut the holes for the bracing.

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 8

Week 8


This week i started cutting out the main pieces of my box. These include the left and right sides, the tops and bottoms and the front and back pieces for both boxes. We use the table saw to cut up all the wood under the supervision of our teacher, Mr Mac. The table saw helped me cut out all the wood fast and accurately. The table saw also allowed me to put a 45 Degree cut on the pieces of wood to allow for the miter joint.

Problem In-counted: The table saw still took awhile to set up for each piece of wood.
Problem Solved: I got a bunch of friends to help. In return I help them.
Next Steps: Help Friends and drill holes in the bracing wood.

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 11

Week 11

This week started to drill holes into the front pieces of my speakers. I am using a 6 1/4in hole cutter for my 6 1/2in woofer. 5in hole cutter for my 5 1/4in mid/woofer. 1 1/2in hole cutter for my 1 1/4in tweeter.

Problem In-counted: The teeth on the hole cutters were clogging up and cutting inefficiently.
Problem Solved: I used a different technique to the Cutter and also cleaned the teeth more often
Next Steps: Finnish cutting out holes for box.

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 10

Week 10

This week i cut the holes for my braces. There was a long waiting Que for the drills and cutters hence why it took so long to Finnish.

Problem In-counted: Some
Problem Solved: I found some tutorials on Solid-works
Next Steps: Start to render up my designs with Photo View. 

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 7

 Week 7





During week seven i finalized my cutting list and driver placements. the whole class discovered that the measurements being used were the exterior measurements so our volume calculations will be off seeing as the MDF we are using is 18mm thick. so logically you would lose 36mm on each measurement. this in turn will make the LT smaller so we would lose the sound quality we all would like.

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 6

Week 6

This week. Mr. Mac directed us to calculate up the total amount of wood needed for both of our speakers. This means getting all the measurements adding them up and finding the most efficient way to put them into a specified sheet of MDF. The two options we had for our types of wood were, MDF Or Marine Ply. The The Pro's and Con's Are, MDF is Good and consistent to build with, Easy to cut, Solid But looks bland. Marine Ply, is light, has a cool textures but is less solid and less consistent. It also doesn't cut as well as MDF. I Chose MDF.

Problem In-counted: Trying to get all the measurements together and into the specified size.
Problem Solved: I moved the pieces around to fit them into shape.
Next Steps: Continue to prepare to build my box.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 5

Week 5

This week I defined more close represetion ntavolume for my box, and found out other aesthetics for my box, relating back to my research. These include MDF Thinkness, Durablilty and size

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 4

Week 4

This week we vainer-ed one side of our boxes to test out how vainer would look.
I also worked on the dimensions for my final box, trying perfect the liter.

Problem In-counted: I Placed a bit to much glue on my box and paper got stuck to my box
Problem Solved: I sanded off the paper.
Next Steps: To get final dimensions and get the cut out list done.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 3

Week 3

~ This week i started to design prototype for my design instead of drawing them up on paper.

I like Solid Works because it's easy to change dimensions and get the correct ration of speaker size to box size. It's also easy to change things and save them. I have had previous experience with Solid Works which i have had to pick up again.
~ Also this week i stared to veneer one side of my box. A few tips on veneering are: Spreading out glue before pasting, Clamping with G-Clamps or A vice instead of trying to weigh it down to get the best hold.

Problem In-counted: I forgot how to use some of the features on solid works
Problem Solved: I found some tutorials on Solid-works
Next Steps: Start to render up my designs with Photo View.

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 3

Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 2

Week 2

I spray painted my box black. I sprayed the front and the right side of my box. I tryed to apply some of the techniques that Mr. Mac showed me. I had never used a spray machine before. Lucky this was only a test box because the Finished product looked pretty bad.

Problem In-counted: I sprayed to heavily on the box, so the paint started to drip badly.
Problem Solved: Next time i was use more light strokes with the spray gun.
Next Steps: Continue designing the main speakers.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Diary Blog - Photos


Diary Blog - Term 2 - Week 1

Week 1

We continued on with finishing off our boxes, Sanding down the left over builders bog.

Mr. Hawkings, The school's electronics teacher taught us about crossovers and the different types and stages there are, e.g. Capacitor, Inductors, Second-order Bessel Crossover.
He showed us the difference between each order crossover and the Frequency Cut off points. 
He also showed us the difference between a 2-way and 3-way crossover.
Mr. Mac got us to experiment with Electronics kits so that we could get a bit more of an understanding about what Mr. Hawkings was talking about.

Mr. Mac also showed me and 2 others how to properly use the spray painting machine. Doing slow Even Streaks across the box/object

Problem In-counted: I over sprayed my box leaving big drip marks down the side of my box
Problem Solved: Next time ill do more lighter layers instead of less heaver layers
Next Steps: Start to draw up prototypes of my design

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Diary Blog - Week 11

Week 11

- Continued to create mock-up box problems that i occurred last week are creeping back up this week. Both side panels are off set and so I'm going to need to either sand them down or use a plain.
- I started to sand down the builders blog. learnt that you don't need much bog or else you have do to more sanding and wasting time.
- The dust from sanding is very messy.
- We used 100 - 120 grade sand paper. Lower the number, rougher the paper is.

Problem In-counted: I applied too much bog.
Problem Solved: I started using a low grade sand paper to get rid of the excess amount of bog.
Next Steps: Spray paint my box

Diary Blog - Week 8

Week 8

I have completed a huge chunk of my concepts and designs. I have also created a large scale design of the speaker I'm aiming to build. While creating the concepts, i have also been thinking about the volume of my box as it will effect the acoustics of my speakers.

Diary Blog - Week 7

Week 7

I started to create my mock-ups drawings and concepts for my speaker. The first drawings were small little mocks until i was told by my teacher that they need to be about the size of my palm. I need to have 20 different concepts and developments by the end of the term.

Problem In-counted: My pencil broke
Problem Solved: I Got a new one
Next Steps: Finnish off my Concepts

Diary Blog - Week 10

Week 10

- We started to build our boxes. We are using both Butt Joints and Miter joints to test how each one looks and how to put together. we are using 3.2 drill bits and self taping screws. We are pre-drilling the holes so that its easier to drill and so the box is also square. We glued the miter joints together and Bogged the holes.

Problem In-counted: Two holes on one side of the box splinted because i didn't drill deep enough before placing in screws.
Problem Solved: The teacher told me to drill two new holes next to the previous ones and bog the old holes.
Next Steps: Sand down the bog so that its flush with the box.

Diary Blog - Week 9

Week 9

- We started to cut out our pieces of wood on the bench saw. we learnt how to use the bench saw and did some cuts. We cut some pieces in half and some with 45 degree angles so that we can do miter joints. We also learnt

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Diary Blog - Week 6

Week 6

I did more research about speakers in general and cleaned up a few bits and pieces. I also started to use and import designs and ideas from my research into my my concepts and mock-ups. This has helped me create a better box as the box will be fitting around the speakers.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Diary Blog - Week 5

Week 5

I'm into full on research. This includes creating slides for all the sub-subjects im researching, filling those slides into my folder in orderly fashion and finalizing the research and thinking about ideas for my speaker. A couple i slides i have created are Wood Types, Stand Types. Others i have updated are Speaker Design research and updating the Gantt Chart.

Diary Blog - Week 4

Week 4

= Full research
~ Created Power Point Pages
   Key Factors, Gantt Chart and started to refine research of Speakers, Woofers, Ports and Crossovers.
The Gantt chart is used to keep our time managed and to help meet deadlines.
Key Factors help us mold our design around these factors.
~ Used 11DTI Template to get a head start on my power point contents and design. This design is helpful as it contains a detailed stages which are identical to those used in this course.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Diary Blog - Week 3

Week 3

= Full research
~ Research folders handed out and full process research started. This folder is used to keep all our concepts and presentation work that includes, Key Factors, Gantt Chart and research.
~ Started Research about:
   Tweeters, Ports, Woofers, Crossovers & other general aspects of speakers. This was done so that i could get a general over view of what we were making in class and the main components used.

Diary Blog - Week 2

Week 2

= First steps of research
~ Organized out door research at sound & speaker stores and shops.
~ Created maps of Wellington and store locations for use on Friday
~ Went to stores around Wellington finding that some stores are useless where some were helpful. e.g. Protel were very helpful taking us through the back of their store. This helped as I was able to get a better idea of speaker in physical instead of pictures on the internet

Diary Blog - Week 1

Week 1

= Introduction into course.
~ Unit Standards & Achievement Standards.
~ Examples of previous years work to give inspiration and ideas.
~ Lots of talking from Mr. Mac about the Course.