Today I started salvaging parts from my old super speakers. That meant removing the clued in woofers from their enclosures, pulling out the specialty acoustic stuffing and saving it if it wasn't coated in melted Sorbothane, and carefully removing the wires and binding posts for future projects. I chose to toss out all of the screws and silicone I used to mount the drivers into the enclosures - though I could soak them in alcohol and get the dissolved Sorbothane off them.
I decided the three largest enclosures were not salvageable and in order to make tossing them out easier, I decided to break them down into smaller sections which can fit into my rolling bin.
As I've mentioned in other threads, I no longer use wood screws, brads, or other metal affixers to hold enclosures together while the glue dries, and with these I discovered I was correct to avoid those things. When attempting to get the two smaller midrange enclosures off the large baffles, I put them on the ground and beat the shit out of them with a sledge hammer to break them apart. I wanted to just knock off each small enclosure, leaving the baffle with nothing on it. The result on three of the four enclosures was the hammer shattering and cracking the MDF rather than the glue joint splitting. In fact, even when I did manage to finally get the backs to break off, the glued area remained attached to the baffle and the MDF separated about 1/2 inch from the glue. Think about that!!!
So, I am even more confident than ever that it is best to not use screws or brads or nails to hold the MDF together - and I know it doesn't make anything stronger.
Fun times!!!
I decided the three largest enclosures were not salvageable and in order to make tossing them out easier, I decided to break them down into smaller sections which can fit into my rolling bin.
As I've mentioned in other threads, I no longer use wood screws, brads, or other metal affixers to hold enclosures together while the glue dries, and with these I discovered I was correct to avoid those things. When attempting to get the two smaller midrange enclosures off the large baffles, I put them on the ground and beat the shit out of them with a sledge hammer to break them apart. I wanted to just knock off each small enclosure, leaving the baffle with nothing on it. The result on three of the four enclosures was the hammer shattering and cracking the MDF rather than the glue joint splitting. In fact, even when I did manage to finally get the backs to break off, the glued area remained attached to the baffle and the MDF separated about 1/2 inch from the glue. Think about that!!!
So, I am even more confident than ever that it is best to not use screws or brads or nails to hold the MDF together - and I know it doesn't make anything stronger.
Fun times!!!
