Here's my page on DIY cabinet construction for musical instrument loudspeakers. After searching the internet for a page of this sort (and not finding many sites with free information!) I decided to make this page to show how I build my cabinets. The techniques I use are rather simple, but everyone might not have the tools (especially the milling machine!).

Here is the type of joint I use for my speaker cabinets and for the amplifier head-units.

It's a very simple joint, easy to cut. If you've got a router you can do this very easily and end up with great results! The first step after you've cut the board to length is to setup your router to remove most of the wood in the joint, leaving 1/8^th of an inch on the bottom and side of the cut for finishing. If you don't do this, the router bit might move and take off too much wood! If you've got a adjustable fence or guide for your router, it's easy to set the depth and width of your cut. If you don't have a fence, you've got to do it the hard way like I did. I took a board with a straight edge and clamped it to my cabinet top, after figuring the correct dimension for the cut. Use this formula to find the correct distance to set your artificial fence:

1/2 diameter of router base - 1/2 cutter diameter + depth of cut

By depth of cut, I mean the distance from the edge of the wood, not how far you've got the bit extended.

After getting all four of your joints cut (two on the top, two on the bottom), you can drill the holes for the 1/4" dowels. I made a special jig for drilling these holes, mine is aluminum and the drawing is here:

I use two picture framing clamps to hold the side and the top square while I drill the holes for the dowels, and also while I'm gluing the pieces together. When drilling the holes, it's a good idea to mark the inside of each piece so that you remember where it goes when assembling the cabinet. Here are a few pictures of my assembly techniques and tools:

Here's my latest cabinet; it's for a 15" Weber C15CA that I'll use with my Silvertone 1483. Notice the large clamp. It's very important that the cabinet joint is glued and clamped properly.

Me and the finished product!

Here's a picture of the framing clamps and the drill jig I use, sitting on top of my dad's table saw.

This my Rong-fu milling machine. It comes in real handy!

Here are a few examples of other types of cabinet construction I've seen. This is not every type of cabinet construction; there are as many ways of building a cabinet as there are people that build them! These are just some of the more common methods.

For an example of this type of joint in a finished cabinet, click here.

There are many more types of cabinet joints, and I encourage everyone who reads this page to experiment with their own techniques to get different looks from their cabinets! Now, go build a cabinet.

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