Furniture Style Cabs Build

Got a chassis only amp inbound that I'm going to put in the Cabs that currently house my Ceriatone JTM45.
So, I've decided to make new cabs for this amp.

I have this TV armoire that I've been trying to get rid of.
Gave away the side shelves a while ago to a friend, but no one wants the center cabinet because the big TVs don't fit in it.

It's made out of some beautiful solid cherry, so I decided to take it apart and make some furniture style cabs for the Ceriatone.
Getting tired of plywood and tolex...
Going to stay with a similar Mission / Craftsman styling and do two 1x12 cabs, headshell and matching shell for the John H M-2.

Lots of large ready-made panels of 3/4" cherry, along with a few slabs of 1".
This would cost a small fortune to buy all this lumber.

Made some scale drawings for final cutting dimensions and a plan for chopping up the panels.

Laid out some rough cuts full scale so I can get more manageable pieces for final cuts to finished dimensions.
Going to reuse those existing shelf dados for the bottom panels on the head and M-2 shells.


Got out the table saw and started cutting the panels.

THe existing TV cabinet top had a bevel cut around the bottom edge that I'm going to copy.
That top panel is cut up onto the smaller 4 cab tops, so I need to match that bevel on a few edges.

Made some alterations to an old saw sled and ran a test cut on a scrap.

Close enough...

Ran the rest of the top panels through.

Four tops beveled on 3 sides (shown upside down).


Getting the sides and bottom panels cut to size and laid out (everything is still upside down)

The side panels of the Tv cabinet had nice face frames that I left in place and will trim to size.
They stand proud a bit along the panel, so I taped a spacer to the saw bed to keep the final cut square.
Worked perfectly.

Those existing face frames are also a little thicker than the 1" slab I'm making the rest of the face frames from, but I think the set-back goes with the style.

Had to trim the cab bottom panels because they were cut from the thicker existing face frame panels.

That's all for today.
The aforementioned chassis only amp is out for delivery, so I should have a NAD thread here soon too.

Cool

Here's a concept drawing of the design if you're not seeing it in the pile of parts...
I wanted to do something different, and I've always admired the hardwood builds by other builders.
I thought of doing finger joint corners, but I decided I didn't have the right tools, and square cut furniture joinery is more in my wheelhouse.
I've also always wanted to do some kind of amp cabinetry that looks like conventional furniture, but it never seemed like the right style with an actual Marshall.

I love this repurposing upcycling... Skilled woodwork craft makes me so jealous... I can't even cut baseboards proper LOL!

Chopping up the big stuff goes fairly quick.
Then comes the little details...
Old screw pocket showing on the bottom rail of each cab face frame.


Cut some cherry plugs.

Drilled some holes.

Glued in the plugs.
Cut flush and sanded, those old holes will be virtually invisible.

Stripped and sanded one of the top panels.
Wiped on a little water to show the grain - scrap of old finish for comparison.
Undecided on a new finish color.

Got all the face frame shoulder cuts in and fitted the big pieces together.
Stacked them up for you to get an idea of the overall scheme.

I'm going to attach all the face frame rails and stiles together with Kreg pocket screws.
Did a test with the boring jig on some scraps - solid as a rock.
These will all be on the inside, so not something anyone would see.

The cabs will get a rear face frame for stability and to mount a rear panel.
Cleats on the inside will attach the tops and cab bottoms to the side panels.
The head and M-2 bottom panels are in those existing shelf dados I lined up to reuse.

Since the head and M-2 shells have no backs, I'm going to add a faux strip to match the side panel style of the cabs.

Rounded over the bottom face frame rail for the amp & attenuator shells.
10-degree bevel cuts leaving a little flat to keep the dimension.
Rounded over with a hand sanding block and my eye-crometer.

Trying out some finish stripper and sanding options to clean up all the exterior sides of everything.
That's all for today.

Very nice work.

Very cool!

Um, I've discovered a minor design oversight.
I was measuring the chassis width when I made my plans and did not account for the 3/4" flanges that stick out for the chassis bolts...
(mumble, mumble)

Time to get out the wood stretcher tools - I need to add 1" to the head shell width, and I'll do the same for the M-2 shell.
I have plenty of the 1" to cut new top & bottom face frame rails a bit longer.
Also have enough 3/4" panel extras to cut new bottoms.
But I'm going to need to cut and splice the beveled tops to make them wider.
Grain is running front to back on the tops, so it should just look like another piece in the panel.


Got a panel scrap big enough for the 2 wider bottom panels.
Got enough 1" for 4 wider face frame rails.
Trim one beveled side off the tops and add another board to the panel - the bevel cut sled is ready to go when the glue dries.
Should be back on track in no time.

Tops are stretched.

New bottoms for the head & M-2.

Here's a pic on a cab with the new width and bottom fame rail in place.

Got a coat of namby-pamby, tree hugger, eco-friendly, no VOC paint stripper on the majority of existing finish that will be visible.
Need wait a bit and then start scraping and sanding.
Glue needs to set on the tops before I can get them milled and back into the finishing process.

Very cool!

Got everything scraped and decided to just sand the parts for the headshell so I could test fit the amp.

Kreg Jig in action

Rock solid joint - no waiting on glue.

Bottom panel slides in tight - I'll glue that on final assembly.

Bevel cut the inside bottom of the face frame stiles to match the bevel on the tops.

Added some amp feet and slid the chassis in.
Tight fit, so I Dremel-ed some slots in the dados for a little wiggle room.


Top will flatten out and sit snug when I add the cleats to hold it down.

Still need to cut a logo panel, but now I can get some exact dimensions.

That's all for today.

NIce to see quality work.

fitz said:

Bottom panel slides in tight - I'll glue that on final assembly.
View attachment 102208
Bevel cut the inside bottom of the face frame stiles to match the bevel on the tops.
View attachment 102209
Added some amp feet and slid the chassis in.
Tight fit, so I Dremel-ed some slots in the dados for a little wiggle room.

View attachment 102210
Top will flatten out and sit snug when I add the cleats to hold it down.
View attachment 102211
Still need to cut a logo panel, but now I can get some exact dimensions.
View attachment 102212
That's all for today.

Click to expand...

Cherry is a great material for cabinets. I had some EV Century cabs that were cherry wood.
I haven't seen any lumber like that since I was a little kid.

Picked up some supplies yesterday and got a few things done this afternoon.
Got some stain called Red Chestnut - here's one of the cab tops sanded, stained, and one coat of tung oil.



Still have my brother's planer from the thinline build, so I milled down the old not wide enough head & M-2 bottom panels down to 5/8".
Just need about 4" out of one of them for the head logo panel.



I also liberated the panels from the doors of the TV cabinet.
They're about 16 x 32 x 3/8 and will be cut down for panels in the 2 speaker cab rear frames.
The whole rear frames will be removable for speaker swaps and to get the baffles in & out.



Lots of sanding to do.
Speaker cabs rough assembly will be next.

Turns out that top I stained was one of the head tops.
So I went and stained the rest of the head shell.
Drilled the chassis bolt holes too, but not much to see there.
If I hadn't already put the saw away, there'd probably be a logo panel on this.

fitz said:

Turns out that top I stained was one of the head tops.
So I went and stained the rest of the head shell.
Drilled the chassis bolt holes too, but not much to see there.
If I hadn't already put the saw away, there'd probably be a logo panel on this.

View attachment 102226

Click to expand...

Leaving it open like that? I like seeing the components.