Intro to Cabinet Bracing

[Dingusboy]

Hi all,

In the link below I have cabinets that I need to brace. The cabs are beautiful and I'd love to put my 2226's in them. I have Horns that will sit on top and may or may not add a tweeter above that but that will probably all be done outside the cabs.

I need suggestions on how to brace them, what materials (screws, glue, wood choices etc.)to use. So on and so forth. My woodworking skills are minimal but I do have the tools to do the job.

I also need info on how best to damp them. Once again, materials to use, how much, how to secure it, etc.

I did a search but everyone here seems beyond these simple things and you are all clearly much more intelligent than I.

cabinets

[BillEpstein]

Gorgeous cabinets. There's room on the sides, top and back for typical JBL bracing:





This is a 9 cu ft 4648. Scale down your bracing with Poplar 1x4's.
2226's Rule!

[frank23]

Hi Bill, your links don't work when I click them? I am interested in "typical JBL bracing" as the 4333B's I once had were not braced at all.

I think in short there are 4 things that you should try and achieve with a cabinet [I have my doubt whether the cabinets of dingusboy?? fit these]:
1 make it airtight so the bass-reflex does its work properly
2 mount the drivers securely to the cabinet
3 with thin walled, large surface wall cabinets glue/screw reinforcement beams diagonally over the cabinet walls so to distribute resonances
4 with large surface wall cabinet brace them with wood beams that are not under stress when put in, they can be glued

Looking at the inside. I'd think you could brace them using a solid vertically oriented 4 inch high 1 inch thick plank above the bass from the front to the back also glueing it to the top and screwing it to the back.

Then I'd glue a horizontal board to the underside of that plank. This will be glued to the sides and screwed to the back. This board would have to start about halfway to the back of the cabinet [to leave flowing room around the bass] and preferably have 3" or 4" holes drilled in it.

frank