Wanting to get the finishing details completed on the Bose speakers, I made the frames for the grills. I had speaker grill pegs and grill cloth for a long time in my collection of things for speakers.
Just a few photos of how I made them… frame is out of pine wood, with glued MDF for the sides.
Frame sizing… fit check
Speaker grill pegs … 4 per grill
Both grills can be put on either speaker
Finish with the speaker cloth…
After selling my big sound system (I had a Bose 802 pair with the 302 sub cabinet) I decided since I had 16 of the Bose replacement speakers (1.6 Ohm), some time and some nice MDF 3/4 inch board, I would set out to build a pair of Bose 402 knock offs. Now the originals are plastic cased or wood case, I figure I could do a pretty good job with MDF. It was a challenging build but I am glad I did the pair at the same time. Usually I would build one cabinet and see how it sounds before cutting up more wood to make the next cabinet. The complexity was in the 30 degree 70 degree wedge for each driver. also tring to figure out port spacing, my ports on either end were bigger and allowed more air movement than I wanted… I ended up poly filling the entire internal cabinet.
22uF 100V capacitor was the low end filter and a 3amp fuse was also put in to protect the speaker like the original. 1.6 Ohms per driver gave an over all speaker impedance of approximately 6.4 Ohms. speaker testing was done on a Bose amplifier receiver with the setting for the EQ at the 901 Level (Yes i have a pair of BOSE 901s too, with the pedestals), and the speakers did the sound right, flat with a hint of bass, but will be set up in the garage with a proper Bose EQ and an amplifier what will allow the 100 watts recommended amplification to see if they will shine.
Now since the frequency range is 90Hz to 20K Hz it is paramount to have a sub woffer to back up the low end… I plan on making a 12 inch woffer in a small cabinet what will allow bi-amplification and a good full range sound if I did use these in a small gig, for a back yard party or at a bar to do some DJ’ing.
Here are a few photos of the build:
These angles were cut three times, and measured 8 or nine times, I settled on a 40, 50 90 degree wedge.
Gluing up the chamber
Adding each wedge and checking for speaker interference.
Gluing the plates for each wedge
More glue, more silicon sealant, more clamps!
Sound check
I am painting them white only because my house is mostly white inside, but I have a 5 gallon bucket of paint, and I am bound and determined to use it up… (same paint on the corner cabinet shelf I made a year ago) and so the speakers are now white as well.
Spec book from Bose.
The pair painted, and ready for a bigger sound check…
I will make a plastic frame that will allow me to place a cloth grill over the speakers and cover the bass ports on each end.
The speaker stands i have are to large for in the house, but I will be sure to put a few screw mounts on the bottom of each box in case i want to put the speaker stand mounts on them…. so in the next few weeks be looking for the woofer cabinet and the speaker grills, i will try and post a few more pictures and let you know how the sound check goes!
Happy speaker building!
Hi Heather this was the painting I did for myself about 5 years ago i started it, and never finished it until about a week ago, my mom has one that was painted about 6 years ago and i finished it in a very fast hour at one of the wine and paint places, the lady was mad because everyone else (my mother in law and my Wife ) were told and taught how to paint a winter scene with birch trees and a red robin… I just did my own thing..not my own design though, I got my inspiration for another artist… but I still think it turned out great. (Size 16 inch by 22 inch)
Starting with an idea to recreate the RCA dog that was from the Advertising done back in the 20s and 30s for RCA, having the white dog in front of the big horn speaker driver, I set out on a new project.
Using some chicken wire and some Papier Mâché (I like how the French say this) meaning ‘chewed paper’ I fashioned a small puppy about a foot in height and about a half bag of the paper clay CelluClay…
When i get him sanded down and painted I might post another few photos, but for now this was just a quick and fun little project! I look forward to setting this little guy in front of my custom horn driver… and enjoy some old style music recreation.
Since I am going to have my seats for my restoration project redone, I decided I needed to work on some of the details prior to getting it back and putting it all back together.
One item that is hard to find is the Seat lever plastic cover… near the Seat Backrest Unlocking Handle…
Here is a picture:
There is a plastic cover that turns brittle and breaks off, never to be found and too expensive to replace… so i decided to take a crack at 3D printing one…
You can dowlload the .STL file here:https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-cover-1969-1974-bmw-seat-backrest-unlocking-handle-116207
And I painted it after printing to get the silver and black look:
You can see how the orginal ones are destroyed…my print was a bit thicker but still fits and allows the unlocking feature to still operate.
Happy restoration!
Las Vegas, Nv off the strip near Maryland parkway on Tropicana is a warehouse full of vintage pinball machines!
Not just like 20 or thirty, I am talking in the Hundreds!
Talked with a really knowledgeable woman who volunteers repairing and keeping this mecca of steel ball wizardry in tip top shape. I of course was on a mission to play as many games as I could play before my wife and mother in law could no longer handle the bells, bangs and clunks in the not so hot part of town, but it was the afternoon and day light was going to be around for a while.
Photography of the machines was limited to cell phones and i was asked if this was for my own use… well it is on a blog and I don’t make money from it… so I am saying this is not for others to copy and use, it is for my own use… just enjoy the photos please!
This Firepower was the first one i played as it is the closest to our Laser Cue 1984 Williams. I gave Dana the Firepower II that he is now restoring and would have been this games younger brother.
Tons of sci fi and space theme to go araound.
Of course we are in Las Vegas so there was a ton of vintage pinball witht he poker or card theme.
Some of these games were very basic but were extremely hard to play for any length of time since there was no real way to hit the ball and keep it on the play field.
This Native American themed pinball game “Golden Arrow” was Oct 1977 and only had a few 1500 built and who ever did the restoration in Aug of 99 did an outstanding job.
Race themes were also present as spedd and fast play seemed to be the theme of the majority of the games… try and keep you ball on the play field and watch how fast your quarters go!
This Sock Hop theme was a ton of fun for me since i worked at an A&W when I was a teenager… (Largest sock hop A&W, with over 100 stalls for cars in Reno Nv). the goal to get the shakes the burgers and the girls. Bells ringing loud and lights are a flashing.
i was very impressed that they had some old Disney Blow Molds… one of Donald Duck and one for Pluto… Operational of course!!!
I later did my research and found out that this Adams Family game was the most sold Pinball machine ever marketed… Fun to play really hard to see where the ball is… tough to get it anywhere that will giveyou a second to see what the screen is saying too.
Of course sex sells and Elvira needed a pinball machine as well… 
Jive time felt like it was made to put in a roller rink and let the kiddies pump this thing full of quaters as it was just something to do and no real solid game play. (Of just to entertain the stoned teenager wanting to see spin the bottle ont he game board).
Adrienne played the other Elvira, i don’t know which of the two came out first, nor what year, but the same type of game play.
If power could just be as easy as hitting the right cards and thenshowing your hand… a very nice 1976 machine with the great graphics.
You know you are in trouble Brother! If you don’t play this machine at least once to bring back the living room brawl jumping off the cushions to land a elbow to your friends head and get a whipping! OOOH YEAH!! Brother!!!
I played the James Bond 007 game a few times and did like the progression of the game. Voices telling what you need to do and the next villain saying when you didn’t pull off the correct bank and ramp shot.
Jettsons anyone? Only thing missing is the little boy and the dog…
The Twilight game played well and I really thought it played similar to the Elvira game…
My buddy Jack in Tucson has this pool themed game and I played it here, fun because the voice is awesome as it talks to you and let you know your next move… lots of words and a sexy ladies on the glass and play field. 2500 made 1984 version.
The Shuttle theme was a total craze in the 80s! Williams came out with a pretty fun Space Shuttle themed game… but not as fun as the Apollo 13 pinball machine… talk about addicting… 
BLAST OFF!
Didn’t play the one above.. “going nuts” as it was off… must have went nuts and a squirrle ran away witht he stelle ball… fun to see the fact that only 10 were made.
More of the Apollo game, my mother in law seemed to like the play scence and getting on the launch or around the moon with no comm.
The cartoon lady was placed just so… when playing the game you can never see the ball until it is too late… 
Vintage simple play, try and get the horoscope signs in order and add up the points… I played it because it was Nov 1970. (My birthday is in Nov!)
Trying to get the ball into the gap in the center with a moving arm is quite challenging. 
After palying StarTrek i moved on tot eh best pinball game i have ever played… The Indiana Jones game play was awesome!
I was able to get the ball tot eh right play area, into teh board holes or to the ramps
If you have ever played this machine you know what i am talking about… fast play, lots of action and major scence from the movies… i fely like I was really apart of the play and had done the right order to get a fairly good score but afterward (a good sloid 35 minutes of play ON JUST THIS MACHINE) i was tired and my arms hurt from all the pinball action… what a great day and I look forward to hearing about the sells of other not sogreat machines as i would love to add another to my collection… until next time Pinball Hall of fame… take care and i look forward to seeing you on the Vegas Strip!
Link to a GIF, (Pictures stitched together that make a short slide show) of the cove being cleaned off, taped off and painted.
Original condition. Found metal detecting in a park in the Thornton area.
My friends daughter had dug it up, and I acquired it thinking I would clean it up and give it back to her right away… well 7 or 8 years later… I am finally getting around to cleaning it up and doing a quick restoration on it.
After taking it all apart a through cleaning and inspection.
I had to epoxy the wind shield pillar.
Some metal paint and armor-alled the plastic bits… I used epoxy to put it all back together, after fixing the axles with new ones… original wheels, they just got cleaned up.
Only item I wish i would have replaced was the blue tint windshield… but I couldn’t find the exact one on line.
This November I am headed back to Colorado and plan on giving it back to her. She is turning 16 soon and I hope she will still put it with her collection of Hot Wheels and appreciate the restoration.
On our trip to Denver we stayed in Louisville in a tiny home for two nights. The inside was very nice and had everything you would need for a week long stay. it was within walking distance to old town Louisville which was great. the weather was perfect and sunny. the day before the area had a small snow storm but by time we got there it had all melted off. I wish I would have taken a picture of the house outside, but it was very much a tiny home… done very well and beautiful upon walking up.
We had just finished up with a small lunch snack of cheese turkey and crackers…
The back yard of the host home was very nice and had a fenced off section so we had a small yard of our own. A seating area was off to the right side but we did not sit out as it was still damp from the snow.
The kichen had everything you would need for a dinner or to cook up some breakfast.
I didn’t take a photo of the bath room as it was very small, it had a very small shower, a half sink and of course a very awkward toilet, but it did the job. The door to the right in this photo is the bath room, so if you wanted to you could make some breakfast while you sat in the bathroom…. to funny.
Turns out... I am Crazy! 