Build Slick Speaker Grills the EASY Way

In this video, I show you how I built the grills for my latest speaker project, a Curved version of Paul Carmody's "Overnight Sensations." Regardless of what size speaker grills you want to make, these valuable tips will help you create sleek and beautiful grills for your next speaker project.
Curved-Side Overnight Sensation Build Video: • Overnight Sensations S...
Rockler dowel centering pins: www.rockler.com/dowel-centers...
Harbor Freight Tools Neo Magnets: www.harborfreight.com/10-piec...
Parts Express 3/8 Inch Neo Magnets: www.parts-express.com/Neodymi...
Parts Express Black Hot Glue: www.parts-express.com/10-Glue...
Parts Express black grill cloth: www.parts-express.com/Speaker...
Parts Express Grill Hardware Links:
• Small Speaker Grill Guides: www.parts-express.com/Small-G...
• Heavy Duty Grill Guides: www.parts-express.com/Heavy-D...
• Smaller Friction-Fit Grill Guides: www.parts-express.com/Pressfi...
If you don’t want to DIY the grills like I did check out the Parts Express Grill kit: www.parts-express.com/Speaker...

[@Toid]

Perfect time for this come out, it is grilling season 😂

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Ha! Yes, it is! Funny, I rarely ever put grills on my speakers... I love looking at the drivers too much, but for some folks, it's a necessity.

[@edzak7257]

Excellent tutorial for making grills! I made a few myself, and have a tip to add to your alternative method of aligning the holes in the frame and baffle for the magnets. With the grill frame mated to the baffle, you are drilling through both to get the holes perfectly aligned. That is great, however, if you use a smaller pilot drill to do this, you will still get the pilot holes in the baffle that will require being enlarged with the correct diameter drill bit, and the same for the holes in the grill frame, but you won't need to back fill the holes in the grill frame since the pilot holes are smaller than the magnet diameter!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Hey, good tip! Thanks!

[@brianraulerson5037]

You make me want to build stuff, Zarbo. Another great video!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I'm sorry. I mean thank you! :)

[@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez]

Dude, what an awesome video. Sub'd. Great flow, editing, instruction, and tips. Well done mang.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you for that! It's good to know that I'm on the right track. Thanks I appreciate it!

[@jsgraham67]

Excellent tutorial. And I love the design of these speakers.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad you like them! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@arturomty9969]

I love this video and that much work put into it, thanks a lot!!!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks!

[@rikardekvall3433]

Great tutorial! The corners are tricky and using grill cloths fabric works best. Stretching. But you should have shown how to round the edges on the inside of the frame, so you get less diffraction on the sound. Then the beautiful box will sound beautiful.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Great suggestion! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@halrichard1969]

Thanks Tom. I picked up a few tips from your Video. Nice Cabinets too.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you found a few elements helpful. Thank you for watching.

[@taewhakim]

I think your way of working is good.

[@SqueamishPuppet]

Glad I seen this video before I finished the speaker grills on the Swan 3.1 kit I purchased 3 years ago 😀

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I hope it helps.

[@RobertGerman]

I've been looking for a video on this. Thanks!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad to help!

[@TheDradge]

Excellent job!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you very much!

[@DannerPlace]

Very helpful, thanks for posting.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RolftheRed]

Well explained! TY!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you!

[@0cch10]

Great tips!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks.

[@jameshuntley428]

Awesome video. Thank you!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@zyga399]

Perfect job.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@rizball1]

Great grill... love the speaker box but my only criticism would be id oil the venere afterwards instead of that gloss coat... Ill be building a grill the way you showed for sure!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I agree, the gloss didn't come out as I'd hoped. Thanks for watching and for the comment.

[@STRANGE_hour]

Nice!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks!

[@alexw890]

Good video. I made some grills recently and found that stray adhesive worked really well for attaching the fabric. I should have used your paper trick to keep the overspray off of the inside of the cloth though.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Yes, spray adhesive offers the ability to re-position things until you get it perfectly where you want it. It can be a little trickier than using hot glue particularly in how much spray to apply. I'm always afraid that the spray will work its way through the fabric to the outer surface and cause issues. If you were to only spray the wood frame and not the fabric, I bet that would work pretty well. Thanks for offering an alternative method. And using the paper to contain stray adhesives... I learned that the hard way. :)

[@bigd835]

you made that look doable, as you are skilled. I always wonder how hard it will be to do a grill thats 21 inches tall and 15 inches wide. it seems if you pull the fabric you wont pull it entirely straight and the lines in the fabric (if any) wont be straight.. there is a lot of skill involved in this.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I think you could pull it off just fine. For a taller speaker grill, I'd use 3/4" pine ripped into 1" wide strips. I'd add one horizontal brace of the same material between the woofer and mid or tweeter and that should eliminate most, if not all the flexing of the frame as you stretch the grill cloth over it. Pine because MDF is not as rigid. I don't usually do grills because I love the looks of raw speaker drivers and grills are kind of a pain, but I believe you can do it. I've been doing this for decades, so I guess you just get used to knowing how to handle certain things. Thanks for the comment and for watching!

[@RennieAsh]

6:58 you could use an additional piece of tape as a marker for the poles and only use red on baffle, blue for grills etc

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

True, good observation.

[@nathandaniels4823]

Excellent video! I’ve heard that the inside of grilles should be routered because sharp edges of a speaker *or its grill* cause additional diffraction. Have you found that to be the case?

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

A grill frame like the one I built on this speaker is bound to create ripples in the response. A roundover or angle will help, but I would always listen grills-off. I almost never build grills for my speakers so I'm not real familiar with the sonic characteristics of speakers with grills on.

[@maxquigley9524]

You only need magnets on either the cabinet or the grill. A steel washer or nail/screw head will be attracted to either pole of the magnet.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I know a few guys who have done it that way, but it all depends on the size/strength of the magnet itself. Using magnets on both the cabinet and grill assure a strong hold and near perfect alignment,so that's my preferred method. Thanks for the comment!

[@DanielMartinez-rv6su]

Do you offer this as a service?

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I don't, but thanks for asking.

[@DIYAudioGuy]

Nice!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you!