Disclosure: Leland offered (and I accepted) a discount on this kit because of the very small role I played in hooking him up with Greenboy. I have no finacial relationship with Leland or his company other than as a very satisfied customer.
I spec'd and ordered this kit before Leland had it up on his website, so my kit may not be indicative of the final product. I added rubber feet to my order, but am supplying my own PL and damping material. I don't know which corners come with the stock kit, but I spec'd the small ones to match my first 12/6. I also requested a mirror image baffle so I can stack the 2 cabs. Also note that I probably didn’t follow the assembly sequence in the instructions Leland would normally provide.
My kit arrived late Saturday afternoon. I had house guests over the weekend, so I didn't get much done on it.
Leland likes to re-purpose, so the box was oversized for the contents. About 1/3 of the box was filled with trash bags of shredded paper.
Before opening:
Contents removed:
One of my "special requests" was a mirror-imaged baffle so this cab will stack with my other 12/6, so that was the first thing I checked. I was dismayed to see a cutout for a wave guide. Leland offered to replace the baffle, but after considering the options (which included ordering the HF section), I decided to just patch the hole.
I also noticed that there was no cutout on the back panel for the jack plate. This will allow me locate the plate to suit my needs, but could present a problem for someone without the tools to cut it themselves.
None of the Lowes stores in my area carry Arauco, so this is the first time I've seen it. Pretty nice stuff. Seven plys and the "good" side is smoother than the 5-ply pine ply I've used in the past. I don't think the grain will telegraph through the paint as much. The outer veneer seems to be softer than the pine I’ve used. (This might be something to keep in mind if you’re using a finish other than Duratex.)
A couple pieces had bowed (but not twisted) slightly during shipping. I don't know what the weather was like between Kansas and PA, but it's been in the teens here the past several mornings. I don't anticipate having any problems during assembly.
Sunday morning, my brother-in-law and I started gluing things up. Knowing we’d have only a few minutes at a time to work on the cab, I decided to start by gluing the braces to the back and sides. The biscuits made it easy to align the braces...no measuring and marking required. I just made sure they’d clear the outer panels.
I don't have a brad nailer or clamps that reach into the braces and didn’t want to spend the time drilling pilot holes, using and removing screws, then patching until I get to the larger panels. So I glued the braces to each panel, stacked them on top of each other, and then put weights on top of the stack. This helped take the slight bow out of the one side panel. (Building the "box" first would have taken the bow out.) The only problem I had with this method was that the horizontal braces for the side panels were slightly smaller than the vertical braces. A few shims solved the problem.
Later in the morning, I cut and glued a patch for the wave guide opening in the baffle.
After lunch I assembled the mid box. Leland had thoughtfully re-done the biscuit slot(s) for the mid chamber bottom/brace to accommodate the mirror-image baffle, but overlooked the side of the mid box. Even without the biscuit, it was easy to line up when I clamped it to the baffle.
While looking over the parts and planning my assembly sequencing I had noticed that Leland makes the top and bottom panels identical to each other and then adds the biscuit slot to the bottom panel for the shelf support. The result is that the bottom panel has biscuit slots meant for aligning the baffle with the top panel. I filled the slots with wood putty. While I was at it, I puttied the patch in the baffle and a few other dings in the Arauco.
I don't know when I'll have time to work on it again, but I'll add to this thread as I go along.
