DIY "Superchunk" Corner Bass Traps Tutorial
Apr 14, 2019 15:29:55 GMT -5
LuisV, creimes, and 3 more like this
Post by jlafrenz on Apr 14, 2019 15:29:55 GMT -5
These are the steps I used to make my "Superchunk" corner bass traps. As always, I try to use materials that are readily available and tools that most have and are comfortable with. I built these with R-19 fiberglass insulation often referred to as "pink fluffy". The material is not always pink and color will depend on the manufacturer. It is simply rolls of fiberglass insulation that you would use in your house.
Tools:
Tape Measure
Chop Saw
Skill Saw
Staple Gun
Cordless screwdriver/drill
Hammer
Pen/pencil
Square
Quick Clamp
Wood Glue
Long straight edge
Razor knife
Stud Finder or Magnets
Materials:
R-19 (or similar) un-faced insulation
Plywood or OSB
2x3's
1x2"s
Screws
Roll Velcro
Wall Anchors
Acoustic Fabric
First a note about he insulation. The R value has nothing to do with acoustics and is actually a measure of resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of material. I have referenced R-19 as the thickness of insulation I used. Un-faced means that it does not have the Kraft paper on one side that you may typically see in houses. You want the kind WITHOUT the Kraft paper. You will also want the want the 23" wide rolls or bats. You should be able to find this at just about any big box home store. The amount you will need will depend on the height of you ceiling. You will need to do some figuring based upon the thickness of insulation you choose as to how many triangles you will need for your ceiling height.
The way I do this is figure out how many 23 inch squares I can get out of a roll. Then double that number and it will tell you how many triangles you can get out a roll.
Example: A standard roll that is 39 feet long will give you roughly 20 full squares and 40 triangles. 39x12=468 inches. 468/23=20.3 20*2=40
With R-19 being roughly 6.25 inches thick it would take 15-16 triangles to go floor to ceiling. This will vary a little bit with the compression of the fiberglass and how tall your baseboard may be. 96/6.25=15.36
I will describe 2 different methods to building the base and frame as I have done it a couple different ways.
Option #1
To build you base, you will want to cut a triangle of plywood or OSB with each side that will come in contact with the wall at 23 inches (this matches the insulation width). This will leave you with a face (the part facing into the room) of about 32.5 inches. Easiest way is to measure your two sides of 23 and then connect them using your straight edge.
The base will need a little platform to sit on. I used a couple 1x2's cut to 23 inches on a 45 degree angle that rested on the baseboard or trim and were screwed to the wall. The 23 inch measurement is to the longest side. Then you can screw your base into those so it is solid and won't slide around on you. I always try to hit studs if possible, but you may need to use wall anchors.
Once you have built you base, you will want to see how many layers of fiberglass you can stack without it compressing under its own weight. For R-19 I have found this to be about 3 to 4. Go ahead and stack the 3 or 4 layers up and make a measurement (should be roughly 24"-25"). First you will want to cut your fiberglass into triangles. Do this by first cutting 23 inch squares and then cutting them corner to corner. The best way to do this is by using your straight edge to compress the fiberglass and then cut along it with your razor knife.
Once you have your measurement, you will need to create more "shelf" supports. To do this, you will cut more 1x2's at 23" just like you did for the base. You will then position them at intervals that match the stacked height you just created and measured.
Next you will want to cut some more 1x2's on a 45 degree angle so that the longest side is 32.5 inches. You can always measure each face distance independently just to make sure you have the correct distance. Walls are not always square or straight and there may be minor discrepancies in each one.
Once you have the triangular shelf completed, cut a piece of your fabric into the same size triangle. I use Muslin for this as it is easy to find, inexpensive and passes the blow test for acoustic fabric. Lay out the fabric on the shelf and staple it to the shelf. This creates support to hold the insulation without having to have a solid piece of material as a shelf and keeps the bass trap acting like one single unit instead of several smaller traps stacked.
Then you will want to cut a strip of the Velcro and staple it to the face of the shelf. You do not have to do this to every shelf though. I would do it to the top, bottom and middle shelf. This will simply become an attachment point for the cover later.
Repeat the process until you have all of your shelves built. If you haven't already finished cutting the necessary amount of insulation into triangles. Stack the 3 to 4 pieces onto each shelf. Your corner trap should now look like the picture below.
Option 2:
For this method we will be building a corner structure that attaches to the wall to hold the insulation. I opted for this route as it puts a few less holes into the sheetrock. The first step is to find the studs in the wall where your corner trap will be going. You can use a stud finder or magnets to find the sheetrock screws which attach to studs. Once you have located the studs, take a measurement from the corner to the center of each stud. You will want to do this on each side of the corner. Notate this measurement for later. Next you will want to measure the height from your baseboard to the ceiling. From this number you will want to subtract the thickness of your base x's 2. The reason for this is we are going to have a base and top plate.
Now you will want to cut 2 triangle bases just like notated above. One will be used for the base and the other for the top. For the supports I used 2x3's as they are inexpensive and create solid support. You could use 2x4's or similar. Cut 4 of your support boards to the length you calculated for your ceiling height minus the thickness of the base and top plate. For 2 of the boards I ripped a 45 degree angle down the edge of them. This isn't totally necessary, but will create a tighter and cleaner finish for assembly. To build the structure, you will want to attach the 2x3's to the base and top plate. The ones that are ripped with the 45 degree angle will attach at the face of the triangle so that the angle is facing into the room. This should match up with the corner of your triangle. Mark on your base from the 90 degree corner to where the stud is in the wall. The other 2 supports should be laid flat so the widest part will end up against the wall. The center of this board should be at the mark you just made and where the stud will be located. This will line up your support with the stud in the wall and give you a way to attach the structure to the studs for a solid support. You should now have a structure that is almost like a cage with no front on it.
A second pair of hands is very helpful when putting the structure into place. Notice in the picture that I used a spare piece of baseboard to get the height and help support the unit. You can also stack lumber or other material under the structure to help support it. Once the structure is in place, it is time to attach it to the wall. I used construction screws to attach each board that lined up with a stud at the top, middle and bottom. Now that it is attached to the wall you can remove the spare trim or whatever you used to prop it up.
The next step will be creating the shelves for the insulation. You will use the same process as above to cut 1x2's for supports. The only difference is now they will need to be shorter as they will not reach all the way back in the corner because of the structure. You will want to cut 1x2's 1.5 inches shorter assuming you used a 2x3 (or 2x4) for your support. This is the 23 inch depth of the corner minus the 1.5 inch thickness of the 2x3. If you used a different thickness of lumber for your support, just subtract it from 23 to the the length you need to cut your boards to. Now attach the boards to the structure and create the shelves just as notated above.
Once you have your shelves in place, add the fabric across the top and staple as described in the method above. Put your velcro across the face top, middle and bottom shelves. With this method you could also run it down the vertical face supports of the structure. You wouldn't need it the whole way down, just in a few spots. Then finish stacking in your pieces of insulation. In the picture below I hadn't put the Velcro on just yet.
Creating the Cover:
The cover for the bass trap is a simple frame made out of 1x2's. I opted for a higher grade of lumber for these as they a lot straighter and don't have so many rough edges. This will help a lot in building the frame and for the finished quality. The first step is just to build a simple frame the size of you bass trap. Screw and glue together.
You will want to create some cross supports on the frame next. This will keep the frame rigid and also provide attachment points. Position the cross brace or braces so that they match up with one or more of the shelves. You can either measure and mark this or hold the frame up on to the face of the bass trap and mark the locations. Attach your cross braces. Notice in the picture the two red lines where the cross braces are. My cover is leaning up against the wall for the picture and is why it looks like they don't quite match. I also build the frame for the cover before the material was added. You can just as easily do it after.
You may also want to create some small angle supports to keep the cover ridged. I just used some small pieces of the 1x2 I had laying around. Cut them at 45 degree angles on each end and then attach them at the corners and or cross braces. Screws may be too long so brad nails work great here. You could also just glue them.
Once you have the cover frame built, it is time to wrap it in fabric. Use a fabric of your choice that is acoustically transparent. Lay out the fabric on the ground and then lay the frame on top of it. Start on once side and wrap it around the frame using the staple gun to attach it. Work your way to the opposite side pull snug and staple. Repeat this with the top and bottom. My other acoustic panel tutorial has some good step by step and pictures of how to wrap a panel. Use this same technique to wrap the frame.
Once you have the fabric wrapped, trim the excess material and staple some Velcro to the frame in the corresponding spots to the shelves so that they line up. Press your front cover on at these locations and you are finished.
I will look to see if I have any of the finished pics and will post if I do.
As always, I welcome feedback on this tutorial. If you have any questions or need clarification on any of the steps just ask. Also, if anyone has any tips that will make any of these steps simpler, please share them. I am always looking for improved ways to build panels and others will benefit from it too.
Tools:
Tape Measure
Chop Saw
Skill Saw
Staple Gun
Cordless screwdriver/drill
Hammer
Pen/pencil
Square
Quick Clamp
Wood Glue
Long straight edge
Razor knife
Stud Finder or Magnets
Materials:
R-19 (or similar) un-faced insulation
Plywood or OSB
2x3's
1x2"s
Screws
Roll Velcro
Wall Anchors
Acoustic Fabric
First a note about he insulation. The R value has nothing to do with acoustics and is actually a measure of resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of material. I have referenced R-19 as the thickness of insulation I used. Un-faced means that it does not have the Kraft paper on one side that you may typically see in houses. You want the kind WITHOUT the Kraft paper. You will also want the want the 23" wide rolls or bats. You should be able to find this at just about any big box home store. The amount you will need will depend on the height of you ceiling. You will need to do some figuring based upon the thickness of insulation you choose as to how many triangles you will need for your ceiling height.
The way I do this is figure out how many 23 inch squares I can get out of a roll. Then double that number and it will tell you how many triangles you can get out a roll.
Example: A standard roll that is 39 feet long will give you roughly 20 full squares and 40 triangles. 39x12=468 inches. 468/23=20.3 20*2=40
With R-19 being roughly 6.25 inches thick it would take 15-16 triangles to go floor to ceiling. This will vary a little bit with the compression of the fiberglass and how tall your baseboard may be. 96/6.25=15.36
I will describe 2 different methods to building the base and frame as I have done it a couple different ways.
Option #1
To build you base, you will want to cut a triangle of plywood or OSB with each side that will come in contact with the wall at 23 inches (this matches the insulation width). This will leave you with a face (the part facing into the room) of about 32.5 inches. Easiest way is to measure your two sides of 23 and then connect them using your straight edge.
The base will need a little platform to sit on. I used a couple 1x2's cut to 23 inches on a 45 degree angle that rested on the baseboard or trim and were screwed to the wall. The 23 inch measurement is to the longest side. Then you can screw your base into those so it is solid and won't slide around on you. I always try to hit studs if possible, but you may need to use wall anchors.
Once you have built you base, you will want to see how many layers of fiberglass you can stack without it compressing under its own weight. For R-19 I have found this to be about 3 to 4. Go ahead and stack the 3 or 4 layers up and make a measurement (should be roughly 24"-25"). First you will want to cut your fiberglass into triangles. Do this by first cutting 23 inch squares and then cutting them corner to corner. The best way to do this is by using your straight edge to compress the fiberglass and then cut along it with your razor knife.
Once you have your measurement, you will need to create more "shelf" supports. To do this, you will cut more 1x2's at 23" just like you did for the base. You will then position them at intervals that match the stacked height you just created and measured.
Next you will want to cut some more 1x2's on a 45 degree angle so that the longest side is 32.5 inches. You can always measure each face distance independently just to make sure you have the correct distance. Walls are not always square or straight and there may be minor discrepancies in each one.
Once you have the triangular shelf completed, cut a piece of your fabric into the same size triangle. I use Muslin for this as it is easy to find, inexpensive and passes the blow test for acoustic fabric. Lay out the fabric on the shelf and staple it to the shelf. This creates support to hold the insulation without having to have a solid piece of material as a shelf and keeps the bass trap acting like one single unit instead of several smaller traps stacked.
Then you will want to cut a strip of the Velcro and staple it to the face of the shelf. You do not have to do this to every shelf though. I would do it to the top, bottom and middle shelf. This will simply become an attachment point for the cover later.
Repeat the process until you have all of your shelves built. If you haven't already finished cutting the necessary amount of insulation into triangles. Stack the 3 to 4 pieces onto each shelf. Your corner trap should now look like the picture below.
Option 2:
For this method we will be building a corner structure that attaches to the wall to hold the insulation. I opted for this route as it puts a few less holes into the sheetrock. The first step is to find the studs in the wall where your corner trap will be going. You can use a stud finder or magnets to find the sheetrock screws which attach to studs. Once you have located the studs, take a measurement from the corner to the center of each stud. You will want to do this on each side of the corner. Notate this measurement for later. Next you will want to measure the height from your baseboard to the ceiling. From this number you will want to subtract the thickness of your base x's 2. The reason for this is we are going to have a base and top plate.
Now you will want to cut 2 triangle bases just like notated above. One will be used for the base and the other for the top. For the supports I used 2x3's as they are inexpensive and create solid support. You could use 2x4's or similar. Cut 4 of your support boards to the length you calculated for your ceiling height minus the thickness of the base and top plate. For 2 of the boards I ripped a 45 degree angle down the edge of them. This isn't totally necessary, but will create a tighter and cleaner finish for assembly. To build the structure, you will want to attach the 2x3's to the base and top plate. The ones that are ripped with the 45 degree angle will attach at the face of the triangle so that the angle is facing into the room. This should match up with the corner of your triangle. Mark on your base from the 90 degree corner to where the stud is in the wall. The other 2 supports should be laid flat so the widest part will end up against the wall. The center of this board should be at the mark you just made and where the stud will be located. This will line up your support with the stud in the wall and give you a way to attach the structure to the studs for a solid support. You should now have a structure that is almost like a cage with no front on it.
A second pair of hands is very helpful when putting the structure into place. Notice in the picture that I used a spare piece of baseboard to get the height and help support the unit. You can also stack lumber or other material under the structure to help support it. Once the structure is in place, it is time to attach it to the wall. I used construction screws to attach each board that lined up with a stud at the top, middle and bottom. Now that it is attached to the wall you can remove the spare trim or whatever you used to prop it up.
The next step will be creating the shelves for the insulation. You will use the same process as above to cut 1x2's for supports. The only difference is now they will need to be shorter as they will not reach all the way back in the corner because of the structure. You will want to cut 1x2's 1.5 inches shorter assuming you used a 2x3 (or 2x4) for your support. This is the 23 inch depth of the corner minus the 1.5 inch thickness of the 2x3. If you used a different thickness of lumber for your support, just subtract it from 23 to the the length you need to cut your boards to. Now attach the boards to the structure and create the shelves just as notated above.
Once you have your shelves in place, add the fabric across the top and staple as described in the method above. Put your velcro across the face top, middle and bottom shelves. With this method you could also run it down the vertical face supports of the structure. You wouldn't need it the whole way down, just in a few spots. Then finish stacking in your pieces of insulation. In the picture below I hadn't put the Velcro on just yet.
Creating the Cover:
The cover for the bass trap is a simple frame made out of 1x2's. I opted for a higher grade of lumber for these as they a lot straighter and don't have so many rough edges. This will help a lot in building the frame and for the finished quality. The first step is just to build a simple frame the size of you bass trap. Screw and glue together.
You will want to create some cross supports on the frame next. This will keep the frame rigid and also provide attachment points. Position the cross brace or braces so that they match up with one or more of the shelves. You can either measure and mark this or hold the frame up on to the face of the bass trap and mark the locations. Attach your cross braces. Notice in the picture the two red lines where the cross braces are. My cover is leaning up against the wall for the picture and is why it looks like they don't quite match. I also build the frame for the cover before the material was added. You can just as easily do it after.
You may also want to create some small angle supports to keep the cover ridged. I just used some small pieces of the 1x2 I had laying around. Cut them at 45 degree angles on each end and then attach them at the corners and or cross braces. Screws may be too long so brad nails work great here. You could also just glue them.
Once you have the cover frame built, it is time to wrap it in fabric. Use a fabric of your choice that is acoustically transparent. Lay out the fabric on the ground and then lay the frame on top of it. Start on once side and wrap it around the frame using the staple gun to attach it. Work your way to the opposite side pull snug and staple. Repeat this with the top and bottom. My other acoustic panel tutorial has some good step by step and pictures of how to wrap a panel. Use this same technique to wrap the frame.
Once you have the fabric wrapped, trim the excess material and staple some Velcro to the frame in the corresponding spots to the shelves so that they line up. Press your front cover on at these locations and you are finished.
I will look to see if I have any of the finished pics and will post if I do.
As always, I welcome feedback on this tutorial. If you have any questions or need clarification on any of the steps just ask. Also, if anyone has any tips that will make any of these steps simpler, please share them. I am always looking for improved ways to build panels and others will benefit from it too.
