Shop stereo cabinets

[Mike Wilkins]

Those of you who have stereo systems or boom boxes in your shop, I
need some suggestions. Something that keeps dust from the CD player
and still allows ventilation, that houses your sound systems. If any of
you in Creek land have a photo that you can post, I would forever be
in your debt. Thanks a bunch.

[Jamie Buxton]

Mike ---

A good way to keep dust out is to not have ventilation holes at all. Heat is conducted through the solid walls of an enclosure. Make the enclosure (or some parts of it) from a material with high thermal conductivity -- metal, for instance. Or make it with thin materials -- eighth-inch plywood conducts heat six times better than 3/4 ply. Or make it big -- heat conduction is proportional to the surface area of the enclosure.

On top of this, boomboxes and modest stereos don't generate much heat. As an experiment, put the boombox inside a cardboard box and let it run for an hour or two. With your hand, feel how warm it is. Then let it run in the open for an hour or so, and feel it again. You'll probably find you can barely tell the difference.

Jamie

[JayStPeter]

Here's an idea ... MP3.

No more worries about the CD player. Many of the MP3 players are pretty much sealed. If you want the king, go with the iPod. For the receiver, just stick a piece of furnace filter over the vents on top and vaccum it every so often.
I take my iPod everywhere. I have connections in my truck, 3 in my house and at work. The majority of my CD collection (over 200 of 'em) in my pocket.
For a few years, I kept a Sony boombox in the shop. Every so often I vaccumed it. The CD player still works, even after being opened up numerous times and vaccumed out. I kept it on a shelf where it didn't come in direct contact with flying sawdust, and I have an overhead filter, but otherwise no protection. Now it's in the garage for when I'm working out there (with a connection for the iPod of course).

Jay