No shortcuts : cast iron throat exact replica Heavy machinery needed to thread the end in which the brass insert is screwed, US thread obviously! All fun…
Author: 13Audio
Casting model for 13Audio throat to travel in time?
This image was taken not in 1926 but 2018. Based on original casting models we have managed to fine tune the whole process. This takes time, devotion, patience and a few pennies. The only pursuit here is perfection. The whole casting process has been reworked. This entailed getting deep into the craft of casting methods,…
Reworking the casting models
Castings models only last so long so you sooner or later get around to making them again. Here the rear bracket and side brackets used on we12a and we15 solid wood seen in the previous article. True to original these are for cast iron made from solid wood including core boxes. Not be be confused…
Western Electric 15a “solid wood”
November 2017 : Some 70km North of Copenhagen during the ETF meeting of 2017 my good friend « B » decided to host a small lecture on Western Electric and some of their amazing technology and testing gear at Bell Laboratories. Amazing stuff indeed! During this small lecture we watched a short film in which you can…
Refined casting models
This is what it takes to get the job done, to make exact replica throats in cast iron. No shortcuts, easier to make brass, no lost wax casting..indeed juts plain and simple cast iron as all the western electric horn throats. Easier said than done! I really love this “very industriel” stage of my production…
Typical wood section for WE13a
This is a typical section from the sides of the 13a horn, one of the 120 needed to make one 13a horn. The shape is like a propeller, end is rounded to follow horn profile and the two straight edges are not parallel (that would be too easy don’t you think!). These side sections are…
Maybe it’s time
Been busy working on 12a and 13a horns and travelling around the planet to set them up correctly putting aside other plans. It’s time to act….I have been harbouring for too long now the build of another very very special western electric horn (yes….very special indeed). Over the past years it’s been about research so…
Western Electric 12a & 13a stereo setup’
Some years ago I embarked on a road to replicate the “Adam and Eve” of cinema sound speakers. At that time many did raise their eyebrows saying build methods of the venerable WE12a and WE13a horns were hard and too expensive to master. Woodwork, castings, sourcing materials and getting wood from very same foresting areas…
Another western electric 13a, waiting for a bus?
Sting on village square waiting to be taken away. Beautiful light today, 29ºc in May…nice! Happy owner will have it in a week so after 6000km journey. All fun….
