How do you attach speaker grills?

[keilmillerjr]

I have Pyramid 4 inch round car audio speakers. They came with a plastic/metal mesh grill. I am not the biggest fan of seeing speaker grills on an arcade machine, but I think they will look decent with the design I'm working on. The cabinet marquee area will hold the two speakers with a small marquee between them.

How would I mount the speaker grills to the cabinet? The look like they are supposed to be used with plastic push pins of some sort? The hole is 4.5mm in diameter. I was thinking of possibly trying to find a wooden dowel of the same size to make pegs. Drill and wood glue one side of the peg into the cabinet, and just use rtv on the other side so the grill will adhere but be removable as well. However, if I did used pegs, I wouldn't be able to screw/bolt the actual speaker from behind on the same mdc.

[Rick]

What does the other side of the speaker grill look like? Do the holes have a ridge inside them for the attaching hardware?  If it was me, I'd look into domed screws, and just paint them with flat black paint.

[keilmillerjr]

What does the other side of the speaker grill look like? Do the holes have a ridge inside them for the attaching hardware?  If it was me, I'd look into domed screws, and just paint them with flat black paint.

I updated the original post with a pictures of both sides of the grills. Please excuse my poor quality iPhone 3G pictures.

Possibly recess the front of the marquee area with a router by 1/8th inch and use rtv, and I should still have 5/8th inch for a bolt insert to fit?

[Rick]

I updated the original post with a pictures of both sides of the grills. Please excuse my poor quality iPhone 3G pictures.

Hmm. That's interesting. It almost looks like they use machine screws, or else specialty self-tapping screws with flattened tips. The best idea I could offer would be to figure out what might fit and mount through the back. Or else, replace the covers completely with something a bit more commonplace.

[rhys]

It would appear those are meant to be mounted from behind.  As in screw goes through the back of the base material, through the holes in the corners of the speakers, and then screws into the holes on the grills.  A self tapping M5 machine screw would be a 50% thread grab in a 4.5mm hole and should hold the speakers and grill to the mounting surface no problem.

[EMDB]

Cut out a hole, put the speakers in from the outside. Remove the metal grill from the plastic ring. Place the plastic ring on top of the speaker and use machine bolts to mount. Finally place back the metal grill so it will cover the bolts.

 

 

[rhys]

I don't believe that will work with the grills he has.  The holes in the corners of his grills (at least as far as I can tell from the pictures) don't appear to go all the way through.  If that is the case, he'll have to run the screws from behind as I described.

[keilmillerjr]

The pyramid grills do indeed have holes that do not penetrate all the way through. The wall is only 1mm thick, so I's be a little leary using a self tapping screw. If I set the speaker inside the grill, there is about a 1mm gap between the back of the speaker bracket and the back of the grill. Very odd. I almost think these universal speakers came with grills made with a specific application in mind.

Anyways, I found this set of universal grill that has bolt holes through it. Hopefully it fits. It's only a few dollars and actually fits my neogeo mvs theme better. Drilling tons of tiny holes like the real mvs, and getting them perfectly aligned does not seem like a good idea for my first attempt at woodworking. Hence the grill option.

http://www.magnadyne.com/catalog/part.cfm?PID=613746&CID=25857
http://www.brentwoodcaraudio.com/4_Universal_Slimline_Plastic_Satin_Finish_Grills_p/g400im.htm


Thank you for the suggestions everyone. Very helpful, and I think it led me to finding my solution. 

[shponglefan]

What about magnets?  Glue magnets to inside of speaker grill, then attach to metal on cabinet.

[EMDB]

Now I look closer I think you should mount the speaker with hex head machine screws. The holes of the top clamp on the heads of the screws. You should only make sure the heads are oriented correct to fot the holes.

[fallacy]

Hot glue gun
Packet of small circle magnets
?
Profit

[DeLuSioNal29]

What about velcro?

[keilmillerjr]

I received the 4" magnadyne speaker grills today. Mounting holes line up with the pyramid 4" round speakers. The grills will work if I mount the speaker on the backside of the mdf, to make clearance for the inner tweeter and movement. These grills are awesome! Not only are they slim (5.3mm), make installation easier, and have a dust netting behind them, but they look retro and fit my theme well!

My only suggestion would be to use a thin washer between the backside of the mounting legs of the grill and your cabinet. The legs sit slightly recessed from the lip around the edge of the grill. It probably wouldn't cause an issue, but I would hate to put unnecessary strain on a plastic part.