Handy tool for straightening studs on drivers

[BillWojo]

When I machined the 3/4 inch thick adapter plates to go from 7/8" to 1" for my 902 drivers, I drilled the holes for the studs 0.250 in dia. On the horn side I counterbored them for washers and nuts. Knowing the OD of the studs is a few thousand of an inch smaller they should slip right on and the hole should be perfectly centered.
Well they didn't fit on! Careful examination with a square showed them to be ever so slightly bent. I took a piece of 3/4 X 6" long piece of aluminum bar stock and drilled and tapped it in the lathe. Now when I screw it on the stud I can use a square and a little pressure to get them straight.
The adapters slip right on now.
I have a set of 808 drivers and the studs on them are slightly bent to. Must be a common problem. I guess it doesn't take much with the weight of the assembly and a bit of careless handling.
I figured this might be a handy tip for the guys that are always swapping drivers.

BillWojo

[Elitopus1]

Hey thats a good idea. Thanks for sharing.

I think most of my driver studs are slightly bent also. I don't have a problem mounting them to a horn with a thin flange (like a 511). When I try to put them on one of my Emilar horns with the much thicker flange, I have to mess with it to get it on.

[BillWojo]

Not only is the flange thinner but I know the holes in the Altec horns are a bit larger than 0.250, probably 0.265, it's standard machine shop practice to drill a bit larger for clearance. You can actually shift the drivers around on the horns a bit, I try and "float" them into the approximate center so the horn flange doesn't overlap the driver hole. Same thing we do when matching ports in a racing engine so airflow is not disturbed. I can get a bit anal about this stuff. LOL

BillWojo