Any speaker veneer suggestions out there?

[Tomorrow]

I have a lovely pair of ACI LX's that have been rode hard and put up wet. Whoever owned them before I acquired them didn't treat the cabinets with any dignity. They play beautifully, but need refinishing in the worst way.

Would any of you be so kind as to offer suggestions as to what kind and thickness of veneer is preferable to work with on loudspeakers? These have about 1" radiused corners, by the way. (Red oak is the desired finish.)

Many thanks for your help and suggestions.

 

[zumbo]

Go to p@rt$expre$$ and search for red maple vinyl.

It's laminate, but should work.

 

[Alex2507]

I think the 1" radius corners are the kiss of death for a veneer project. Unless of course you happen to be a master craftsman type. A faux finish might be an alternative.

 

[Jeff HDDVD]

Real easy Veneer

I bought iron on real veneer at Menards. But as far as the corners, I don't know what to tell you. I also use Parts Express. I have spent thousands from them building Awesome speakers and subs. Jeff D.

 

[Tomorrow]

Well, we ordered some veneer from P.E. and maybe we'll get some on ebay to also try. What could go wrong, lol.

I may have been misleading when I said the corners were radiused ~1". It's the panel joints that are radiused (where the top meets the side panel, or side panel meets the bottom). The faces of the speakers are flat. Hopefully the veneer will take that kind of bend between two (not 3 in a corner) panels. The veneer is so thin...it looks as tho' it should handle it. We were wondering also about paper-backed, vs. non...and also prefinished vs. non.

 

[Hi Ho]

I'm a little late in this conversation but what type of veneer did you order? There is paper backed and non paper backed. The paperbacked type is definetly the one you want if you've never done it before, especially with oak. The paperbacked veneer should have no problem with the radius. I don't know how well the non backed stuff would work.

 

[Tomorrow]

I'm a little late in this conversation but what type of veneer did you order? There is paper backed and non paper backed. The paperbacked type is definetly the one you want if you've never done it before, especially with oak. The paperbacked veneer should have no problem with the radius. I don't know how well the non backed stuff would work.

Thanks Hi Ho....I think we ended up getting both kinds. Experiment time!

 

[zildjian]

Hey RJ,

How did this experiment end up? Educate us w/ what you learned about laminating.

I have an old pair of Infinity's from a couple decades ago with the EMIT tweeters that I'd like to refinish (and replace the woofers!) when I have some time. I talked to the Harmon parts guys already about getting replacement woof's. Don't know yet if they can get them or not, but if so, it'd be kind of fun to bring them back to life, but they sure are ugly now!

Brad

 

[Tomorrow]

Hey RJ,

How did this experiment end up? Educate us w/ what you learned about laminating.

I have an old pair of Infinity's from a couple decades ago with the EMIT tweeters that I'd like to refinish (and replace the woofers!) when I have some time. I talked to the Harmon parts guys already about getting replacement woof's. Don't know yet if they can get them or not, but if so, it'd be kind of fun to bring them back to life, but they sure are ugly now!

Brad

Hi Brad.

I really like those old EMIT tweeters! That should make an excellent project for you.

Like yours, these ACI's were in atrocious presentational condition when I got them. But thanks to a good and patient friend, some paper-backed oak veneer, they look pretty good, today. (The first pic is the work in progress and is unfinished. The second is an almost completed unit. Pardon the finished picture...bad photographer and cheap camera. They look much nicer in person.) The paper-backed veneer was the only type that would make the contours on the cabinet. Mating of ends was done on the bottom, so no seams are visible.

Cleaning up the edges with a router was a little overkill as it dug into the front painted panel a bit. But a little touch up with black paint and the grill covering most of it....here ya go.

 

[Johnd]

Nice job. For those about to tread into a project such as this, the radii will not be a problem for most any veneer provided you bend with the grain...bending against the grain is most probably a kiss of death except for the most experienced of craftsman. Additionally, the fibers will be persuaded with the skillful hand of light heat (if necessary).

 

[Tomorrow]

Nice job. For those about to tread into a project such as this, the radii will not be a problem for most any veneer provided you bend with the grain...bending against the grain is most probably a kiss of death except for the most experienced of craftsman. Additionally, the fibers will be persuaded with the skillful hand of light heat (if necessary).

Thanks, John. Non-paper-backed veneer did not hold up to the bend, even bending with the grain. It would easily crack and/or break. Maybe we had inferior oak, but I don't think so. With lots of wetting or steaming, perhaps we could have made other stuff work. But why go to all the trouble when the paper-backed stuff worked so easily?

 

[zildjian]

Looks good RJ! Thanks for the update. I might just mail you some ol' infinities to play with!! Just give you something to work on while avaserfi builds your acoustic panels!

Yeah I'm looking forward to rebuilding the infinities; just depends on if I can get good replacement drivers for the woofers. I'd like to replace them with the original spec drivers (or better), so I have to follow up with the harmon guys after I pull the drivers and get the numbers off the back. I'm just happy the EMIT tweeters still worked last I checked, but it's been at least 5 or 6 years since I even laid hands on them. There's not much wood work on them, but what's there could use either sanding and finishing or some veneers. Thanks again for the update.

Brad

 

[Tomorrow]

Looks good RJ! Thanks for the update. I might just mail you some ol' infinities to play with!! Just give you something to work on while avaserfi builds your acoustic panels! Brad

You better send them to AverageJoe. He's the man behind the beauty of my new-look ACI's! All I did was nod my head in approval.