Started my box

[pjoseph]

I am using the behringer ep2500

It sounds great, there are a lot of settings on my receiver that I am still playing around with as well as my PS3 which is what I use to play cd's and dvds.
I also plan on adding the dcx2496 down the line.

one thing I notice is that the bass is much lower in the center of the room i guess due to cancelation.

I really want a piano black finish but I do not have a spray booth or any professional spray equipment. I will contact some cabinet makers in the area about finishing.

 

[adwilk]

Piano Black would sweet. Certainly adding an eq will help achieve your ultimate goal but I bet it does sound pretty good. Thats a lot of watts for that driver and some eq protection should be utilized for the really low frequencies to protect the driver. At least thats my guess.

Nice job again. Looking forward to seeing it all finished up.

 

[annunaki]

one thing I notice is that the bass is much lower in the center of the room i guess due to cancelation.

That is where the DCX can come into play to help balance response.

 

[sawzalot]

I know my previous post was about your finish and whom you could get to do it but I would like to add this, you went this far DIY style maybe you should go for the finish yourself, you just might be pleasantly surprised at the finish when "you" are done .

 

[pjoseph]

Sawzalot
I hear you on that... I do want to do the finish myself but here is my issue

If i go the paint route I do not own any spray equipment, or a paint booth or even a garage.

If i go the vinyl route ect... I do not see how i can meet the seams neatly especially now that I routered the edges. If I would of kept them square it would of been possible i think.

I look at it the other way as well i put a good amount of work into this and I do not want to mess up the finish not to mention time and money.

If I had at least a garage I would definetly attemp painting it.

 

[annunaki]

Do you know any local body shops that would do it on the side for a small fee, assuming you handle all of the prep work??

What about contacting a local painting contractor to spray on a coat of glossy enamel? Perhaps they would do it on the side??

 

[pjoseph]

I have decided to paint the box myself
I have a few questions on how to start since I read some conflicting articles.

I found that some people say that the mdf will soak up the primer as well, and that you need to apply resin over the box first to avoid this problem

Others seem to apply the primer without the resin so I am not sure if i need the resin or not?

can someone recommend a product/brand that will fill small pin holes I notice some where I used bondo to cover screw holes

thanks

 

[WmAx]

I have decided to paint the box myself
I have a few questions on how to start since I read some conflicting articles.

I found that some people say that the mdf will soak up the primer as well, and that you need to apply resin over the box first to avoid this problem

Others seem to apply the primer without the resin so I am not sure if i need the resin or not?

can someone recommend a product/brand that will fill small pin holes I notice some where I used bondo to cover screw holes

thanks

Use a thick auto body primer with very high build rate. A few coats, with wet sanding, will eventually fill the MDF up and you can get a smooth finish. Warning: If you have butt joints on edges, after a few weeks, the joints will shrink as the primer cures, leaving a slight evident line/joint that will not be visible for the first few weeks. Miter/angle joints should be used on edges if a box is intended to be finished with a fine finish (as opposed to a stone texture paint) paint job. Otherwise, the butt joints will more often than not end up being visible on the final paint job after several weeks have passed. BTW, you have other options to get a nice gloss finish other than paints. You can buy a finished laminate made from acrylic available in various high gloss colors; apply similar to veneer application .

-Chris

 

[pjoseph]

Wmax

I do have butt joints does this mean a fine finish with paint is out of the question?

Can I avoid this by waiting a few weeks before I start paintng?

thanks again

 

[WmAx]

Wmax

I do have butt joints does this mean a fine finish with paint is out of the question?

Can I avoid this by waiting a few weeks before I start paintng?

thanks again

You could wait 8 weeks for the primer to totally cure and allow the wood to shrink all it will shink, then sand and add a little filler to fix this defect; but that's a long process! And when you do go to pain it, it may still soak through and cause just enough expansion to still make the joint slightly visible in the end when it re-cures. This joint will forever by a potential 'expansion' point.

One option, if you did not use nails or screws in the panels that will mess up a router bit: you can use a 45 degree large router bit and precisely route 45 angles into your edges, so that the edge where the angle starts is precisely where the two wood joints meet. This will effectively mask the expansion point, limiting it to an edge point; the same end effect as if you used miter joints for all of the exterior panels to begin with. A 45 degree edge all around a box can give it a classy look.

-Chris

 

[pjoseph]

I used screws for some parts while the glue dried along with clamps, but I took them out and filled the holes.

I lightly routered all the edges I believe i used a 1/8 bit not sure of the angle.

thanks again

 

[pjoseph]

A little embarrassed about these pics but I figure I could use some direction.
I had to stop there because it got dark out but I could not fill in the low spots until it cured so I would just move on to a new spot and once I cover the entire box those low spots will be cured and I can reapply. I found the spreader to work well in the begging but it was hard to keep clean and once dirty useless for me anyway.

 

[Loren42]

A little embarrassed about these pics but I figure I could use some direction.
I had to stop there because it got dark out but I could not fill in the low spots until it cured so I would just move on to a new spot and once I cover the entire box those low spots will be cured and I can reapply. I found the spreader to work well in the begging but it was hard to keep clean and once dirty useless for me anyway.

Direction to where?

When doing finish work it always looks ugly at the beginning through most of the process. Just keep at it and take your time.

The reward is for those that work slowly and carefully to the end.

 

[pjoseph]

After some sanding, have a few spots to fix up but its coming along.

 

[lsiberian]

keep going your one your way.

 

[pjoseph]

I sprayed about 4 coats of Rustolium automotive high build primer, I next had to apply a small amount of filler to a few spots.

I then sanded using 320 Grit paper. I now need to apply a few more coats of primer to cover up the few small areas where i had to apply the filler.

Will the primer adhear well to a surface sanded with 320 grit or do I have to go to a lower grit?

Thanks

 

[Guiria]

I sprayed about 4 coats of Rustolium automotive high build primer, I next had to apply a small amount of filler to a few spots.

I then sanded using 320 Grit paper. I now need to apply a few more coats of primer to cover up the few small areas where i had to apply the filler.

Will the primer adhear well to a surface sanded with 320 grit or do I have to go to a lower grit?

Thanks

I recently built a center channel and painted the finish. Ended up with 3 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. I sanded between primer coats 2 and 3 with 400 grit and then sanded between all painted coats with 600 grit and that paint is never coming off and turned out quite well.

I think you'll have plenty of adhesion between coats using 320 grit sandpaper but that is my DIY experience and opinion

 

[pjoseph]

Just as things started looking good I noticed this small crack which is on the lip of the cut-out. Once the speaker is installed it will not be noticed but I worry that it will expand some. I am not even sure what is cracked it is just a strange spot I would think if there would be a crack it would be where the filler meets the wood but this is not the case.



So i was going to sand that spot some and apply some epoxy and clamp it. then i was going to just leave the box primed and use it for a month or so just to keep an eye on that spot.
I do not want to start painting until i know this will not get worse.

if anyone has any other ideas I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[pjoseph]

well it turns out it was only a crack in the paint, i sanded down some and its gone.
Although I am sure no one is teary eyed because i have not updated in a while, but i have to wait until these fires go out because there is lots of ash in the air. They say by the 15th the fire should be out but we will see.

 

[pjoseph]

So i finally got around to painting, I used a black spray lacquer.

I am pretty happy with the results there are a few minor spots that are not perfect that I noticed when the box was drying in the sun. But once I brought the box inside I noticed no flaws actually I guess since there is much less light inside.

Anyway from reading around It seems like the next step would be to wet sand with 1000 Grit and then use rubbing compound to get the shine back and polish.

I am pretty happy with how it looks and I am debating if I should leave it or proceed with sanding and polishing. Also I read that adding clear coat to lacquer will actually take some of the shine away which I do not want, but I do want the protection so not sure what to do about that either.

Also the attached picture really does not show how good it looks since i used my camera phone.

any suggestions would be great

Thanks