Because I'm gifting my EMPs

[Natrix]

My nephew is only 6 years old, but he really likes music. Although a little early he asked me for a Lumineers CD for Christmas even though he would have no where to play this CD unless he was in a vehicle. So this got me thinking that its never too early to have a good stereo. So I'm giving him the EMPs I have hooked up to my computer setup. He has my brothers old Iphone (no service) that he keeps some music on, so I also got him a refurbished Denon 1912 with Airplay from Accessories4less so he can use his Iphone as his music source.

So of course I need to replace the EMPs and fuzz inspired me to try out the Mandolins since his turned out so nice and he appears to really like them.

I plan on finishing these with the Pelin Burl veneer above with the Wenge trim around the front that I'll round over. My test piece of using the iron-on technique turned out okay, but I got a couple of cracks. I think I used too much glue as it took twice as long to dry as it should have and this caused the veneer to really curl up almost into a bowl shape even though I had it taped down. I ignorantly tried pushing the edges down thinking it would give without harm, but I was wrong. I'll do another test piece with some veneer softener and less glue before I try applying it to the speaker. I'm still at the dry fit stage as I haven't actually glued anything yet, so the veneering stage is down the road.

Once I'm done with these I plan on getting back to my Tritons.

 

[fuzz092888]

Looks good so far and I'm loving the veneer choice. Hopefully I didn't over hype them and you like them as much as I do.

 

[Natrix]

Looks good so far and I'm loving the veneer choice. Hopefully I didn't over hype them and you like them as much as I do.

You have Phils and still like them so they can't be that bad. I have faith in Bagby and have no doubt that they'll sound great. I just hope when I'm done sawing, gluing, sanding, veneering, and finishing that I'll be happy with the results.

 

[Natrix]

Well I have everything glued except the front baffle. I got all the wires to the crossovers soldered and all the flush trimming done around the edges of the cabinet. I added some Sonic Barrier Lightweight Vinyl Damping material to the interior of the cabinet as well as you can see from the picture.

I also got a chance to practice my veneering again and this time it turned out much better. The veneer softener really helped as I had no cracking around the edges. However, there were some minor cracking that occurred at the same exact spot as the first piece which is through a fairly big knot in the burl. It must have happened when I left the veneer to setup after ironing, because I thoroughly inspected it after ironing and didn't notice anything. If this happens when I veneer the cabinet I don't see a huge problem in filling these cracks as they're fairly minor. I will also try spritzing the veneer with softener after I iron it to see if that helps.

 

[fuzz092888]

You have Phils and still like them so they can't be that bad. I have faith in Bagby and have no doubt that they'll sound great. I just hope when I'm done sawing, gluing, sanding, veneering, and finishing that I'll be happy with the results.

I'm pretty sure you will be. I love mine. I end up listening to them a lot more than the Phils these days, but I have to say after hearing them as a front L/R it kills me a little bit to use them as computer monitors knowing what they can do far field.

Everything looks good so far

 

[afterlife2]

Dang looking great there Natrix.

 

[panteragstk]

Very awesome of you to do that for your nephew. Nice looking build too.

 

[Natrix]

I thought I'd share some new pictures of the veneering process. Edges sealed and bondo applied (man does that stuff set-up quickly) and sanded. So the veneering process goes like this for the Pelin Burl: Spray the veneer with veneer softener, iron the veneer to dry it out which leeches out a lot of the color, cut to size with a box cutter, tape the veneer down and apply veneer glue to the veneer and the side of the speaker I'm veneering, wait impatiently for 30-60 minutes for the glue to dry, carefully line up the veneer because once the glued surfaces touch each other it doesn't like to be adjusted, and iron with a tee shirt as a buffer, re-spray with veneer softener.

With the wild grain pattern I've been getting ridges that will not lay down no matter how long I iron, so I've been ironing and then pressing down with a spare piece of mdf and then clamping down a platen board for 30-60 minutes. This seems to work pretty well. I check it after about 30 minutes and if they are any bumps I re-iron and clamp again. It takes at least an hour per side, so this is a slow going process. Anyway on to the pics:

I still have the top and fronts to veneer. I'm waiting for a router bit to flush trim the speaker flange cutouts before I'll be able to finish the fronts. I also got some bright red, bordeaux, and red mahogany dyes that I'll try out on some spare pieces to see if I go that route. I'm also rethinking the wenge trim and may just go with a dyed maple...we'll see.

 

[Natrix]

Fully veneered now. Sanding, filling imperfections, dyeing, Waterlox application and figuring out what trim I'll go with remain. In other words, lots to be done...

Got a little overzealous with the depth on the bit I used to trim the flange cutouts for the tweeter as you can see from some of the pictures. Shouldn't be too hard to fix that.

 

[fuzz092888]

Looks great. If it were me, I'd go for Bubinga if I wanted something to somewhat resemble the color, while providing a different grain and probably a curly/quilted maple or a sycamore for a light contrast or maybe a wenge for a dark contrast.

 

[Natrix]

Looks great. If it were me, I'd go for Bubinga if I wanted something to somewhat resemble the color, while providing a different grain and probably a curly/quilted maple or a sycamore for a light contrast or maybe a wenge for a dark contrast.

Thanks fuzz. I have looked far and wide and have considered everything you thoughtfully mentioned above. I even took my burl into Woodcraft and held it up against everything they had and that's why I got the wenge as it provided the contrast I was looking for in the store, but now that I have it at home and cut into strips and placed it into the cutouts, I'm not too fond of it. I would really like to use ebony, but I can't find a piece that I can cut down at a reasonable price, plus it is harder and tougher to work with than the wenge and my table saw didn't like that stuff too much.

I plan on dyeing these with either the bright red, bordeaux, or the red mahogany Transtint dyes I bought if I like the way they look after testing. I got the inspiration from the bright red pelin burl on a set of Cirrus Blacks from Vapor Sound:

I'm gonna wait until I have the rest of the speaker finished before I decide on the trim as the dye and Waterlox will change the way they look. If mine turn out even remotely close to the beauties above I'll be elated.

 

[afterlife2]

That red is awesome looking. Can't wait to see them when you're done.

 

[slipperybidness]

Dang, you do good work. Those things look good! Looks like a LOT of labor though.

 

[fuzz092888]

Dang, you do good work. Those things look good! Looks like a LOT of labor though.

Most builds from scratch are.

 

[Nestor]

Thanks fuzz. I have looked far and wide and have considered everything you thoughtfully mentioned above. I even took my burl into Woodcraft and held it up against everything they had and that's why I got the wenge as it provided the contrast I was looking for in the store, but now that I have it at home and cut into strips and placed it into the cutouts, I'm not too fond of it. I would really like to use ebony, but I can't find a piece that I can cut down at a reasonable price, plus it is harder and tougher to work with than the wenge and my table saw didn't like that stuff too much.

I plan on dyeing these with either the bright red, bordeaux, or the red mahogany Transtint dyes I bought if I like the way they look after testing. I got the inspiration from the bright red pelin burl on a set of Cirrus Blacks from Vapor Sound:

I'm gonna wait until I have the rest of the speaker finished before I decide on the trim as the dye and Waterlox will change the way they look. If mine turn out even remotely close to the beauties above I'll be elated.

Great choice for dye!

Have you considered staining with india ink? You'd get the ebony look without the hassle/expense of ebony.

 

[Natrix]

Great choice for dye!

Have you considered staining with india ink? You'd get the ebony look without the hassle/expense of ebony.

I've never heard of india ink, but I'll definitely look into it. I appreciate the suggestion.

 

[ARES24]

I had a thought, what about an ebony stain for the corners, might 'match' the drivers and bring the unit together. (I am thinking about doing it to my tritrix)

 

[Nestor]

I've never heard of india ink, but I'll definitely look into it. I appreciate the suggestion.

Google "ebonizing". India ink is one way, Iron oxide is another.

 

[afterlife2]

Ebonizing Wood

 

[ARES24]

I have never used india ink, sounds interesting.

Ebonizing Wood

You can call me lazy but I don't think I would go through this much effort when I can just buy a can of stain for $7. Is there a reason why ebonizing with iron oxide is better?