Cabinet Finishing Tips Needed

[Jeff R.]

Hey All

I am assembling 2 new pre cut cabinets for my dual 10" Eclipse Subs. I have purchased them from the diysoundgroup.com. They are already for assembly and have a promising build quality, at least from the website pics. I went with the 1.25 cubic ft box size and had the cutout holes customized to my driver size.

I want to try and create a piano black or even an expresso dark brown finish with a high gloss over them. I am looking for some tips from those who have successfully done this at home. I do not have any means to spray the cabinets. I will be rolling or brushing on the paint and then trying to do a lacquer style of finish over the paint.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping to document my progress and post up a little thread on this construction and finishing process. I think that this website may turn out be a good option for those looking for some extra flexibility with cabinet design that do not have the table saws, routers etc. to build a well made cabinet. That is why I took the risk on buying a pair of cabinets from them.


Thanks

Jeff

 

[Nestor]

I think you'll have a tough time getting a piano-gloss finish from rolling or brushing.

Have you considered getting them painted at an auto body shop?

 

[Swerd]

Nestor has it right. Smooth unblemished glossy paint finishes, of any color, are more difficult than most people think. You will have to fill all the flaws and gaps in the cabinets, sand the surfaces until SMOOTH, and prime, prime, prime.

If you really want it to look good, ask an auto body shop for an estimate. It might cost less than you think.

If you just want it black and shiny and don't care about the flaws, get some spray cans of black and clear coat and practice on scrap wood. You will still have to fill, sand, and prime.

The guy who first built a set of ER18 MTMs did a great job with a glossy black finish. That thread "New DIY MTM Towers designed by Dennis Murphy and Paul Kittinger" is long, start reading at post #66, and you'll get an idea of what he had to do, and re-do.

 

[ARES24]

You will still have to fill, sand, and prime.

To be more accurate you will have to fill, sand, fill, sand, prime, sand, prime, sand, prime, sand, prime, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, laquer, sand, laquer, sand, laquer, sand, laquer, sand, laquer, sand, polish. All of those coats very thin and the sanding done with 600 grit or so.
Doing it by brush and roller will be VERY time consuming. Trust me, I did it

 

[Jeff R.]

Yes....I am gathering that it is a painfully slow process. I think I am going to go at this via the Spray Paint options. My plan is to sand and fill in all the cracks, then apply an oil based primer coat. From there I am going to do my best to get a really nice glossy spray paint and do many light coats and use steel wool lightly in between coats.

I am thing about going with a really deep red/burgandy high gloss.

I am planning to assemble the boxes this weekend.

Do you guys thinik that I need to screw and glue the kit together? Or will clamps and wood glue suffice or just finishing nails and wood glue...

I am leaning to screw and glue at this point, just don't know if it is over kill.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[ARES24]

Be sure to give it a sand after you prime, oil based sands much better then latex.

Clamps and glue should be fine. I use screws and glue because I don't have enough clamps. I imagine screws are overkill but overkill is underrated.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey All

I am assembling 2 new pre cut cabinets for my dual 10" Eclipse Subs. I have purchased them from the diysoundgroup.com. They are already for assembly and have a promising build quality, at least from the website pics. I went with the 1.25 cubic ft box size and had the cutout holes customized to my driver size.

I want to try and create a piano black or even an expresso dark brown finish with a high gloss over them. I am looking for some tips from those who have successfully done this at home. I do not have any means to spray the cabinets. I will be rolling or brushing on the paint and then trying to do a lacquer style of finish over the paint.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping to document my progress and post up a little thread on this construction and finishing process. I think that this website may turn out be a good option for those looking for some extra flexibility with cabinet design that do not have the table saws, routers etc. to build a well made cabinet. That is why I took the risk on buying a pair of cabinets from them.


Thanks

Jeff

Forget it! You can not brush that type of finish. You need a smooth fiber glass coat. That needs to be sanded with 600 grit, and no dips are nicks that you can feel with a finger nail or see in reflected light, or it will show. Then you absolutely need an auto paint and professional spray gear.

In your situation, wood veneers, and the use of sealers, stains and rubbed oil finishes are the best way to go. It will be cheaper as well. Auto paint costs a fortune.

 

[skyline_123]

When someone tries to steer me away from something because it's "hard work", I take that as a challenge. I say do it once, learn it, hate it, and appreciate the next build that you pay a auto shop to spray.

Also, I would avoid screws if possible, especially if going with a painted finish. No matter how much filling and sanding I did to cover the screw heads, I could always tell where they were after the finish cures. Letting the wood acclimate to your inside environment helps but I don't know what it would take to truly eliminate it. That was just my limited experience however.

 

[Jeff R.]

I have thought about going with a veneer. Just not have never done that either....I figured it would be of higher risk than trying to paint them myself.

Thanks for the advice from everybody. My kits showed up yesterday and I pulled one out of the box. They are really well made. I will start posting up some pics of the assembly later today when I get home and start putting them together.

 

[lsiberian]

Veneers are nice, but applying them straight is not easy for me.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have thought about going with a veneer. Just not have never done that either....I figured it would be of higher risk than trying to paint them myself.

Thanks for the advice from everybody. My kits showed up yesterday and I pulled one out of the box. They are really well made. I will start posting up some pics of the assembly later today when I get home and start putting them together.

Finishes are always difficult. Paint finishes are the hardest of all.

Veneers are not easy, but easier than paint. Cut the veneers over size and match the grains as closely as you can at the corners. Glue them with impact adhesive. Let it it really sticky before you apply the veneer. Tap the veneer in place with a soft impact hammer.

Sand to smooth finish with 600 grit. If it is a nice veneer you don't need to stain it. If you want it a little darker, then select a stain. I have come to favor letting the natural wood glow and avoiding stains.

The wood must be sealed before finishing. Do not use latex sealers, they pull up the grain and roughen the wood, because they are water based. I like oil finishes, but you certainly can use satin varnishes. The more coats the better. You can use a latex varnish as long as you use an oil based stain.

The easiest finish, which is what I do, is to use pre veneered particle board. Make sure it is veneered both sides, as that keeps the boards straight. There is a good side and a bad side, so make sure the good side shows.

You carefully make out a cutting and dado plan, so the corners can be filled with quarter found. This way you get rounded corners, which look nice, hold up well and are good acoustically. The best part is you don't have to mess with veneers. This latter approach is easily the quickest and easiest way to complete the whole project. It is also strong, and avoids those butt joints, that I see pretty much universally used by DIYers on these forums. Butt joints are lousy joints for speakers, and preferably for speakers all joints should be dado joints. This method uses no fasteners at all, only carpenters glue and clamps.

These cabinets were built entirely by this method, with pre veneered board, dado joints and quarter round.

My studio speakers were built from pre veneered board also. With this method the cabinets hold up much better.

 

[lsiberian]

He's using a pre-cut kit so I doubt he can use the quarter round method.

 

[TLS Guy]

He's using a pre-cut kit so I doubt he can use the quarter round method.

I know, I was just giving general advice about finishes and approaches to cabinet building. And really the pre cut kits should use this method, assembly and finishing would then be a breeze.

 

[lsiberian]

I know, I was just giving general advice about finishes and approaches to cabinet building. And really the pre cut kits should use this method, assembly and finishing would then be a breeze.

It would make life easier I think I'll probably use this approach on my next build.

 

[annunaki]

Gloss black or any other color does look nice but the time involved to achieve the net outcome is much. As mentioned previously, avoid using screws if you can to prevent them by use of clamps as they are extremely difficult to hide. I recommend using Bondo or other automotive body filler as it will not expand when primer is applied. The issue however that I have seen is that the MDF can expand slightly around the screw thus making it seem as though it was not properly sanded. I am not saying you should not do it, that is your prerogative but know there is much work involved. High build primers are definitely recommended here with much sanding etc. When it comes to high grade painted finishes, the end result is all in the prep work.

Take a look at my Pythagoras sub build to get a look at some of the work involved. I had my brother who is a paint & prep specialist finish the enclosure. There are some minor imperfections on the non visible portions of the enclosure too even though we took all the right steps to avoid them.

 

[Jeff R.]

Good tips from everyone. Thanks for the feedback. I think I am going to head to the hardward store and do some brain storming.....

Hopefully I will start a thread later today with some assembly pictures.

 

[TP143]

Jeff,

I am just completing some ER18's with piano black finish. I have a thread about 2-3 pages back if you can find it, I have quite a few pointers when it comes to the paint process. I haven't updated the thread in about 6 weeks but I plan on doing so next weekend once I do the first listening test. Anyway, the paint process is finished so I can speak for that. At a high level, I would not use screws, they will only add more obstacles later on that will likely be visible when the final polishing is done. Glue provides a strong enough bond and this way only the joint lines will later be visible. With spray lacquer the product is too thinned to get a quality piano gloss finish. I tried this on another project and even with about 10 coats I still sanded through quite easily. On my ER18's I first rolled lacquer on. This is an ok method and will get you to a satisfactory finish but will require more sanding with the first grit (600 recommended) to get rid of the highs/lows in the paint. I eventually sprayed the lacquer via HVLP allowing me less sanding time, but I know that rolling will work, and will work better than spraying via rattle can. Once you decide on how your going to tackle this I will provide more details on how I achieved the piano gloss. I will also hopefully have some pics of my final project on my thread so you can see how mine came out. Before you apply the paint, make sure you seal the MDF with wood glue/water mixture at least twice, followed by 220 grit sanding, otherwise you won't achieve a smooth base and the MDF will soak up the first few coats of lacquer.

Ryan

 

[Jeff R.]

I found an autobody shop locally to take a look at the boxes and give me a quote...I am going to check that out Saturday. I also have a Friend who plays in a band and one of his bandmates owns a Maaco body shop....I am keeping my fingers crossed that one of the those options will work. I have both Boxes Assembled and will be sanding them this weekend and using wood fillers on seams. I have some pics on my other thread and will continue on that one moving forward.

 

[TLS Guy]

I found an autobody shop locally to take a look at the boxes and give me a quote...I am going to check that out Saturday. I also have a Friend who plays in a band and one of his bandmates owns a Maaco body shop....I am keeping my fingers crossed that one of the those options will work. I have both Boxes Assembled and will be sanding them this weekend and using wood fillers on seams. I have some pics on my other thread and will continue on that one moving forward.

That is the way to go if you want a professional piano gloss finish. I don't think you have the equipment to do it by yourself. When the job is undertaken, make sure you are there to have some professional instruction.

I have to say I find body shop type work very difficult and I have had quite a bit of instruction from pros.

 

[Jeff R.]

I do not plan to actually do the painting myself...I am just going to pick color. I will leave the work to the pros!!! Thanks for the advice!!