All holes cut and pieces ready for glue...
Bottom support pieces. Notice I cutout the bottoms, which were previously glued. I decided (after gluing of course) that I wanted removeable bottoms for easy access to the crossover. I originally intended to place the crossover behind one of the woofers but after cutting out the holes I realized this would be too tight of a squeeze to I routed out the bottom piece using a flush trim bit, then glued in these support pieces for the removeable bottom to secure against.
Chamfered backside to each speaker cutout hole. I marked where the speaker screws would secure and left these areas untouched. In between each screw hole I first routered a deep cove cut, then ran a 3/8" chamfer bit around the entire cutout. This combo really opened up the backside to airflow.
Final glueup of fronts. Notice I used more clamps here. Originally with the sides/back I placed a heavy vase on one end but was unhappy with the joint. I did this glueup in the living room since we ran into an unusually cold week and I couldn't wait.
Another glueup pic...
Onto the paint discussion. My goal is the "piano black" mirror look. After hours of research I was set on first sealing the wood somehow, then applying a few coats of primer, followed by a few coats of black paint, followed by approximately 6-8 coats of poly, followed by hours and hours of sanding. But, after visiting the local premium paint store they convinced me that I would notice better results with only applying lacquer, and of course hours and hours of sanding. So, taking their word I only bought one gallon of high gloss lacquer ($50/gallon), it was their best stuff. No priming, no polyurethane. I also picked up primer and poly just so I could test their theory. Let me first say I am no expert in paint and that I have seen the piano gloss look done right using poly and other materials that I did not use (skyline_123 comes to mind), so this is only based on my testing and my results. I cut about fifteen 10 inch squares for testing all the different combination I could think of. For sealing the wood I used zinsser sealcoat, 60/40 wood glue/water, primer, and did some pieces without sealing. For paint, I did 6 coats for every scenario. For poly I applied 6 coats to some pieces. Basically, I did every combination of seal/paint/poly that I could think of. Based on my testing, the best combination was sealing with wood glue/water, then applying paint; no poly (just as the paint shop guys said). I really wanted the poly to work, just based on everything I had read. But, in each case the poly either dried a touch cloudy or it cracked, which could have been due to a incompatibility issue I have read about with poly/lacquer. So, just sealing with wood glue/water, then applying 6 coats of lacquer, then sanding, then buffing gave me the exact mirror finish I was looking for (at least on a small square; hopefully this will be the same on the larger scale). I did seal all the edges 3 times with wood glue/water, but only sealed each face 1 time; followed by a quick sand with 220 grit before painting. I applied the lacquer via foam roller. My buddy brought over his airless gun but we couldn't get the spray right; the lacquer was just too viscous and it spat/streamed the lacquer rather than misting. This was even using the "fine finish tip" specifically for lacquer that I purchased. Oh well, the foam roller is what I had used during testing so I knew it would work.
Another view after the 6 coats were applied. I didn't paint where the removeable pieces will sit. I do plan on applying a curly maple veneer to the removeable fronts.
Now, onto my first question. I have convinced myself that the supports I glued for the bottom pieces to sit against (pictured earlier) would not be strong enough to support the speakers. Considering I will put feet on the removeable bottom pieces, all the weight, once completed, will be pushing against the bottom piece, which is pushing against these 3/4" supports. So, to remedy this I screwed in four metal braces which will pull the side of the boxes into the support equation and will give me piece of mind. But, in doing so, I had to cut down the bottom piece' length/width to accomadate the thickness of these metal supports. This will create an airgap in two places, against the support braces since the bottom piece only contacts the metal, and also around each side (see second pic). I was thinking of filling both of these areas with some rubber window seal. Will this work? Am I crazy thinking the support braces will not hold the weight of the speaker and I should just cut new bottoms that securely fit in and against the supports?
That is where I am at now. Remaining steps are to figure out the bottom piece, sand forever/buff, veneer the face piece, cutout the tweeter through-holes (I don't have a tweeter yet and the back of the ribbon is unusually shaped so I am waiting), and assemble/install the crossover. I plan on giving the lacquer one week to cure prior to sanding.
Let me know if you see anything of concern or have any other comment.
Thanks!
