[stevenkelby]

Thanks for all the input guys, I don't have much free time and it's taking me ages to research all the suggestions here.

Thought some more about the color, that red above (and below) is too much, I think a more neutral wood color would be safer long term. I'ts probably just that years ago I fell in love with a pair of headphones with a similar finish:



Nice on headphones, maybe not a major piece of furniture though, I want others to enjoy the looks as much as I will enjoy the sound

I want it to be easy clean and low maintanance with that hard glossy surface though. Probably.

Found this pic that I assume is a polyurethane:



I like that finish

Polyurethane is a stronger and more durable top coat but getting a glass smooth finish without brush marks is extremely hard to do. Call around local cabinet shops and see who has a spray booth, with the economic slowdown you may be able to get a professional to spray a catalyzed varnish for a good price.
Wayne

Going to try and find a competent shop in Adelaide to trust...

A good poly finish is the leading contender at the moment, if I can find someone to do it. Have to make a bunch of phone calls.

I had stain rags catch fire last Friday in my shop after they had been spread out to dry for 24hrs...had I not seen the smoke pouring out of the trash box next to a pile of wood everything I own would be gone right now.

Man that's scary! I'm glad it wasn't more serious, a great learning experience for sure. I once had a similar thing happen with a faulty LiPo battery pack, was sheer luck I walked in just as it was starting to spew smoke.

Steve.....as an added note. The much overlooked Formby product line has the same attributes as the 1-2-3 process. I've used this product for years, including high end furniture. Simply wipe on, dry, fine steel wool between coats, and presto ! This is a no-brainer product, has a hard durable finish, and unlike the poly coats, very (make that), VERY easy to repair !

I'm very interested in this and want a sample of all the products mentioned in the thread really, but being in Australia it's very hard to get things, there is certainly no where local that I know of to see these kinds of products. Harware stores have very few options for wood finishing, and all stores carry the same few product lines.

Is this the Formby's you speak of:

http://www.formbys.com/products/index.cfm

Which product do I want?

You might also want to check around and see if anyone near you can apply "Acrylic Urethane", application is really best left to pro's however, you need special respirators.  Its used for cars among other things. Its an idea anyway.

Will do, is that the same thing as Polyurethane? If not, how is it different?

Attempting that finish without the proper equipment, a person who has done this before to success, is a major waste or raw product, and a pain in the a**.  I had the speakers refinished to a simpler gloss black and love everything about them now. They are awesome. Just got a bit ahead of myself in initial look and feel.

http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2399

Wow Johnny, I was subscribed to that thread from the 1st page back in Sep 2008. It was linked from somewhere on AC. We were all looking forward to the finished speakers and just felt terrible for you. Did you end up getting your refund?

Luckily I only have to deal with getting a finish now, the hard part (getting a flat pack) is done.

I hope I find a pro locally.

In other news I took the 4 sub drivers out of their boxes to drill the pilot holes for fixing them in their baffles. I'm not 100% sure but I think the holes in the baffles are just a hair too small fr teh driver to sit properly, the arms f the basket touch the corneredge of the front of the cut out in the wood beforer the rubber surround of the driver is flat on the baffle.

Not much, like 1-2mm.

It may tighten up flat, probably would, and probably isn't a problem at all but I'l put a 1/16" or so round over on that edge anyway, and a huge round over on the back side f the baffle to open up the rear of the driver as much as possible.

BTW Danny, are the fixing screws included in the crossover and bits you're sending? If not, are just plain wood screws ok? Brass might look nice

[Danny Richie]

BTW Danny, are the fixing screws included in the crossover and bits you're sending? If not, are just plain wood screws ok?

Screws are included.

[stevenkelby]

Great, thanks Danny

[tasar]

Steve.......I don't think Formby product will give you the gloss.....modern automotive laquer is far superior to older technology...will provide the best gloss .....best left to the pros

As for wooden boat look......most are sprayed with West Marine Epoxy with a cover coat of uv enhanced varnish.....it doesn't get any tougher.....if the Navy did not have o much surplus grey, this is the way they'd go !!

[stevenkelby]

As for wooden boat look......most are sprayed with West Marine Epoxy with a cover coat of uv enhanced varnish.....it doesn't get any tougher.....if the Navy did not have o much surplus grey, this is the way they'd go !!

Nice, found this pic:



http://fredbinghamcutter.blogspot.com/

Looks great, more reading to do!

[WGH]

If you want a tough finish that will stand up to any abuse and still look great then take a look at the ML Campbell product line. I have used the Polyurethane 2K Clear Euro X on exterior doors and table tops with excellent results.
http://www.mlcampbell.com/products/categories/clear_topcoats

Wayne

[sfdoddsy]

Thanks for all the ideas, trying to research them all!

Leaning toward a finish that is very thick and glass smooth, extremely high gloss.

Will probably get a shop to do the finish too now I've thought about it more, I don't have the facilities or skills.

I like this style, made from baltic birch and laminated so only the edges are shown, which is what the side panels of a Super V look like from the chair. I'm sure the flat surfaces woul look good too. Not sure how it's done but apparently it's a tye of violin finish? Poly? Acrylic? I love the color. How would one do this:








Check this out, might get the backs of teh coax driver mount panels routed like this, thoughts?

That kind of lacquer is extra-ordinarily hard to get right, especially doing it yourself. You are looking at many coats, much sanding, and then many more topcoats. I would send the panels to a professional if you want something even close. Try a French Polisher.

As a fellow Oz resident, I'd be curious about your shipping, so feel free to PM if you can.

If you decide to go away from the wood finishes, your local hot rod car painter could do a very cool poly paint job.

[BrianH]

"Will do, is that the same thing as Polyurethane? If not, how is it different?"

Similar but not the same. I am not a chemist, but this is the way think of them. With Urethanes Poly is often oil based, often wipe on, while acrylic is always water based, brush on,  but it goes further than that. I think of acrylic as a wet look, high build finish. Totally clear if you get the clear.  Easier to work with too. Which is why I thought of it for what you were describing.

However, today there is a lot of variation in products, a few years ago the acrylic polyurethane could not be sprayed in California without a special license and full body suit and closed system respirator. Keep in mind that what you need to spray it safely doesn't mean its toxic when dry, just don't breathe the stuff. New stuff may be better to spray, I'm not sure.

That is why I suggested a automotive place if that was your inclination. They will be both a source as well as can give you information. Car finishes have been using acrylic urethane for years.

Lately there are more specifically for wood, acrylic urethanes that are made for brushing, that avoids the spray problems.

Here is an ad and info for some of the "varnish" type that I had in mind... http://www.house-painting-info.com/acrylic-urethane.html .

If you are looking for an opaque version then usually "enamel" rather than varnish would be the thing. Your picture suggested just a stain at most so a varnish would be closer to what you want.

Hope this helps, its probably not perfectly accurate but it is close enough for me.

[newportcycle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane_varnish#Polyurethane  this link might clear up some questions to the available finish types out there, then again, maybe not.  Good luck, dont forget to post some pictures no matter which way you finish the cabinets.

[BrianH]

http://www.knowledgegalaxy.net/acrylic_urethane/acrylic_urethane.html

[johnnycopy]

[quote

Wow Johnny, I was subscribed to that thread from the 1st page back in Sep 2008. It was linked from somewhere on AC. We were all looking forward to the finished speakers and just felt terrible for you. Did you end up getting your refund?

[/quote]

The builder (Darrel Hawthorne) also designed and sells the drivers and crossovers. The baltic birch build was new ground for him, and he went to alot of expense and time which he did not charge me for. He then re-did them to a simpler finish. I am very happy with them now, and thankful for Darrel's time and effort, and desire to keep me a happy customer.

Very good luck on yours.
John

[Bear]

How is the build coming along???

[stevenkelby]

Hope this helps, its probably not perfectly accurate but it is close enough for me.

Helps a lot, thanks

Good luck, dont forget to post some pictures no matter which way you finish the cabinets.

Thanks, plenty of pictures will be provided

The builder (Darrel Hawthorne) also designed and sells the drivers and crossovers. The baltic birch build was new ground for him, and he went to alot of expense and time which he did not charge me for. He then re-did them to a simpler finish. I am very happy with them now, and thankful for Darrel's time and effort, and desire to keep me a happy customer.

Very good luck on yours.
John

Thanks and I'm glad to hear you're happy. I thought Darrel would look after you, he has a great rep. I bet they sound great

How is the build coming along???

Slowly, as expected Still haven't found anyone local to do a little routing, glue and finish them. I know if I do it myself it won't get fnished this year, I don't have a good space to do it and am too busy.

Will keep looking for a good wood worker willing to do the job.

A friend stained and Poly'd some samples of the wood for me, not sure yet what he used exactly, old stuff he had in the shed, he'll bring the tins in tomorrow but it doesn't really matter. Just wanted some ideas and I've got heaps of scrap to test with.

From memory he left one unstained,  did a pine, a walnut and a cedar stain, then coated one side of each in satin, the other in gloss.

Here are pics of the gloss sides:





And the satin sides:





I like the Cedar (reddish) best (of course) but want something darker than that. Still, was an interesting exercise and now I have more idea what I want when I take the plunge.

I decided I like satin much more and am going to go for a satin finish. I changed my mind about the high gloss finish in those big red speakers above. Satin just is nicer to look at and not so glary in the lights. Also looks deeper, and I like the weird holographic effect you get sometimes. For example, this spot in the center bottom goes from dark to light depending on the angle:








In other news my amp is shipped now, should be here in 2 weeks or less I think








The wood is Cocobolo, samme as my turntable in the 1st post here. It will change and darken a lot over time.

The amp is the new 12V battery tube amp but also built in with the battery pre amp, 5 inputs and remote volume. Can't wait to hear it

[ebag4]

Steven,
Cool amp!  I don't see any preamp outputs, have decided to driver the Super V servo amps with a high level signal?

Thanks,
Ed

[NeilT]

Is there anything wrong with using the high level inputs on a servo sub amp? Paralleling with the speaker outputs?
Neil

[Bear]

I can't see the most recent pics posted.....I can however see the previous ones.  Any suggestions?

[ebag4]

Is there anything wrong with using the high level inputs on a servo sub amp? Paralleling with the speaker outputs?
Neil

Historically I have used the high level inputs into sub amps (T-amps can potentially be damaged by this if the sub amp uses common grounds between the inputs, so beware), I always felt this configuration imparted a bit of the primary amps PRAT to the sub amp.  I have been wondering lately how this impacts the sound of the primary amp, because of this I have been seriously considering feeding the servo amps of my V-1 build with a low level signal.

Sorry Steven, I seem to have led your thread a bit off topic.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

Best,
Ed

[NeilT]

Sorry Steven and thanks Ed
Neil

[stevenkelby]

Steven,
Cool amp!  I don't see any preamp outputs, have decided to driver the Super V servo amps with a high level signal?

Thanks,
Ed

Thanks, yep I was planning to run 1 set of wires from the amp to the sub amp enclosure, then to the Super V.

Might do it a little different but that's the idea

No worries on any off topic talk, I like, please continue!

[stevenkelby]

Another pic of the drawing: