Tigerwood X-LS Encores

kwhitman · « **on:** 21 Dec 2021, 08:51 pm »

I was inspired by Mike Lundy's figured ambrosia maple X-LS Encores so much I decided to take on a similar build. A few years back the wife picked out some boards for another project that did not happen so I decided to make use of these and turn them into a set of Encores for my wife. The wood is called Goncalo Alves (Tigerwood). I have two 8' boards that are about 7" wide by .850" thick with a lot of dark figure. This wood is known to be very hard with a lot of resin so it is difficult to glue with traditional wood glue so epoxy is the name of the game here. Since these two boards are only 7" wide that means a lot of re-sawing and gluing up panels.

Notice the amount of red in this board. It turns this way when the resins rise to the top. When cut and sanded the board is much lighter.

kwhitman · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 09:41 pm »

Starting to resaw some panels.

This epoxy is designed to handle woods that contain a lot of resin. It seems to do the trick.

Using epoxy to glue resawn wood to make a panel wide enough to cover a speaker side

mlundy57 · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 09:47 pm »

Those are going to be gorgeous

I've always liked the look of that wood but haven't used any yet.

kwhitman · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 09:48 pm »

Here are a couple panels glued but need glue line cleaned up and panels run thru drum sander to clean up and flatten.

Here is one side being glued with the above epoxy. This epoxy makes the panels slippery to align so I do one side at a time to eliminate epoxy running down the box face. Runs make it more difficult to get a clean flush trim on the panels.

kwhitman · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 09:53 pm »

I appreciate the response Mike. You are the reason these are getting built. I do not have the woodworking skill you have but I am highly motivated to make these do justice to the beautiful pair you put together.

kwhitman · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 10:06 pm »

Second side getting glued on.

This is what the wood skin looks like after flush trimming.

Above is the first box that has been flush trimmed. You can still make out a faint epoxy line that will be taken off with sanding.

kwhitman · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 10:10 pm »

One of the panels for the second box. This piece is a lot darker than the other board.

Resawing

I love the look of book matched panels.

kwhitman · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 10:28 pm »

First Cabinet

2nd cabinet. This one still needs a bottom. I ran out of wood so I had to acquire another piece. The panel is in the clamps as I write this so it will get cleaned up tonight and glued.

Both side by side so you can see the difference in the amount of dark grain. You will notice the darker box needs the bottom panel glued on. This wood gets lighter when cut so they will both get a lot more red when left alone a few weeks as the resin comes back to the surface. The finish will pop the red color you see in the board at the top of this thread.

kwhitman · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Dec 2021, 10:56 pm »

I have the face and rear panels cut to size but I need to cut the holes for the drivers, rear ports, and tube connectors. Once that is complete the rear panels and face plates will be glued on. When dried I will flush trim and round over all the edges of the box. Then I get to sand, sand, and sand.

I have the parts ordered from Danny but like a lot of others we are waiting on tweeters...I knew I should have ordered earlier

I hesitate to cut the holes for the tweeters without having one here for a good measurement and test fit on a piece of scrap. Now would not be a good time to screw up a face since I am out of this wood and it is hard to find. Now where did I put that Jasper jig?????

I do need to call Danny and get some upgraded parts for the crossovers but it appears I have plenty of time. It would be a shame not to trick this pair out.

As always I appreciate all the talent on this forum willing to help out a regular guy like myself. I have been inspired by Peter, Mike, and many others to take on this build. When you look at the work these guys put out I almost hesitate to post my humble project. But, since so many have put their builds out on the forums I feel compelled to do the same. Danny thanks for giving us the opportunity to enjoy these projects by putting out such wonderful kits. And to top it off they sound awesome!

kwhitman · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Dec 2021, 04:00 pm »

Working on the faceplates and rear panels for the first cabinet.

I still need to glue up the panels for the 2nd cabinet but here are the three pieces that will be used.

kwhitman · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Dec 2021, 04:02 pm »

I got the bottom for the 2nd cabinet glued up and it is being epoxied to the cabinet now. You can see the new board had some sap wood and was not nearly as figured as the other two boards. Oh well it will be on the bottom anyway.

oskar · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Dec 2021, 04:26 pm »

Looking great Keep it coming.

Tyson · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Dec 2021, 06:24 pm »

Solid hardwood over MDF, that's going to be one inert cabinet.

kwhitman · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Dec 2021, 03:42 am »

Yes I believe they will definitely be dead and did I mention heavy! They do not have the face or rear panels yet and they are very heavy! These should sound really good with the upgraded crossover parts. I'll keep posting as I make progress. Rear panels next

kwhitman · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Dec 2021, 02:48 pm »

Got some time over the holidays to work on the Tigerwood X-LS's. Worked on the back panels and got both glued up and flush trimmed. Then I started adding the internal braces to the cabinets. I have used epoxy for all the gluing on this build. I am getting real good at mixing epoxy! Still undecided whether or not to work on the front baffles without having the drivers in hand. I would like to get a nice close fit on the tweeter opening. Do you guys just cut to the published dimensions or do you fit to the actual driver face?

I am looking forward to getting the front baffles completed so I can finally do the round over on all sides. These look a little boxy in their current state. Hopefully the round over will soften the areas where the panels meet. What size round over do you guys use? I have 3/8" and 1/2" round over bits but can purchase more if needed. Not sure what mlundy used on his pair but it looks to be a bigger radius on the face than the tops.

Tyson · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Dec 2021, 04:07 pm »

Re: the Radius, I find the bigger the radius, the better the speaker will image. Danny will tell you that 3/8th's is the minimum, for me I'd go 1/2 inch. If you can go bigger than that, I say go for it.

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Dec 2021, 08:29 pm »

Those are looking amazing so far! I love watching these kinds of builds come together, thanks for sharing!

Peter J · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Dec 2021, 10:31 pm »

Quote from: kwhitman on 30 Dec 2021, 02:48 pm

Got some time over the holidays to work on the Tigerwood X-LS's. Worked on the back panels and got both glued up and flush trimmed. Then I started adding the internal braces to the cabinets. I have used epoxy for all the gluing on this build. I am getting real good at mixing epoxy! Still undecided whether or not to work on the front baffles without having the drivers in hand. I would like to get a nice close fit on the tweeter opening. Do you guys just cut to the published dimensions or do you fit to the actual driver face?

I am looking forward to getting the front baffles completed so I can finally do the round over on all sides. These look a little boxy in their current state. Hopefully the round over will soften the areas where the panels meet. What size round over do you guys use? I have 3/8" and 1/2" round over bits but can purchase more if needed. Not sure what mlundy used on his pair but it looks to be a bigger radius on the face than the tops.

5/8" radius is about as big as you can go and not interfere with woofer frame. Although with additional side thickness you've added, perhaps that could increase. Trust me, if you cut the tweeter rabbet the same dimensions as spec., it won't fit right, diameter or depth. On the CNC, I typically allow about .030 clearance on diameter. With a hand router, a shy 16th will be plenty good and not look sloppy. I have a mule tweeter I can lend you for fitting, if you pay shipping back and forth. I might even have a reject baffle you could have for shipping cost.

If I'm not mistaken, Mike did use two different roundovers . Perhaps 1/2" and 1/4". Confirm with him though.

kwhitman · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Dec 2021, 02:09 am »

Thanks for the reply Peter. I have watched most if not every video you have placed on YouTube (I did not cheat and skip thru to the end either

) and I saw the flatpack comparison video and noticed the issue with tweeters not fitting or incorrect depth. That is exactly why I am nervous about cutting to 'spec'. I have learned a lot from your YouTube videos so they are much appreciated.

I purchased a flat pack from Danny when I ordered the kit (I mistakenly thought it was your kit

) and wound up not using it for this build. The design did not lend itself to having 1/4" skins and solid face and rear baffles. The tweeter opening on Danny's flatpack measures exactly 3.93" and is recessed .180" deep which agrees with the drawing. I appreciate the offer of shipping your mule tweeter but that is a lot of trouble. I will just set this build aside until I get the kit from Danny. From his website and here on AudioCircle it appears we might be in for a long wait for tweeters.

As far as the cabinet radius goes I can go 1/2" that Tyson suggested for sure without worrying about cutting thru the hardwood and I might be able to pull off 5/8". I'll model that on the computer to verify before cutting any radius. The face and rear panels I know I can cut away since they are solid 3/4" hardwood but the tops, sides, and bottoms have 1/4" skins so I don't want to cut thru those.

Thanks everyone for commenting, much appreciated.

kwhitman · « **Reply #19 on:** 31 Dec 2021, 04:41 pm »

The wife seemed pretty bummed that I was halting the build so I decided to go with Peters suggestions and allow for additional clearances.

Published specs on Danny's website show these dimensions for the tweeter:
Face plate size 3.925"
Face plate depth .2

Depth:
Since the published depth on the tweeter faceplate is .200" one would guess that includes the gasket since it is attached. I can see why the drawing at .180" might cause the tweeter to set slightly proud. I would assume deeper is better since you can build that up if necessary. I would be interested to hear what depth others are using.

Diameter:
Peter suggested .030" added diameter clearance so that makes the overall dimension 3.955"-3.96" depending on spec diameter or drawing diameter. Unfortunately the Jasper jig increments in 1/16". So I currently have holes for 3 15/16" (3.9375) and 4". I could scribe a line between these two holes and punch one between them giving me approximately 3.969" or sneak it towards the smaller hole slightly. That would put me in the ballpark Peter suggested. I will do that and see what I get on a scrap piece. Thanks for that suggestion Peter. I know your OCD would not allow for a sloppy fit

.

OK back to work on the faceplates. I'm starting to feel the need for a CNC machine!