Hey all.
Was considering finishing a pair of box speakers (think xls or studio monitors) similarly to how ron at nrd finished his nx oticas (white front baffle and what appears to be veneered side panels. Soooo I wrote to one of our resident woodworking experts Peter J and inquired. Here’s his initial response along with a link to another thread he provided:
“ I know it's done, even on some commercial products. I've done it myself in a slightly different way. My concerns would be about box integrity with the baffle being a separate element. I like to think of building the box in such a way that all sides combined become as close to a single element as possible. Not so you can park trucks on 'em but because the structure will be better integrated and damped when all parts contribute to the whole.
From a cabinetmaker's point of view, If I were to do as you're suggesting, I'd build the entire box with two separate finishes in mind. Taking into account the additional thickness the veneer will add so that the baffle and veneered sides end up flush with each other. I really dislike putting finished elements together at the end. The possibility of damage or misalignment is increased and the whole concept strikes me more like IKEA stuff than nice furniture. FWIW, I'd likely make the cabinet, mask off and finish different elements and then clear the whole shebang.
I'm not saying it's impossible to do well. In the furniture world there's a joint disguising technique known as a shadow line or furniture joint. Typically a small groove with the joint at or in the groove. The groove essentially hides the joint. Let me see if I can dig up a old thread where I did this. I have glued on baffles after the fact, but the joinery needs to be tight and clean. When I've done it I used PL premium as the glue. I show this on my X-Otica build thread, but did use a few pocket screws from the inside.
I'd like for this to be in the forum so as to be helpful to others. Danny's cool with it. I'll leave it to you do that if you're of a mind.”
Link:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=122387.msg1289202#msg1289202Thanks Peter!!!
