I figured I'd just pop in and give a little more info on this sub. The veneer is a 10mil paper backed FiddleBack Maple veneer. It is cut at a different angle than a standard flat cut curly maple to give a tighter grain. It is applied with a 3M water based adhesive.
A lot of care is put into the veneering to get all the seams done properly. We first do the veneer wrap, then spray with one coat of a Sayerlack catalyzed polyurethane base coat before trimming the edges. We use a spiral downcut flush trim bit in a laminate trimmer to trim up the edges. The first basecoat helps to hold the veneer together at the edges and eliminate chipping. This, combined with the spiral downcut flush trim means there is no chipout at all along the edges. After the wrap is done and trimmed, the top and bottom veneer is put on. It is sprayed and trimmed like the wrap.
Then everything is sanded to a 220grit. Two more coats of the basecoat are applied filling up all the grain. A final sanding is done with 220 on the basecoat . Three coats of the clear topcoat are then sprayed on. This topcoat alone is a very high gloss, but we are going for a piano type finish here. After the third coat is dry, the entire enclosure is wetsanded with 600grit and then 1500grit paper to a very smooth finish. Then it is buffed with a 3M fast cut buffing compound and followed up with a 3M swirlmark remover. The end result is a nearly glasslike finish that you can see yourself in. The following is a picture during the spray process just showing the nice figure to the maple.
The pictures don't do it justice. I didn't get a chance to actually take any of the finished enclosure before it shipped. I do have some from during construction that you can see in the gallery here:
http://www.aespeakers.com/phpbb2/modules.php?set_albumName=album03&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.phpThe cabinet itself weighs about 85lbs. Built from 2 laminated layers of 3/4" mdf with one brace vertically. The PR's being on opposing sides cancel all the net forces on the cabinet so it stays very still.
John
