[Blaine_M]

You can also use finish nails.  If they are in the way you can just sink them in deeper before you router the edges.

[IronForge]

I usually find a nail gun and wood glue work nicely.

[mono-tubeleosis]

I built a pair of AV-3 speakers recently.  I put the crossover components on each brace.  When you order your electronics Danny will include a wiring diagram that shows this, I put the tweeter components on the top and the rest on the bottom brace.  I also did the sonicap upgrade, if you are spending the time to build them, you might as well do that upgrade.

Love your room Blaine.   The speakers look great!  I'm getting Danny's MTMWW kit this week.  I've built several of his speakers but only once did I veneer any and I had some trouble.  Where did you get your veneer from and how did you apply it to the MDF (adhesives, tools, etc)?  Do you have rounded corners?

Thanks in advance.

[Blaine_M]

Wow this is an old thread!  I got the veneer from Oakwoodveneer.com.  It is the stuff they call  'bubble free'.  I used a contact cement purchased at Home Depot.  The key with the stuff is on the MDF, especially the cut edges, you may have to give it as many as 4 coats.  I used a trimming router bit to cut all the excess veneer off with the router.  My front edges have a 1/2 inch radius, I wanted 3/4 inch but I didn't have a large enough router to get the 3/4 inch bit.  We precut the veneer and marked the center point on the veneer and on the cabinet.  It helped to have two people the way we put it on.  I also recomend using the pre-cut baffles if you can with those speakers.  Seen a few people on here make there own and they are often off center in one way or another.  That's really about it, just pay attention to the the order in which you veneer each piece, makes a difference on where your seems are.  I did not put rounded edges on the back, just did one piece of veneer on the back, did that first, then the top, then wrapped the large piece around the front and sides.  Used a clothes iron also to make sure it was stuck down good.  Then I used a wipe on poly from general finishes with no stain.

[Blaine_M]

Also, I would not recomend the water based contact cement......I did not use it, but that's the general conclusion I came to when initially researching the stuff.  Danny is also a lot of help with this stuff if you need more input.  To apply the veneer I used a piece of MDF that was about 5 inches wide by 10 inches long, put a 1/4 inch radius on it and used the edge of that as a scraper to push it down, have to press real hard, hard you press it down the better it stays.

[mono-tubeleosis]

Also, I would not recomend the water based contact cement......I did not use it, but that's the general conclusion I came to when initially researching the stuff.  Danny is also a lot of help with this stuff if you need more input.  To apply the veneer I used a piece of MDF that was about 5 inches wide by 10 inches long, put a 1/4 inch radius on it and used the edge of that as a scraper to push it down, have to press real hard, hard you press it down the better it stays.

Thanks Blaine.  That helps tremendously.  I did get some bubbles when I made Danny's AV-R's for my rear surrounds.  I used a veneer though that came with adhesive on it and I think that may have been the problem all along.  I have my own CNC router at work to cut all the MDF so they should come out perfect on the baffle etc.  And If I wanted to make the boxes without routered edges I could laminate each piece through a laminator Which I also have at work.  But I want the rounded edges so I need to at the very least be able to manually adhere it to the front baffle and sides.  Then I will trim off the excess with a straight bit in my hand-held router.  The tip on your 5 X 10 burnisher sounds like a great idea.  I have one last question if you don't mind.  did you try and do the front and sides all at the same time?  In other words did you attach the front to the middle of your veneer piece first, then let it dry before you did each side or did you just try and get all three sides done at the same time?

[Blaine_M]

I used contact cement.  You put the contact cement on both surfaces to be joined.  You let it dry, then you put the veneer on and use lots of pressure.  Contact cement must dry before you put it together.  I did do the front and sides at the same time, it's not that hard if you have 2 people.  Used a piece if tape and marked the center of the veneer, put a tick mark on the center of the part being veneered and used those as guides.  Go to Oakwoodveer.com, they have some how to's on veneering in there.  I would not use the stick on stuff, I've heard it does not work very well.  Also on the edges you cut you may have to apply several layers of contact cement, it will soak in.  Don't forget to push it down very hard and you can use a clothes iron over any spots that don't stick down, just don't get it too hot. 

[mono-tubeleosis]

I used contact cement.  You put the contact cement on both surfaces to be joined.  You let it dry, then you put the veneer on and use lots of pressure.  Contact cement must dry before you put it together.  I did do the front and sides at the same time, it's not that hard if you have 2 people.  Used a piece if tape and marked the center of the veneer, put a tick mark on the center of the part being veneered and used those as guides.  Go to Oakwoodveer.com, they have some how to's on veneering in there.  I would not use the stick on stuff, I've heard it does not work very well.  Also on the edges you cut you may have to apply several layers of contact cement, it will soak in.  Don't forget to push it down very hard and you can use a clothes iron over any spots that don't stick down, just don't get it too hot. 

Thanks Blaine.  I'll let you know how it all turns out.  Just finished one of the crossover networks yesterday (I guess we're calling it the OB-5).  That was a whole lot more complicated than my AV-2's were.  But fun