[Martynas]

High,
This is my first post here and i see here very interesting speakers solution.

As I see 1801 enclosures are veneered on sides, back and top.
And I'd like to ask about what type of gluing is used here, because of when I making cabinets I'm using white wood glue and small DIY press.
But it is very time consumpting process.
But from another side I'm afraid using contact cement.

So what's your solution.

Thanks in advance.
Martynas

[David Ellis]

I haven't used aliphatic resin with Veneer with a press.  I cannot comment on this.  Jim Salk uses one of these, but has a need for it because he uses raw veneer.  With raw veneer (no backing) the finish will soak through and might    affect the veneer bond.  Therefor the type of glue used with raw veneer is important.

I always use Tape-ease 2-ply veneer for my speakers.  This is great stuff for many reasons.  One of them is the vapor barrier between the two layers of veneer.  It effectively stops any bleed-through of wood finish.  Any wood finish applied will not reach the glue.  I must also admit that Dave at Tape-Ease recommends the use of solvent based contact cement only.  IMO, this is overkill.  I have used solvent based and water based contact cement with perfect results.

I believe in the realm of contact cement there is a clear winner.  An automotive industry adhesive expert encouraged me to check-out the water based contact cement from 3M.  I did.  I now use this stuff exclusively.  This stuff is a killer product.  It has a high solids content, spreads nicely, and is water based product.  It doesn't smell.  The really great part is the 3M stuff sticks solid - just like solvent based contact cement.  The 3M stuff costs about $50/gallon.  Yes, it's expensive, but I believe it's the best.

Sorry for my slow response.

[Shamrock Audio]

We've been using RooTac for a few years now with excellent results. I don't know if it's available in your area, but I highly recommend it.

http://www.rooglue.com/

Best regards,

[Martynas]

Thanks for all for answers.
I never thought about posibility to use waterbased contact cement, but it sounds interesting.
I'll try it and maybe it will be faster than with press and also I'll not have a problem with possibility of soaking glue through veneer.

Also I'd like to ask you about gluing solid front baffle: as I understood yours front baffle is glued to MDF using glue similar to "Nonails" or you using another technique.
Now I'm thinking what type of glue to use for my baffle, I see two options:
1. NoNails or similar
2. speacial glue solid parquet (based on PVA, but more flexible than simple white wood glue).

Thank you in advance.

[David Ellis]

I'll try it and maybe it will be faster than with press and also I'll not have a problem with possibility of soaking glue through veneer.

Well, the contact cement will soak through the venner when applied IF the veneer is porus.  The 2-ply NBL completely eliminates this problem because it has a vapor barrier.  With raw veneer there are often pores in the wood.  Any adhesive will seep through these pores.

as I understood yours front baffle is glued to MDF using glue similar to "Nonails" or you using another technique.

Nope,  I have tried Liquid Nails and returned to plain yellow wood glue. It leaves a smaller gap and provides a better bond IMO.  Liquid nails allows some movement (almost none).  If you want to use it, I recommend the Green Lable (for subfloors) Liquid Nails.  I still use this stuff to glue my Goertz inductors to the crossover board.  For baffles I use plain yellow wood glue applied to both surfaces using a small square notch spreader/spatula.  

The discussion about solid lumber splitting when attached to MDF is always one of opinion.  Some guys are very insistent that it WILL always split.  None of these guys have provide any examples via picture or historical experience.  Most guys convey that solid lumber will split, but only when the distance across the grain is significant.  12 - 20 inches seems to be the questionable region.

[Martynas]

Thanks a lot for answers.

Probably I'll go with yellow wood glue.

It will be my first speakers with solid wood baffle, but I hope it will be fine.

[salva]

Hi there, I'm on a spanish speaker DIY group, we have started to try a new way of veneeering with old white carpenteer glue and a iron.

http://www.matrixhifi.com/foro/viewtopic.php?p=7356#7356

I tried myself and it is a quick and effective way of vennering, the finish is very good indeed.

I  hope that it will be of usage to anyone.

Salva

[EProvenzano]

Hi.  I like the potential of this process.
I'm sure the pictures are not very accurate, but it appears as though the two peices did not seam together too well???

What exactly does the hot iron do?

Thanks

[salva]

Hi, the Iron dries the glue, it evaporates the water and dryes in seconds, after a few minutes of apply, you can sand and paint.

The two pieces are overlapped, then fine sanded until you match them.

Salva

[Ron Stewart]

You guys probably already know this, but there's another iron-on veneering technique. It's often called the dry-bond method, because you spread the glue on the veneer and substrate, let it dry, then apply heat and pressure with an iron.

Here are two links describing the process.

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/iron-on-veneering.htm

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=238062

I'm skeptical that Joe Woodworker's Heat Lock adhesive is different than ordinary yellow PVA, but his description of the procedure is nice and clear.

I used this method, with Titebond, for my 1801F's, and it worked well. Of course, I've completed a whopping one veneering project, so I'm about as far from an expert as one can be.

Ron