[Peter J]

Peter,

Not sure how to respond, WOW!!! doesn't seem to cover it.

It's the fairy dust isn't it? Must have drifted over from the amp boxes. That's it, yeah.

Mike

It's possible I accidentally  snorted some.  They remind me of a trip I took a long time ago...

[Peter J]

Started on finishing today.

Yet more samples to make sure I'm headed where I want to go.





Dye and sealer. After futzing around some I found that straight bright red Transtint got the tone I wanted. Surprised me a little, but with the color of the mahogany +straight red dye the base color is just what I envisioned. It will shift a little more towards red as the finishing progresses...you'll see as I move along...trust me! This will be a "fully filled" finish, meaning the open grain of the mahogany will filled so the final lacquer coats will be close to glass smooth...very little if any texture. Imagine dining room table or high end furniture.






Here's the amp boxes after spraying dye and two coats of Level sealer





And here's a close-up. You can see the red dye on the non-veneered parts (those will all be black), and the open grain structure of the wood. This will change as I progress





Subs and mains after sealer






And here's the bonus fiddleback figure after the dye "pops" it.




Next on agenda: sand, fill, sand, spray more dye, spray Level, sand, spray Level, sand, spray Level, sand and on & on till it's glass. Then the topcoats.

[Guy 13]

I can only say:
WOW !
and 

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

[Odal3]

Peter - your detailed and well documented build threads are one of my favourites here at at AC. Thank you for sharing your amazing work.

[NeilT]

Peter - your detailed and well documented build threads are one of my favourites here at at AC. Thank you for sharing your amazing work.

Ditto ++++

and what Guy said

Neil

[Peter J]

Thanks for the kudos... nice to hear (read). It's enjoyable for me, too. I get to share some bit of myself through the process. To follow the paths I do and have others with similar interests along for the ride is just cool. Probably why I like forums in general, but this one in particular. In addition, I get to be a passenger on other's threads.

As I get nearer the end, the excitement of having them in the house playing my tunes builds and re-motivates me, although there's much left to do. It's as if the build has taken on an epic life of it's own and I'm just the facilitator, it that makes any sense. Probably says something about me and my sometimes nutty notions.

I could wax philosophical on and on I suppose, but I'll digress and go do some sanding...

[Peter J]

A delayed job gives me some time to work on these. I thought I might detail the finishing a little more because, truth be told,  because I like this part a lot! I'm using some products that might be a little hard to come by in the DIY world but the finish is some of the best I've ever done.


As I was sanding the sealer I noticed that I'd sanded through the veneer where I seamed it so I applied a little camouflage








Hopefully this comes through like I'm intending. Here's what the grain looks like after shooting 2 heavy coats of Level Sealer




And this is after I sand it back...way back. After this two more fat coats and sand back again and it has all but completely filled the grain. I didn't take any photos at that juncture...oops.








Once I got the second coats of Level sanded, I masked off the mahogany and shot black on interior. Then unmasked and put down three coats of pre-cat lacquer, sanding between 2nd & 3rd coat.






Close-up of the same area that I was showing grain in prior photo, for comparison






Had to stick the grills on to get a taste






Some shots showing finish on amp base, it's kinda hard to photograph, but while you can see the grain and still get the wood vibe, the surface is dead flat and smooth. I once heard this type of finish described  as something like "makes you want to touch it" and that's apt, I think.  The most impressive thing to me is that this is the finish off the gun, no cutting and buffing. I'm pretty stoked!






Next up will be same treatment on mains and sub boxes. If there's something specific y'all would like to see, let me know and I'll take photos.



 

[Guy 13]

Thanks Peter for the pictures. 

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

[Peter J]

The next chapter. Still finishing, some assembly.

This is silicone rubber glazing seal...seemed just the thing for this application. I sprinkled fairy dust on it before installation and should probably name it something more elegant for audio use.








Got amp stands and cages done








Masked off mahogany to spray interiors. Was going to do mains but the extra can of Clawlock I got just so I had it on hand was...........white! Shit! I had just enough black to do subs. Can't get more until Tuesday.








Once interiors on subs were done, I masked them to shoot final lacquer coats on sub. Lots of masking....not my fave. I had to do a mockup afterward to satisfy curiosity.

[NeilT]

O my Freak n Gosh, you are kill n me. But don't ever stop post n pictures and thanks.
Most of us can only dream of getting results like that.

Thanks for setting the bar so high.

Neil

[Guy 13]

Peter,
you are an excellent wood worker, cabinet maker
and very important, you are an artist in design, creation
and making.
I've seen a lot of speaker enclosures in my life,
but yours are... A work of art and I am not only trying to be nice,
I really think it's a unique creation.
Everything about your speakers enclosures
and even the box for the plate amplifiers is unique.
If I were you, I would keep it for myself.
If you sell it, as for 1,000,000 USD for it.

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

[Peter J]

Peter,
you are an excellent wood worker, cabinet maker
and very important, you are an artist in design, creation
and making.
I've seen a lot of speaker enclosures in my life,
but yours are... A work of art and I am not only trying to be nice,
I really think it's a unique creation.
Everything about your speakers enclosures
and even the box for the plate amplifiers is unique.
If I were you, I would keep it for myself.
If you sell it, as for 1,000,000 USD for it.

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

Thanks Guy, that's really thoughtful of you to say. I must say the process of dreaming up something, planning how it's going to get done and finally bringing it to fruition is heady stuff for me. It certainly feeds my soul. It also hones my skills and raises my bar, which is a lot of what drives the whole thing. It took me a long time to make the commitment to a build like this. I considered it with Danny's Super V's but never got on that horse for a variety of reasons. But here the stars aligned and away I went!

When I think about it, it's a little odd that I've never even heard these and yet made this time and money commitment on the front end. I can't imagine I won't like them, but as you may have noticed, this is more a woodworking exercise than a speaker design experiment. I'll leave that to Danny and others.  These are intended for our living room and I imagine keeping them for a long time. I wouldn't begin to know how to price something like this. I've exceeded my most pessimistic time estimates and have quit keeping track. That said, I probably would part with them for a million. And then start another...

[Peter J]

More progress and I need some help. I know I've seen but can't seem to find the diagram showing sub wiring. Drivers in parallel and sensors in series or maybe the other way around. Direction appreciated or just post here. Thanks.

Finishing up the mains








Then glue and screw the baffles using PL Premium. Small bead all around...don't want it oozing out all over...inside's got to be pretty too!










Couldn't live with those big silver eyeballs staring out at me. Apologies Danny for taking your stickers off, they just don't jibe with my vision!







And y'all know how fussy I am about driver installation hardware so I put spacers on the mounting screws so they didn't disappear into the holes









And some late afternoon sun vanity shots

[Rocket_Ronny]

Nice to watch when people pull out all the stops. Well done.

Rocket Ronny

[Guy 13]

Peter, I've never seen something so beautiful.
Please, keep the pictures coming.
Looking at your pictures is as good, maybe even better,
than eating a chocolate chips muffin
and a chocolate chips muffin is. is....
No word to describe it.

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

[mlundy57]

Peter,

Here you go







Mike

[Peter J]

Peter,

Here you go

Mike

Thanks Mike, I don't think I've seen these before. The one I was remembering was a Super V silhouette.
In my case using two drivers rather than three, I would just eliminate the bottom driver and wire bottom driver in subs as if they were middle driver in drawings? Does that make sense?

[HAL]

This one is for 2 subs:

[Peter J]

This one is for 2 subs:

That's the one I remember. Thanks Rich. Danny, maybe these could be stickys here or available on your site? Seems like it's brought up from time to time.

[mlundy57]

Thanks Mike, I don't think I've seen these before. The one I was remembering was a Super V silhouette.
In my case using two drivers rather than three, I would just eliminate the bottom driver and wire bottom driver in subs as if they were middle driver in drawings? Does that make sense?

Sorry about that. I drew these out when I was wiring up my 3x8" H-Frames then accidentally saved them in the wrong place (a folder for dual drivers). When I posted these I didn't look close enough to realize they were for a triple hook-up.

Mike