[rockdrummer]

Hi everyone. I love seeing build threads, and also sharing to get advice too. I've built a few GR kits, and this is my second go-round with epoxy. I used epoxy on the outside of my H-frames.

Got the kit from Danny and a sheet of no-rez, and it arrive packed great. The flat pack from Jay was also packed perfectly. At this point, I'm glued up, and a first coat of Raka 127/non-blushing 350 epoxy went on last night.











I see some runs in it, so I need to be a bit more careful. A little extra sanding in my future. Should go quicker than the h frames though!

I will be spraying over last and I may put grill cloth between the drivers and the front baffle.

I just thought about this, after I get dry enough, I need to test fit the drivers to make sure I don't thicken up the back recesses too much and make the neo drivers too snug to fit. Thinking out loud.

See you when I get more done.
Ben

[HAL]

Nice build!

Yes, the opening for the GR-NEO3 is tight, so do a test fit before putting more finish in the area.

[Saturn94]

Looking forward to seeing more in this thread. 

[Captainhemo]

Looks good  Ben 

As rich mentioned,  the opening around the tweeter is  tight, on this first run of baffles I had to scrape out every tweeter recess out as they  were  designed to fit the  original  Neo3 PDr ... Danny's came in just  slightly  larger .  All subsequent runs will have a  slightly  larger  recess  for the tweeter so  no more  scraping  ....  makes me happy 

jay

[rockdrummer]

Hi all, back with an update. 4 coats of epoxy on thr cabinets. Here are a few images.

Sanding off the small runs down the face, not hard, but a bit time consuming.



The face comes out so smooth and easy, the waveguides, however, I knew they would be more work.



There was much more care taken when sanding out the corners of the waveguides. I used 150 grit where on flat surfaces I used 100 to start.






I think I went through the epoxy into the medex baffle ever so slightly, on the spine between the neo 3 and 10. So I touched that up and I am pretty sure I have stayed on the epoxy this time.

I had that issue on the rounded bases of my h frames. This time I made sure to just get mostly smooth so I would leave enough for the epoxy to layer.


Once I finish the second baffle, I will start sanding 220 and then 320. I will also post pics of the crossover boards when I get the final coat on.

Hey Jay, the drivers fit just right in the back of the baffle, so thanks for your work scraping them out!

More later.
Ben

[Captainhemo]

Looking  good  Ben 
2nd  round of   baffles   should be available  next week and no more  sanding / scraping  !!

jay

[rockdrummer]

Hi again. Just wanted to put a couple more shots up of the baffle, and hopefully some incentive for others who may be thinking epoxy isn't worth the effort or too much work. I'm not much of a "woodwork craftsman" but I like to dabble and this was easy, after some research and prep, with some awesome results.










Those seams are perfectly smooth and any light discoloration is wood glue underneath.

Ben

[rockdrummer]

Hi, curing question. I emailed Raka last week but they didn't respond. How long should I let the last coat of epoxy cure before spray painting? I read online that 72 hours was fine, but I had 1 week in the back of my mind.

I'm out of town, and was hoping to get the 2nd cabinet sanded when I get back. If I need to put another coat on, then I'm pushed back again. Oh well.

Thanks
Ben

[mlundy57]

Hi, curing question. I emailed Raka last week but they didn't respond. How long should I let the last coat of epoxy cure before spray painting? I read online that 72 hours was fine, but I had 1 week in the back of my mind.

I'm out of town, and was hoping to get the 2nd cabinet sanded when I get back. If I need to put another coat on, then I'm pushed back again. Oh well.

Thanks
Ben

I don't know about Raka but I normally let West Systems epoxy cure 24 hours before sanding then start applying either primer/sealer or veneer the next day. But then I sand most of the epoxy off so there is not much of a build. I would guess the thicker the epoxy, the longer it needs to cure.

Mike

[rockdrummer]

Thanks , Mike.

I will probably be able to finish up my crossover boards first, then paint those a black. I'm excited to get working on those. That will give me any time to let a possible last coat cure up on the second cabinet.
I get back from Washington D.C. with my family late Monday, so Tuesday morning I hope to get into the garage and sand till my heart's content!
Ben

[rockdrummer]

Hi there. I will be posting more pics in an update soon, but one quick neo 3 question.

Anyone know if the black yarn goes on the outside chambers of the front AND back of the driver?

Thanks.
Ben

[HAL]

Ben,
The yarn goes in the outside chambers only on the front of the GR-NEO3 tweeters.

[rockdrummer]

Thanks Hal.

Ben

[HAL]

Just got my pair of Super Mini baffles built, drivers and wiring installed.

[rockdrummer]

Awesome! Bet that combo of a Gibson SG and Laney/Marshall sounds good too!
Ben

[HAL]

Yes it does!   

[mkane]

 My yarn's in the back. I guess I need to make a change.

[rockdrummer]

Almost finished

I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets sad when the building process is done. Love working on things like this.

Finished sanding, got to painting. I'm not good at spray painting. I always end up with inconsistent finishes. I think I'm moving too fast and I don't get good coverage with passes that are probably too far apart. Anyway.



Crossover boards



I didn't use gaskets on the neo 10. That way, the driver rests up against the baffle with very little gap between it and the waveguide. I used a big drill bit by hand to open up spots where rivets protrude.







Finished crossovers. I made them as copies to keep wiring simple for me.







Ordered the miflex bypass caps from Danny, and a replacement for a tweeter that didn't work.

My phone camera is cloudy, so I'm hoping to get good clean pictures of the finish when I'm up and running.
Thanks
Ben

[AKLegal]

Almost finished

I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets sad when the building process is done. Love working on things like this.

Finished sanding, got to painting. I'm not good at spray painting. I always end up with inconsistent finishes. I think I'm moving too fast and I don't get good coverage with passes that are probably too far apart. Anyway.

You and me both.  I spent a good 4 months trying to teach myself how to spray paint to get consistent results before I even thought about attempting to spray paint my Super 7s.  I learned a lot from this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_MtpaMYaY&t=397s but I am convinced I'll never be good at it. 

I found a routine that works for me though - it just uses a ton of paint.  I spray the first coat on which typically for me is either uneven, has rough spots and runs or the worst of all, tiger striping - I have learned to minimize all of these though by doing multiple light coats.  After 48 hours I then sand the uneven and rough spots in the first coat with 600 grit - 400 for paint runs/drips.  Then I paint again but this time I don't have to spray on nearly as much which means it is impossible to make as many mistakes as I made in the first coat.  I sand any imperfections out again and spray an even lighter coat.  Repeat until I am broke from buying spray cans or I get the finish I want.  Its definitely not professional advice lol. 

I have also found that I have an easier time with "wetter" spray paints like Krylon as opposed to Rustoleum which tends to go on drier.  I find rustoleum to be superior to Krylon but every single time I have tried to use it I get heavy tiger striping because again, I suck at this.  Krylon gives me a much larger margin of error I just have to watch for runs.  Krylon is so wet that I can sometimes wipe runs off and quickly repaint with no issues.  So I keep a microfiber cloth handy when I paint.

[mkane]

 In my experience painting plastic models, this first coat goes on thin. Your mileage may vary.