X-LS Build

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #20 on:** 15 Aug 2020, 09:41 pm »

Quote from: DonJoe on 15 Aug 2020, 09:28 pm

My oldest boy stained our speakers by himself with Mohawk Radiant Copper. All that has been done is the staining process and we really like where the speaker is headed. He was very proud that he was able to do this and made for a fun day.

Cheers!

Those are looking great! He nailed it!

AlexH · « **Reply #21 on:** 15 Aug 2020, 11:36 pm »

Those are looking great. Wait til you get a finish on them and the grain will really pop.

Peter J · « **Reply #22 on:** 15 Aug 2020, 11:41 pm »

They look great so far! Consider staining the tweeter rabbet or blackening the vertical wall of it later on with a dark marker. If any of the light colored MDF peeks out around tweeter, it will be screaming "look at me".

You could even plop the tweeter in at this point to get a visual on what I'm talking about.

DonJoe · « **Reply #23 on:** 15 Aug 2020, 11:46 pm »

Thx all. I was going to have my youngest boy help with the Sutherland Welles Tung Oil finish but glad I checked for allergens. I had no idea it is effectively a Tree Nut Oil and he is epi-pen allergic to tree nuts. As a parent of a child with nut allergies, I am used to checking food but had some wierd hunch to check these finishes. Who would have guessed LOL.

My oldest will now do all the final finish work.

I may have to let my youngest help with NoRez and final assembly....with major supervision of course.

Peter- Thx for your flat pack and videos. None of this would be possible without your tutorials. Assuming this lockdown continues, this could be a fun project for many other parents to occupy time and build and awesome set of speakers in the process. Also, we just went back and stained the tweeter rabbet.

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #24 on:** 16 Aug 2020, 02:21 am »

They look great! And even better that you’ve been able to get your boys involved. Something you’ll all remember doing together during these crazy times.

DonJoe · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 Aug 2020, 03:41 pm »

We applied the first coat of Sutherland Welles Tung Oil today. Now begins the slow process of building up layers.

We were impressed how much the Tung Oil made the grain pop vs. just the stain/dye. Probably won't be anymore pictures for a while but the difference in this one coat warranted a share.

DonJoe · « **Reply #26 on:** 22 Aug 2020, 11:48 pm »

My oldest son now has 7 coats of tung oil. We used gray scotch bite between coats and 600 grit wet sand/slury with application of tung oil. I figure we will keep adding layers while we wait on our tube connectors/foil inductors with the rest of the kit to ship. I figure we can always take some 0000 steel wool at the end to get that more satin finish. But my son has really been patient (rare for 14 yr/olds) and is proud of his work. It has been fun for us so far!

Side note- I ordered a Pro Ject X2 turntable and hit a used record store up today. I am thinking the X2s with our Marantz PM8004 and Project X2 and some good vinyl might be the next step. The boys are plenty into speakers now...mission accomplished. Now to get them into some good music. We are getting excited to get this finished but patient enough to do it right.

So pictures.

The first is the picture of the two with 7 coats and ambient light in my basement where i can keep humidity and temp constant. The second close up is with direct light on it. You can see how the grain glows with light. The copper stain from Mohawk did wonders. It might not suit everyones taste but we are happy that we have made it this far.

naboo · « **Reply #27 on:** 28 Aug 2020, 06:31 pm »

Wow - that does look great

I am at a similar junction - knew nothing about veneering prior to this, but I think I did a much worse job than you did. I have a walnut veneer and am struggling to get a nice finish. Best test so far has been a regular varnish but I am definitely looking into the Tung oil.

Here it is as it currently looks - part of me likes the dullness, I am afraid that once it shines, the little bubbles will be visible. I'm not sure about a stain yet, I do like the natural colour.

Do the multiple layers just make it brighter, shinier with every layer?

DonJoe · « **Reply #28 on:** 29 Aug 2020, 10:44 pm »

Quote from: naboo on 28 Aug 2020, 06:31 pm

Wow - that does look great I am at a similar junction - knew nothing about veneering prior to this, but I think I did a much worse job than you did. I have a walnut veneer and am struggling to get a nice finish. Best test so far has been a regular varnish but I am definitely looking into the Tung oil.

Here it is as it currently looks - part of me likes the dullness, I am afraid that once it shines, the little bubbles will be visible. I'm not sure about a stain yet, I do like the natural colour.

Do the multiple layers just make it brighter, shinier with every layer?

Looks good to me! We are complete novices here too. We just watched lots of Peters videos many times and as many other videos/reading as we could do our best....no where near perfect by any stretch but our best.

I am not a wood working expert so I would wait for others to chime in on finish. My experience has been that the Sutherland Wells tung oil made the grain really pop in a beautiful way. Also, because it is a penetrating oil, it is easy for beginners to apply. Wipe on. Wait 30 mins. Wipe off. Light sand between coats to know down dust nibs and repeat. We ended up applying 10 coats to get a nice finish that enhances the look without completely filling the wood grain. I have read that some woodworkers will go between 10-20 coats. It is easy but you have to wait 20 mins between coats for it to dry. Final curing takes months from what I have read.

In addition to the tung oil, we also use Mohawk radiant copper stain/dye combo first.

Good luck. I cannot wait to see yours once you have them finished.

DonJoe · « **Reply #29 on:** 29 Aug 2020, 11:45 pm »

Here is a photo of my X-LS encore with 2 pieces of veneer sitting on top.

1. The square furthest away in the photo has one coat of tung oil and nothing else
2. The second square closest to the camera is bare veneer

My boxes now have Mohawk Radiant copper stain with 10 coats of sutherland wells tung oil. Many days of slow and easy work. It was funny, some days the coat would be ready to sand within 24 hours and have that fine white/powdery residue. Other days, it would need a second day. Either way, we remained patient and only moved forward when the tung oil was dry.

Take a look:

Skilly · « **Reply #30 on:** 30 Aug 2020, 06:09 am »

DonJoe,

they are stunning. I would not be surprises if the speakers become more cherish than family members.

Peter J · « **Reply #31 on:** 30 Aug 2020, 02:06 pm »

DonJoe, they look really nice. You and your sons should be proud. I think there's a takeaway for them about patience here. It didn't sink in for me a good chunk of my life. Slow and steady perseverance will often yield a wonderful result. In a fast paced world where things can't come fast enough, finishing wood like this can be really rewarding. Smelling the roses and all that. Well done.

Naboo, walnut comes to life with a hint of orange in the finish.I suspect Tung oil would have a pleasing result as would most oil-based finishes. They almost all impart a slight amber hue. Penetrating finishes will tend to leave that "woody" look that many like.
You mention bubbles, are there bubbles in the veneer? If so, that would be something of a problem that could perhaps be fixed. How did you apply veneer? Paper backed or raw? Many here to help, but perhaps best to start another thread.

MarkS · « **Reply #32 on:** 31 Aug 2020, 02:02 pm »

Those look fantastic and exactly what I have in mind for my first DIY project. Where did you get the veneer?

DonJoe · « **Reply #33 on:** 31 Aug 2020, 07:17 pm »

Finished and breaking in. The boys keep going back into the room to look at them and admire their work. Thanks to the community for all the help.

corndog71 · « **Reply #34 on:** 31 Aug 2020, 11:37 pm »

Looks great! The shiny screws give it a little class too.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #35 on:** 31 Aug 2020, 11:48 pm »

Very nice! The veneer & stain/oil looks fantastic!
I hope all of you enjoy their sound as much as you enjoy their looks!

Love the touch with the gold/brass colored screws, I did the same with mine! Plus I saw Danny's XLS build guide, he sprayed the screws a copper color, & that was a fantastic touch too.

JasonM · « **Reply #36 on:** 1 Sep 2020, 02:05 am »

These look amazing - you all did an amazing job. Good choice on the vinyl too . . . How does the Gabriel sound? I think that album has the first use of the Classic 80s gated drum sound.

naboo · « **Reply #37 on:** 1 Sep 2020, 06:31 am »

Really nice work! Hope you get lots of enjoyment out of them.

vilding · « **Reply #38 on:** 1 Sep 2020, 09:52 am »

Wow! Those turned out beautifully! Great way to throw your young sons down the rabbit hole...

I'm planning a speaker build sometime hopefully soon and I'll prbably go with the same finish. I really like the wet but still natural look of the tung oil.

mlundy57 · « **Reply #39 on:** 1 Sep 2020, 05:03 pm »

👍👍