[EdM]

Hi guys.  I am a new member.  I am in the process of building a pair of Dave's 1801 speakers.  I am interested in using quarter sawn walnut for the veneer sides and the front face.  Looking over the internet for wood supplier, I can not find anyone who will sell me four running feet of quarter sawn walnut that is 9.5 inches wide.  Does anyone have a wood source that they can direct me to?

[Bill Baker]

Hello EDM,
 Sounds like it will be a beautiful looking pair of speakers. One thing I would recommend is not using one piece, 9.5 in wide solid wood.
 I would recommend ripping it into 4" wide pieces and gluing them together reversing grain on every other piece. This will help eliminate warping, shrinking and shifting of the joints.
 I would also recommend sealing all seams with silicon for an airtight seal if using all hard wood for the construction.
 Also, if at all possible, try to get wood that has already been air dried for some time.

[EdM]

Hi Response Audio,

Thanks for the reply.  Good idea about watching the width of the board expecially if using plain sawned lumber.  But, will I have that problem using quarter sawned lumber?  I know it is a bit more stable in that regard.

Ed

[thorman]

Check with Salk Sound  " Circle "  . Being as he does his own cabinets and your not any competition ,he may be able to steer you in the right direction...Sounds like he is a pretty nice from what I have read in forums about him...Worth a shot....

[Christof]

Check www.certainlywood.com you might need to call them, the will be a good source.  Also do a search here for "veneer vendors".  I posted a very lpong list of vendors a while back and a couple people like Salk threw a couple more names out there for people.

-c.

[David Ellis]

EDM,

I apologize for my slow response to this.  I have been out of sorts for the past few days following a minor surgery that will provide complete cessation of population growth in the Ellis family 

I do think it will be very difficult to obtain such a wide piece of quartersawn walnut.  The tree would have to be extremely large.  Such trees are become quite rare, and the good ones are purchased by gun companies.

I do recommend edge-bonding 2-3 pieces of lumber for the baffle.  I think that all of my speakers have been done this way.   The only possible way to error is by making the cuts and grain pattern non-symmetrical for the left and right baffle.

Also, I really don't see any problem using flat-sawn lumber across this distance.  If the lumber is well-sealed there will be very little moisture related movement.  For this reason, I generally apply some shellace ( a great vapor barrier) to the inside of my driver cutout.