The speaker project (dialup warning)

JoshK · « **Reply #60 on:** 28 Nov 2009, 11:41 pm »

A sneak peak at the finish job. Only one coat of shellac, but you get an idea what they are going to look like.

I put a piece of the original veneer on the cabinets for comparison purposes.

JoshK · « **Reply #61 on:** 29 Nov 2009, 01:17 am »

In case anyone wants to know how *I* did it.

This is the method I used.

I wanted a dark mahogany look like the bombay mahogany finish that is common, or used to be more common. I am not into light wood, or really modern finishes. This is just me. Its current taboo to stain wood, but I find this finish more elegant than many others. So I am not to be persuaded.

HTguide.com is full of hobbyiest who build speaker after speaker and amateur and pro woodworkers alike. It is filled with tips. I noted that many recommend aniline dyes instead of stains as they tend not to hide the grain as much, only darken. Bingo!

There are two common ways to use dyes. One with water as a solvent, the other other with denatured alcohol as the solvent. I used denatured alcohol (I think in canada it is called methylated spirits). The reason are that water raises the grain, which needs to be knocked down again and alcohol doesn't. Since this is veneer and the thickness is limited, I opted for alcohol.

Follow the mix directions on the transtint. The mix quoted is 2oz of dye to 2 quarts of alcohol. That is a lot of dye mixture, more than I used on the whole two gigantic speakers. So I cut it down.

Notes:
1 quart = 32 ounces
1 ounce = 6 teaspoons.

I mixed up about 16 ounces of alcohol and >1/2 ounce of dye. I went a little heavier on the dye as I wanted a darker finish (the directions indicate this). This gave me just a little left over. Use a piece of scrap veneer to test the mix. Another hint: going over the same piece more than once does darken up the piece, but there seems to be a limit on this. The second swipe is close to what you are going to get.

Now, you are suppose to use boiled linseed oil or tungoil after the dye step, but I forgot. I would suggest it, as it heightens the grain character.

Then onto shellacing. The best procedure for padding shellac, that I found, I link below.

I bought my transtint from here:
http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

Mostly, as I wanted to patronage Jeff Jewitt's business, since I found his tutorial on padding shellac to be priceless.

http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/padding_shellac.htm

mgalusha · « **Reply #62 on:** 29 Nov 2009, 01:25 am »

Those are looking really nice Josh and will be sweet when your done. Looking forward to your thoughts on the finished setup.

JoshK · « **Reply #63 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 01:59 pm »

Thanks Mike.

I put another coat of shellac on Saturday night. I think they will end up a bit darker than seen in the photo.

I hope to put a layer on each night this week and have them ready for the drivers by the weekend. I might throw a DE250 on the QSC waveguide and fake a two way until the 11horns waveguide is made.

My abbey clone MTs need a couple more layers of primer and then paint. Its too cold to work outdoors and the stuff is toxic, so I may not get to finish those until the spring. I may have to use them in current condition.

JoshK · « **Reply #64 on:** 14 Dec 2009, 02:02 pm »

Final coats went on this weekend. I finally got some time to do it. Just didn't feel like doing it when I got home after work last week. I have to buff them out as a final step.

Its going to be hard to not be able to play them now that they are finished. My waveguides won't be done for a while it seems. I'll have to see if I can cobble something together for the upper range.

I couldn't work on other projects in the basement during the finishing time as I didn't want to create dust. It was hard enough to keep all the fuzzies off the finish.

With the bins out of the basement, I plan to start on the tapped horns and do a bit more finishing of the MTs.

JoshK · « **Reply #65 on:** 17 Jan 2010, 01:46 am »

I used Crystallac over the Shellac to make a more protection finish. The bonus is that cyrstallac makes for a very nice finish. Its super clear and glossy.

These aren't even buffed out, but you can see your reflection at some angles.

nullspace · « **Reply #66 on:** 17 Jan 2010, 03:59 am »

Very nice Josh. What's next? Working on the Abbey-clones or integrating the big OS horns from Jeffrey?

Regards,
John

JoshK · « **Reply #67 on:** 17 Jan 2010, 04:55 pm »

Hi John,

Thanks. I plan to finish the abbey clones, in fact I did a tiny bit of work on them last night.

The big guides from Jeffrey are going to be a while longer.

JoshK · « **Reply #68 on:** 19 Jan 2010, 01:44 pm »

Yesterday I picked up the BB sheets to make the THs. I hadn't taken a close look at the plans prior to planning how many sheets I'd need. I am a bit surprised that it is all 1/2" BB. I think I may double up the outer walls and leave the innards as is, so I don't have to adjust the dimensions.

I also bit the bullet and got a Festool Plunge saw + MKT table. I am looking forward to making some sawdust this weekend if it comes in time. The plans make it look fairly straightforward.

I have to build some built-ins for my study, so I justified the cost of the saw in the money I am saving doing it myself.

nullspace · « **Reply #69 on:** 19 Jan 2010, 04:07 pm »

Did you settle on the 30hz or the 38hz THs, Josh? Since I have them laying around, I was messing around w/ Hornresp and the Eminence Kappa-12A, and it looks like I could get a pretty respectable 30hz TH out of them -- if I recall they'd turn out to be 16.5"Wx15"Dx66"H outside dimensions.

Festool makes some nice kit, that's for sure. Like you, I try and use non-audio projects as justification for purchases, but no matter how hard I tried SWMBO would not accept that I needed a B&K 30Mhz oscilloscope to finish painting the back deck...

John

JoshK · « **Reply #70 on:** 19 Jan 2010, 04:43 pm »

I was planning two of each.

One of the 30hz TH can lay on its side and hid behind the couch. Another might be stood in the corner while the folded version of the 38hz horns are pretty diminuitive for subs and can be hid here and there.

JoshK · « **Reply #71 on:** 12 May 2010, 05:08 pm »

Haven't updated this thread in a long while. I've been awaiting my horns. Rumour has it they should ship the end of this month.

The abbey clones are awaiting spraying. I actually have quite a bit of spraying to do but the only weekends that have had good weather I've had other plans.

My floors were refinished a couple weeks ago and the layout of my living space has changed to make for a very cooperative setup. My former dining room will now be a dedicated listening room, the living room for TV and such, seperated.

The abbey clones I plan to put into action for the TV/AV system while the horns/bass bins will go into the dedicated music rig.

To recap, I had Jeffrey Jackson and Victor Sierra of elevenhorns make me two pairs of horns. The upper midrange horn is a custom OS profile for my 18Sound 1460As with a 525hz LeCleach mouth rollback, around 24" in diameter iirc. These are intended to be used from a lower knee somewhere in the 600-800hz range up to 7 or 8k and B&C DE35s taking over the top octave.

Lower midrange will be covered by 140hz LeCleach horns with a 4" throat. I plan to start with a pair of Faital 5" mids that JLH had used to good effect on his similar 135hz Tractrix horns. I may also commission a pair of custom made lower mid compression drivers. I've been offered and I'm thinking about it.

Bass will be covered by my bins shown in this thread. At least for starters.

DEQX will cover crossover duties. Amps are still undecided although I have quite a few to choose from and projects nearly finished.

DanTheMan · « **Reply #72 on:** 12 May 2010, 07:06 pm »

Josh, great thread! Can't wait to see graph results/different implementations.

Good luck and keep working at it.

Dan

BTW, AE drivers will be used in my next build.

JoshK · « **Reply #73 on:** 9 Jun 2010, 05:20 pm »

Just received a picture of my commissioned waveguides.

pictures of the 140hz LC horn (not my pair) can be seen here...
http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/03/304th-for-size-and-scale-reference.html

JoshK · « **Reply #74 on:** 9 Jun 2010, 06:50 pm »

My 140hz LeCleach horns prior to finishing.

JoshK · « **Reply #75 on:** 9 Jun 2010, 06:55 pm »

Chart from John Hasquin demonstrating the directivity of a 135hz Tractrix and a 24" DDS OS-like waveguide.

For my start, I assumed that the 142hz LeCleach profile would produce a directivity similar to a 135hz Tractrix and the DDS is going to be in the ballpark of my custom waveguide. Actually crossover point will be determined from real measured data.

JoshK · « **Reply #76 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 01:37 pm »

Its been a long while. However, I just got note that my horns arrived in TN and are ready to make the travel to NJ. Perfect timing as the weather cools, I will probably spend a bit more time indoors.

JoshK · « **Reply #77 on:** 28 Oct 2010, 08:13 pm »

oh the anticipation! Got word from Jeffrey that they will come tomorrow. I think I am coming down with something....cough....cough....

JoshK · « **Reply #78 on:** 8 Nov 2010, 02:11 am »

Just got back from a week in Honduras but I was able to see the horns before I left. They are huge! I expected as much but still to see them in person is something entirely different.

It will take me a while to get them set up. I may try to knock out a simple xo so I can run them on one amp till I have time to take lots of detailed measurements. I am not sure I have enough channels of appropriate amplification to use the DEQX.

http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/11/pile-of-horns.html

JoshK · « **Reply #79 on:** 9 Nov 2010, 02:17 pm »

Now that I got the horns, I need to start figuring out a way to set them up, or rather stand them up. Ultimately, I am likely to get custom stands from the guy in the Brooklyn navy yard.

http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/02/working-metal.html

For now, I need to build something temporary, probably out of wood.

P.S. the pictures in this blog thread are mine.
http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/11/pile-of-horns.html