[mms3]

I have my enclosures glued up to the point that its time to put the top on.  I'm assuming now would be the best time to put the No Rez in.  So, I'm going to put it in between the braces all the way around.  Should I also put No Rez on the front and back panels (around where the driver/amp will be)?  What about polyfill?  Is that necessary, and if so how much?

Once everything is put together, I'd like to finish them with satin black paint.  Can someone point me in the right direction here?  I bought some wood filler, sanding sealer, satin black spray paint, and an assortment of sand paper.  Do I need anything else?  Detailed steps would be great, if someone is willing to take the time.

[fcraven]

I have my enclosures glued up to the point that its time to put the top on.  I'm assuming now would be the best time to put the No Rez in.  So, I'm going to put it in between the braces all the way around.  Should I also put No Rez on the front and back panels (around where the driver/amp will be)?  What about polyfill?  Is that necessary, and if so how much?

This has been addressed here before, look up "subwoofer" and you'll find many an note. The short answer is to put the No Rez on as much as you can. but on shorter walls, it's less needed. I overdid it on mine. Polyfill to your heart's content?... but leave a clear air area around the speaker.

Once everything is put together, I'd like to finish them with satin black paint.  Can someone point me in the right direction here?  I bought some wood filler, sanding sealer, satin black spray paint, and an assortment of sand paper.  Do I need anything else?  Detailed steps would be great, if someone is willing to take the time.

Notes on paint also made on this forum, so look up and get more points. But "to the point" if you used MDF, your first need will be to prime prime prime. especially the edges. You may want to use a brushed on primer for this purpose (probably oil based, it tends to sand better). Once that is done, you can paint.

"spray paint" may not provide the desired look, but you can give it a try. you may need more cans then you think but thats OK plan on at least four thin coats, sand with 400grit wet dry between coats).

I used some high end enamel and left my speakers glossy, but that can be cut down with rotten stone. OR... you can get a great satin oil and brush it on. Two or three coats will do it.

The Black version of this http://www.finepaintsofeurope.com/hollandlac_satin.aspx is very nice.

If you want to do it "fancy like" there is lacquer and spray equipment involved, but I don't think you are heading that way. I may or may not want to do that next time around, but the nicer they look more worried about what the kids might do I get.


My Speaker build http://gallery.me.com/operadad

[newportcycle]

Some good advice there.  I use polyurathne as a sanding sealer, I think it builds thickness better than sanding sealer and you can sand smooth.  I would start by filling in all low spots with wood putty and sanding these areas smooth.  A square will help you identify these low spots.  Then apply several coats of your sanding sealer and allow to dry.  I would then spray a very light coat of your paint to give you a sanding contrast.  Start sanding this fine coat of paint off, any dark spots are low spots and should be skim coated with your filler.  Sand your edges smooth.  Repeat these steps until you get the low spots filled in, then apply several light coats of paint following the manufactures recomendations for tacking up between coats.  Let the paint dry for several days, if there is no orange peel or dust in the surface, I would then start to apply 6 to 8 coats of gloss clear coat, make sure the clear coat is compatable with your paint.  After you have all these coats applied, you can then start buffing with a pumice or rotten stone.  One other chap here just did up a pair of OB-7's with piano gloss finish, very nice he has some good steps in his thread.

[mms3]

Thanks for the replies.  That's very helpful.

I like the glossy/piano look on its own, but I find the reflections distracting when I'm watching a movie.  If I had a dedicated music room, I'd be all for it, but I don't have that luxury.  So, it may be weird, but I actually prefer the satin finish.

Are you guys saying that polishing with pumice/rotten stone will tone down the gloss to a satin finish?  If not, I'll probably want to use a different technique.  I did find this post by Ron about how he did some satin black bases:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=70980.msg662629#msg662629.  Would this work better for what I'm trying to accomplish?

Also, something occurred to me when reading about all these coats of sealer/primer/paint.  I put the driver in to make sure everything was a good fit.  It went in, but was pretty snug.  Am I going to have issues fitting the driver in after painting it (because of all the additional layers)?  Should I try making the cutout a little larger, or is that going to cause other issues?  That may be silly concern, but I've never done anything like this.  Just don't want to get that far along, and have to sand everything off to fit the driver in.

[fcraven]

The best thing for you to do is to get some nice Satin Black Oil paint. and brush it on with a decent brush. Think of it like painting trim in your house. That will give you a great look. Yes, you can use the Rotten Stone / Pumice approach is well, I almost did for my speakers, but I liked the gloss. The gloss, really isn't that distracting when you are watching a movie, in fact, I don't even notice it on my speakers.

For a real Piano look, it a matter of spraying a bunch of lacquer, a lot of awesome sanding, and the Rotten-Pumice-whataver. I've never done that, but I would like to someday.

caution caution. MDF edges will telegraph through paint over time--even with good priming. To combat that I filled the joints with a wood epoxy and then covered the whole thing with a liquid epoxy, so far so good. However, if the joints do show up again, you can always do a little sanding and re-paint.

[newportcycle]

Sorry I didnt read your first post close enough, thought your were looking for a gloss finish. The pummice stone is used to obtain the high gloss finish takes bucket loads of rubbing though.

I did my subwoofer with satin black and a satin polyurathane top coat.  The poly makes a much more durable scratch and impact resistant finish than paint alone and it keeps the nice satin finish.

Just keep your paint out of the driver cutouts and you shouldnt have to much problem getting them to fit, sand them out if necessary, just take it slow.