Jparkhur's enclosures

Rclark · « **on:** 7 May 2011, 09:03 am »

Apparently he only does it for fun, but man he does an incredible job. My N3S's in baltic birch showed up and honestly they are much much nicer than I was expecting and I already knew they'd be pretty nice. I'm floored. I can't wait to not screw up finishing them.

I've got them perched up on their stands now making a physical mockery of the multimedia satelites they're to replace.

I'll try to take some pictures in the morning that do them justice. My Virtue Two.2 should be here in the morning as well. Pretty soon I can order the N3 kit itself and get this thing going.

Anyway, wow, thank you sir, it was very lucky coming across your posts about enclosures for sale. You do excellent work.

jparkhur · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 May 2011, 11:31 am »

Thanks Reza. I appreciate it. Glad they got there in perfect condition.jp

jtwrace · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 May 2011, 12:10 pm »

Quote from: Rclark on 7 May 2011, 09:03 am

My Virtue Two.2 should be here in the morning as well. Pretty soon I can order the N3 kit itself and get this thing going.

That's a pretty sweet system you're going to have.

Don't forget to post some pics of the enclosures.

Rclark · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 May 2011, 08:26 pm »

I hope so JT, I think I'm in good hands though.

So here they are, sorry for the resoultion, it's a new Windows phone, and I believe 5 or 6 megapixel, but it can still be tough to get a sharp enough photo. Guess a real camera could help.

Both on the stands, my current speakers riding piggyback, they're cut off just below the tweeters in the pic. That dark colored thing that looks like an extension of the equipment rack near the plant in the corner is actually the "subwoofer". It's more a passable midbass. Being replaced by two very large 15's.

Oh HTCoz, you can see there I went with your recommendation of the LAK equipment rack. I might go with Elizabeth's rubber stoppers or I might go with pointed metal feet+ some kind of pads to make up for what the IKEA might "lack". It does look nice though.

I'd like to start finishing them today, get that started, I've decided I really like the color and tone of these things, they provide a nice contrast and I just really like the look of the wood.

How can I finish the boxes with these goals: maintain the look and color of the wood but pop out the grain more and also give the wood a nice gloss?

Rclark · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 May 2011, 08:47 pm »

Oh and if anyone wants to buy a Statement Monitor flatpack, it's for sale. 60 lbs worth but I'll sell it at a good loss for $50. Elemental Designs CNC cut ESS material:

They are highly regarded on other forums but I decide on the n3.

django11 · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 May 2011, 08:47 pm »

Water based varnish will keep the color although it doesn't really pop the grain. Blonde shellac is often recommended to pop the grain followed by water born varnish. This will alter the color though so test first to see if you like the result. I did my bb speakers with a satin water based varnish only and like the result. The wood will darken over time though, more so if exposed to direct sunlight.

Rclark · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 May 2011, 08:49 pm »

I saw yours and I really like them a lot, but what are two different colors there?

Can you recommend a specific product or procedure?

Ron · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 May 2011, 09:26 pm »

Your N3S cabinets look really nice. Great job building them jparkhur!

django11 · « **Reply #8 on:** 7 May 2011, 09:45 pm »

If you mean a difference in color between the front and sides it's just a shadow or some effect of the photo. All sides are the same color.

High gloss is very hard to do a nice job by brushing it on (ie without specks and bumps and crap marring the surface). It usually involves multiple coats and then buffing the finished product or spraying. In my case it was just 3 or 4 coats of satin finish. A light sanding between coats. Too many coats of satin hides the grain as some type of silicate is added to the finish to kill the luster. Water born varnish in a satin finish applied with a foam applicator is pretty well foolproof which is why I use it

. The brand of the product I used is Saman (which can also be used on floors) www.saman.ca/product/431-satin-water-based-varnish.

django11 · « **Reply #9 on:** 7 May 2011, 09:48 pm »

BTW congrats! They will sound as good as they look...

Rclark · « **Reply #10 on:** 7 May 2011, 11:28 pm »

Do tell! My imagination has run wild with how the SQ is going to be. Very excited, yeah, tell me more about what the monitors are like!

I'm off to Seattle, I just spoke with two different woodworking shops and they are recommending a product called ArmorSeal. Offered in satin, gloss, and high gloss.

I'm starting to think satin might be nice. you have 45 minutes to give me your opinion on that. heh. I can check the forum on my phone.

jparkhur · « **Reply #11 on:** 7 May 2011, 11:35 pm »

Satin for sure

Rclark · « **Reply #12 on:** 8 May 2011, 12:24 am »

Split the difference and on my way home with semi gloss

jparkhur · « **Reply #13 on:** 8 May 2011, 12:38 am »

Apply, scuff, apply again, repeat until happy.

Rclark · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 May 2011, 03:23 am »

ok sanded with 150, dusted, then sanded with 220, dusted, tack-clothed and have just now applied the first coat and MAN it's already looking like a dream come true. The grain is popping out like tiger stripes and it a a large improvement over the raw wood, which I already liked. The semi-gloss is a nice glow.

They're sitting out for the night, then tommorrow night I'll hit it with 320 grit and apply coat #2. Done for now.

Rclark · « **Reply #15 on:** 8 May 2011, 07:31 am »

These first two are after the first twenty minutes after application

.. this one specifically capturing best the true color of these things, they're a bit darker than most of these shots convey.

with flash

without flash. Camera SUCKS. Everything looks 4X better in real life. But see how those stripes are popping out? It didn't look like that before I started. No blotches, very very smooth.

Already looking pretty, I'm very impressed with ArmorSeal product. I was highly skeptical but this is turning out very nicely with comparitively very little work

3-4 more coats to go.

edit: looking at these, these are just awful picture quality, I'm going to have to figure something else out, I'll stop taking pics until then.

Phil A · « **Reply #16 on:** 8 May 2011, 11:55 am »

That is absolutely beautiful woodwork.

Outofthewoods · « **Reply #17 on:** 9 May 2011, 07:33 pm »

Nice work Jon!

Ruben

jparkhur · « **Reply #18 on:** 9 May 2011, 07:35 pm »

Thanks Ruben,

Sticking with N3s, wish i could figure out a way to dado all the sides and fit a flat pack in a nice box, easier gluing ect. Then no clamps would be needed.. large books....??? The other bit I was using just cant get the job done for the interlocking sides. I'll have to leave that to Totem...

JP

Reza

Would have rather had the sides 45 degree on the front, or do you like the ply look rounded over? Just wondering. I really like it, but some have said they would rather have the 45s on the front.

TomS · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 May 2011, 08:41 pm »

Quote from: jparkhur on 9 May 2011, 07:35 pm

Thanks Ruben,

Sticking with N3s, wish i could figure out a way to dado all the sides and fit a flat pack in a nice box, easier gluing ect. Then no clamps would be needed.. large books....??? The other bit I was using just cant get the job done for the interlocking sides. I'll have to leave that to Totem...

JP
...

I'm going to try using a bunch of Festool Domino's and glue on the butt edges where the dado's would normally be on my current sub project's braces. Not sure if it will be strong enough, but for alignment, assembly, clamping, and glue up it's really a nice way to go.

At the least I'll learn something

Better to have tried and failed and all that ...