New speakers with American Rock Maple veneer- oil, wax or wipe-on poly?

[tktran]

Hello all,

I've just completed my second set of stereo speakers, using American Rock Maple timber veneer. This is a very light coloured veneer. I would like to bring out the grain and give it a slight gloss finish, with minimal yellowing or darkening.

Some more pictures of the speakers and veneer here:
http://kram0.com/gallery/main.php?g2...&g2_itemId=519

I've had good experience with Rustin's Danish Oil and Liberon Black Bison Fine Paste Wax. The veneer was darkened, but to good effect.
I wonder whether I should try something else to keep the veneer relatively light.

You can see how the 7 coats of Rustin's and 2 coats of the wax changed Tassie Myrtle here:
http://kram0.com/gallery/main.php?g2...m&g2_itemId=14

If you have an some experience finishing with this veneer, or other very light coloured veneer eg. Bird's Eye Maple, I would love to hear your thoughts.

[TassieKiwi]

Bloody nice work mate - stunning speakers. Any chance of a PM for leads to where to get the hardware? How does the cost work out vs purchasing 'reasonable' home theatre stuff?

For the finish - sounds to me that you might like to try blonde shellac followed by 'Traditional wax'. Check out the products of this very BB's sponsor - they'll help out

[Trav]

don't PM it, post it so we can all hear about how you made those speakers. They look great!

Trav

[joez]

Hi TKTran,


I recently finished a jewellery box with a quilted maple veneered centre panel.

From my test pieces I found a coat of boiled linseed oil followed by spraying pre cat laquer really worked well.

The linseed oil made the grain pop and the lacquer gave me the smooth glossy finish I was after.

It takes a while to get a total smooth finish but it was worth the effort.


Hope this helps

Joe

[markharrison]

Second vote here for the super blonde shellac and wax. I used this finish on Huon pine veneer and it looks great.

I brushed on thinned coats (probably 15 or so) and occasionally sanding back to level out the finish when needed.

[junkboy999]

Nice looking speakers. looks like my KEF's 104.2


Dont use oil on them it will turn the maple a little darker.

[tktran]

Hello,

I had suspected that oil would darken it too much, so thank-you for all the replies.

Joe:
Doe you have some "before" and "after" pictures of your work on the quilted maple? Actually this was my first choice of mapple, but was prohibitively expensive for large pieces.

TassieKiwi and markharrison:
These products sound like they are relatively easy to use. Did you guys have any others issues on light veneer?

TassieKiwi and Trav:
Welcome to the world of DIY Audio.
Please review my website http://kram0.com/gallery/main.php?g2...=240&g2_page=1
for details of these speakers. If you click on some of the photos, they will be some additional information.

The designer's links are provided.

I purchase construction materials from Bunnings, Carbatec and speaker and electronic related parts from distributors like WES (www.d-s-t.com.au) or Madisound (US- www.madisound.com)

A little background:
I've been addicted to audio of all sorts since about the age of 14. The last pair of commercial speakers in our home costs ~$AU2,500, and I still wanted an upgrade! As a student, this was getting a bit out of hand. But then I found out about the DIY version of the commercial ProAc Response 2.5 .I've learnt a lot since building that first pair, and continue to shoot for better speakers (outright, or better value)

The ProAc Response 2.5 is a good place to start. High quality, moderate cost and parts readily available. The speaker cabinet is also dead easy to build, and electronics assembly relatively straightforward.

IMHO, ProAc maintains very high prices to keep up it's high-end reputation, but in general DIY speakers provide a level of sound quality that easily compete with imported commercial products costing 2-5 times as much.

Another advantage of DIY speakers that that you can cutomise the looks and sound to your taste. On the downside, however, is that you often can't listen before you buy, so there's always that element of risk.

There are many many designs floating around on the internet, by some intelligent and experienced 'amateur' loudspeaker designers including:

Free for personal use:
http://home1.stofanet.dk/troels.gravesen/
http://home.hetnet.nl/~geenius/
http://www.zaphaudio.com
http://www.murphyblaster.com

Kits or completed systems:
http://www.linkwitzlab.com
http://www.musicanddesign.com
http://www.bamberglab.com
http://www.salksound.com

I know that's a lot of links, and decisions are easier when there are less options. So the best way to start is to ask questions to other experienced audio DIYers, at the following audio forums:
www.htguide.com
www.madisound.com
www.diyaudio.com
www.partsexpress.com

I've found that initial impressions can tend to be too positive or negative(after all, when you're listening for the first time you're bound to hear things you've never heard before...) and generally less informative than a review after extended and more critical listening.

Having said that, the John Krutke SEAS All Metal System have a tonal balance that slightly favours the highs, are very articulate in the midrange and have great bass for a relatively small cabinet (note the original design is a stand-mount or "bookshelf" speaker of 14 Litres internal volume).

I will be able to give a more detailed review in about 2 months, when the speakers will be back in the main listening room which has far better acoustic properties...

Anyone is welcome to PM me or pop me a line at [email protected]

[joez]

Tktran,

Unfortunately I no longer have the box, but I still have the test pieces.

Attached is a picture showing a test piece and an original piece of veneer from the same leaf of veneer.There is actually some quilting in the unfinished sample but the camera doesn’t pick it up at all.

The finished sample was first given a coat of boiled linseed oil and then about 20 spray coats of lacquer which a sanded after about every 5-6 coats.

Joe

[markharrison]

No real tricks to brushing on shellac apart from patience. I just bought a bottle of Neil's super blonde shellac and thinned it two parts shellac and one part meths. I didn't measure it or any thing. Shellac is very forgiving of errors. If you make a mess of it wipe it off with neat meths.

Be sure to use denatured meths (i.e. 100% methylated spirits, no water). When I wanted to level the surface I used 400 grit paper and waited a couple of days after the last coat before doing that. It gives the shellac a little more time to harden.

When I was satisfied with the build and smoothness I waited a few more days and then used wax with 0000 steel wool (you can buy this from Mitre 10 and, I would presume, Bunnings) to take off some of the gloss. Then I buffed with a clean cotton cloth.

I agree with not using oil unless there is some curl or quilted figure you want to "pop". There was an excellent article in Fine Woodworking #135 by Jeff Jewitt on popping the curl in curly maple that involves the use of oil and diluted dyes. I haven't tested it but it sounds sensible and Jeff is well regarded.

[Lignum]

Joe is spot on. Oiling maple before lacquering is the best way. I have attached a pic of Quilted Maple chair I made some time back using the dye. First I used a midnight blue aniline dye left to dry for 48 hours, then 2 coats of livos oil sanding with 800 wet `n dry (24 hours between coats) then 4 coats of pre-cat lacquer. As you can see (sort of as it’s a crap photo) but the quilting just jumps out. Hope that can help you a bit Tktran … Hmmm blue speakers… now theirs a thought

[tktran]

markharrison:

I couldn't find "Neil's super blonde shellac", is that the White Shellac from the Ubeaut product page (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/ubhome.htm) ?

[TassieKiwi]

Geez tkran - studying 'till 2:00am? Good effort!


Thanks for all of those links - I will enjoy sifting through them, if ever I can make the time. I fell in love with 'high end' gear in London and bought home a Linn/Cambridge Audio/Arcam Alpha/Nakamichi combo (remember tapes?) in '91. The system still puts most commercial setups to shame. I am astonished at the low price of some of the speakers about, though I haven't listened in detail. Renovations and children carve into your interests - be warned.

[markharrison]

Yeah. You've got it. I guess I made an assumption about your knowledge of the ownership of this board. Sorry about the confusion.

[barryr]

what do you guys mean by Pop the grain ?

[joez]

barryr,

By "pop the grain" we mean make the grain standout (pop) more.

By applying oil to some timbers it increases the contrast between the lighter and darker parts.


Joe