DIY horns get veneer

[Wardsweb]

I've been listening to these for over 3 years



I finally broke down and took them apart to veneer. I started with raw sapele pommele. I used Super Soft veneer softener and two solid wood doors as a make shift press to straighten it. I applied the veneer with Better Bond Heat Lock glue. The front baffle is Rustoleum multicolor textured paint. Now for a lot of sanding and high gloss Deft lacquer.

[juxta]

Very Nice!

[tinitus]

Veneer looks good, but a bit dark to be flamed maple ?
And the design is just perfect

Ahh, sapele pommele, never seen that before
Its a special flamed or figured ?

More to come I hope

[Curly Woods]

Great job on the veneer! Love Pommele figured Sapele :-) Great job. More details please!

[Wardsweb]

Originally Posted by Curly Woods

Great job on the veneer! Love Pommele figured Sapele :-) Great job. More details please!

If you ever make it down to San Antonio, drop in for a listen.

The cabinets are made from MDF and Baltic brich ply with CNC machined Baltic birch internal bracing.



The drivers are JBL 2235H woofers, Altec 802-8G driver mounted to Altec 511B horns and JBL 077 slot tweeters.

[Wardsweb]

The sides are four layers of kerf mdf that have been filled with glass beads finer than sand.

[Wardsweb]

Originally Posted by tinitus

Veneer looks good, but a bit dark to be flamed maple ?
And the design is just perfect

Ahh, sapele pommele, never seen that before
Its a special flamed or figured ?

More to come I hope

Sapele can be found many ways, quarter cut, rotary cut, quilted and pommele. Each gives its own look of the same wood. Just Google sapele and you will find lots to view.

[ianpengelly]

Wow, those look fanstastic. Did you create a construction diary, as I would love to know more about the hardware in those! :-)

[MJL21193]

Very nicely done! Excellent build quality.

That veneer is spectacular. I had considered it for my mains but not in raw form, it is available in softened paper backed sheets that would make life a bit easier, but at nearly $400 per 4' x 8' sheet it isn't very economical:
Richelieu - Cedan

[Curly Woods]

Originally Posted by Wardsweb

Sapele can be found many ways, quarter cut, rotary cut, quilted and pommele. Each gives its own look of the same wood. Just Google sapele and you will find lots to view.

The way that it is cut does not determine the figure. The figure is an act of nature. The figured logs are rare in comparison to the normal varieties. I used to sell figured hardwoods as a business (hence my handle "Curly Woods").

Rotary cut is a term that is used when talking about veneers. It is cut from the log on a rotary cutter. The entire long is chucked up and spun as a blade "slices" the thin veneer off the log. It could also be straight sliced across the face of the log, but this would not give you the full widths that rotary affords.

Kiwazinga Bubinga is a rotary cut fugured Bubinga as another example of rotary cut figured veneers. The very finest figured logs generally wind up as veneers as these logs offer the greats return for the seller and the buyer of these figured logs. If these were sawn into lumber, the cost per board foot would be in the $40.00 to $60.00 per board foot range. Sometimes the lumber guys can buy a few logs, but the veneer buyers typically out price the lumber log buyers.

I do get to San Antonio every now and then as the wife and I love the city. It would be great to have a listen to your system and these speakers anytime! Wonderful job. I bet they sound glorious with those tubes. Are those SET amps that you are driving them with there?