Clean Sheet: Pls recc an existing design w/ parts avail in Australia

[fishball79]

Madinoz,

Ooooh that's feels like a stab in the heart, you heard peerless and found the Vifa lacking! This is so ironic considering i was staring at Peerless for so long and ending up with Vifa.

That's exactly what i hope to do, that someone buys the vifa so i can start anew... and will give me a good chance to compare peerless and vifa.

Speaking of finish, any quick n easy way to finish mdf or veneers is really the way to go. How can i do the sort of finish like Dynaudio speakers where the veneer has alot of depth yet the finish is smooth, ie u cant feel grain?

[madinoz]

Hindsight is, as they say, 20/20.
I've bought a lot of drivers only to think to myself,
why the heck didn't I buy x/y/z?
It can be a bit deflating especially on a tight budget.
But selling as for selling your speakers,
to answer the veneer question indirectly,
I know that veneer looks good and has a very
high visual appeal, hell, they even have high
WAF which sometimes can be the ultimate test for
speakers (forget Stereophile magazines unsmoothed
in room pink noise response) but, have you
considered a painted 2 pack finish? You can get practically
any colour you like (including black) and the finish is smooth
and can be done in high gloss which looks very Velodyne sub,
NHT etc.....
MADINOZ

[fishball79]

Madinoz,

hip pocket nerve? butt! hehe

Yeah i know there are many ways to screw up this project somehow and was hoping i could avoid them...

Yes I don't mind and in fact like this type of finishing. Would they look like autocar finish? Does it go about like one spray to sealed the surface so the MDF won't absorb paint before its dry and the actual paint itself?

[Volenti]

Use a primer/filler on the mdf to seal it (same thing that you would use to finish off a bogged up hole in car bodywork)

You can get the same finish as on a new car (with similar amount of work and coats required of course)

[sreten]

Note that you'll need several coats of clear
laquer on top to protect a high gloss finish.

sreten.

[madinoz]

Chris
Auto paints these days are 2pac (similar formulation to 2pacs
used on kitchen doors etc) but with metallic chips added.
There is usually a sealant and 2 coats of "colour" each sanded
in-between applications. Then a coat of gloss on top (as raised by previous post).
I have actually used an auto-paint finish myself BUT (BIG BUT!!!!!)
I got it put on by a professional painter.
If you go to an auto-repairer they'll try to charge you the earth (unless you're lucky enough to know one), try kitchen paint specialists to see if they can do it. Auto paint is quite expensive as a rule so be prepared for a sting (in the hip pocket).
OUCH..........
MADINOZ
see attachment, MTM Vifa PL18 with Vifa xt25

[fishball79]

Thanks for the finishing info guys, this is probably harder to screw up than veneers.

Roughly how many layers of each primer do you guys reccomend? I dont need to sand down the boxes between each layer of paint do i?

[sreten]

I was under the impression that you can't sand metallic paint
layers, only the clear laquer layers that go on top.

Regarding sanding between layers :

If the finish on the primed cabinets is poor you might as well give up,
you can't fix in the spraying stage.

For piano gloss finish you do need to flatten cut / each layer.

Using "leveller" also helps.
(basically redissolving the paint by spraying with solvent only)

sreten.

[madinoz]

Actually with regards to sanding/ gloss finishes, the details in my previous post could have been a bit wrong or incomplete as I haven't done any painting myself and I was using my sometimes poor memory of a discussion with a painter from last year......
I think Sreten's discourse, whilst very accurate, highlights the potential danger of stuffing-up a metallic finish in the DIY arena.
Having two left hands myself I leave such things to tradespersons.
Just my two bob worth.
MADINOZ