Laser Engraved

[bjackson]

I am concidering building a speaker that will be 48"x12"x11", and I would really like to have the entire speaker sans top, bottom and back engraved. A good friend of mine is an art major at the Art Institute of Chicago, and she'd be very willing to do the design, however, does anyone have a good idea of how to have it engraved on the side?

My thoughts are that I could make the enclosure as normal, and then screw thin brushed aluminum, brass or some other metal on the side, and have those sheets engraved, but I was wondering if this would cause some unnatural sounds.

Any other suggestions would be appriciated, or any alternate ideas to do this sort of thing.

[wigginjs]

Cool idea, but instead of screwing this sheets of aluminum that could rattle to the cabinet I would recommend using a real metal laminate. This Wilson Art laminate can be applied with contact cement and a router or laminate trimmer.

[chipco3434]

You don't have to use metal. You can laser engrave wood directly.

[bjackson]

I realize this, but my qualms with that is, A, can they engrave something as large as a speaker box assembled, and B, MDF is not that great looking by itself, especially with all of the errors I am sure to make in construction (it's my first project!).

BTW, does anyone know where I should look to find someone who can actually do this?

About the metal laminate, they didn't list a price, but I am sure it's very expensive, I found panels of brass/aluminum,etc pretty inexpensivly, could I not use the same technics as the laminate, by gluing it down very well and screwing it in and counter sinking it, or such?

Thanks for all of your replies so far

[RobWells]

Hi,

You could try a die formes manufacturer to get the laser etching done - can only do flat panels though, not completed boxes.

It may work out pricey unless you can get the work turned into a cad format though.

You can get pre-veneered mdf which may look better than standard stuff btw.

Cheers,

Rob