Solid hardwood front panel ok?

[drugolf]

I built this Audax speaker using padauk glued to an MDF Formica gloss black cabinet. Baffle is rock solid!

Good looking! So on the cabinet, did you paint the formica to achieve the gloss black? That is what I am doing on some large custom A8's, but paonting the formica a grey to return to an Altec look on the sides and top - solid wood on front.

 

[drugolf]

Also, as far as the solid wood thing, the quality of the drying matters as well. Be careful what you get.

 

[kec]

Good looking! So on the cabinet, did you paint the formica to achieve the gloss black? That is what I am doing on some large custom A8's, but paonting the formica a grey to return to an Altec look on the sides and top - solid wood on front.

Thanks. The Formica i used is the vertical grade which is thinner than the horizontal grade. The finish comes in black gloss.

I finished some Altec 620 clones using General Finishes milk paint, color is Driftwood, it matches the Altec gray pretty close. I followed it with several coats of GF flat clear. All done with foam rollers.

 

[drugolf]

Thanks. The Formica i used is the vertical grade which is thinner than the horizontal grade. The finish comes in black gloss.

I finished some Altec 620 clones using General Finishes milk paint, color is Driftwood, it matches the Altec gray pretty close. I followed it with several coats of GF flat clear. All done with foam rollers.

Thanks for the tip on the general Finishes paint. I'm going to go check it out today. Looking at the color sample though, my A8's were a little more blue grey than that what looks like a warm stone grey. I like this warmer stone grey better though. Altec really varied this so I'm not too worried about trying to match it to anything.

 

[kd1yt]

The solid wood hazards may be very variable, depending on species and construction technique. My dad built a big mono hifi speaker in the early 1960s with a big 12" University coaxial speaker with an outboard auxiliary tweeter. I've never measured the volume precisely but it has to be at least 10-12 cu ft. Everyone told him that plywood was a must and that solid wood would fail. He'd built a lot of furniture from pine and took the warnings as a dare. The panels and corner joints are all glued up, but inside, there are a number of lateral braces with ovalized screw holes and a layer of wax paper between the brace and the wood panel (with the goal of creating flat rigidity & bracing but allowing movement with expansion and contraction). That speaker moved to several homes, was then given to my cousins who for a number of years hauled it all over the place, frequently, as a musical instrument speaker for various gigs, and was eventually given back to me when I was in my early teens, and I've moved it at least six or eight times since. There is not a crack anywhere in any joint. The old University 12" driver must also be hell for stout as it still plays without distortion, and I wasn't gentle on it when I was a teen, and I'm sure that my cousins weren't either.