I have built a guitar amp cabinet that will house one twelve inch speaker, and I am in the stage of finishing it.
I will not use tolex etc, just a wood preservative and maybe a floor lacquer on the outside later on, to prevent damage during transportation.
What I would like to ask, is whether it is bad to paint the inside of the enclosure using the preservative, too.
The preservative is absorbed by the wood in theory, so it doesn't create a thin film after applying it. But in the store they told me that it may develop a bit of a film after applying second coat.
So, would this existence on a thin film be bad for the acoustic properties of the cab? Should it cause any weird reflections that bare wood should normally dampen out? 😕
I am using 18mm russian birch plywood. Many thanks in advance! 🙂
I will not use tolex etc, just a wood preservative and maybe a floor lacquer on the outside later on, to prevent damage during transportation.
What I would like to ask, is whether it is bad to paint the inside of the enclosure using the preservative, too.
The preservative is absorbed by the wood in theory, so it doesn't create a thin film after applying it. But in the store they told me that it may develop a bit of a film after applying second coat.
So, would this existence on a thin film be bad for the acoustic properties of the cab? Should it cause any weird reflections that bare wood should normally dampen out? 😕
I am using 18mm russian birch plywood. Many thanks in advance! 🙂
One of the woodworking commandments is to do to the inside as you have done to the outside. That ensures that environmental conditions won't cause one side to expand or contract (plywood eliminates most of that but not all) more than the other.
I'm not certain what you mean by a 'wood preservative' but you must have Polyurethane in the Cradle of Democracy. It won't give you a beautiful finish and is the devil to strip but will be the most impervious to scratches and stains. Do both sides.
I'm not certain what you mean by a 'wood preservative' but you must have Polyurethane in the Cradle of Democracy. It won't give you a beautiful finish and is the devil to strip but will be the most impervious to scratches and stains. Do both sides.
Well it is a "varnish" that protects woods against insect attack, UV etc, and has color in it. The main characteristic of it being that it gets absorbed by the wood, instead of creating a thin film on top of the wood.
I wanted to finish my cab in a natural way and add a darker color to it, so I chose that. You can always put a polyurethane lacquer afterwards, though.
I like your approach, it seems like an engineer's point of view. Have you ever built a speaker cabinet and painted it on the inside? This may give the appropriate experience to rule out any acoustic "no-go" that would suggest what I initially wondered, whether a glossy film inside the cab would affect the sound at all.
I wanted to finish my cab in a natural way and add a darker color to it, so I chose that. You can always put a polyurethane lacquer afterwards, though.
I like your approach, it seems like an engineer's point of view. Have you ever built a speaker cabinet and painted it on the inside? This may give the appropriate experience to rule out any acoustic "no-go" that would suggest what I initially wondered, whether a glossy film inside the cab would affect the sound at all.
I've coated the insides of most speakers including consumer brands with whatever I had on hand that was mildew resistant since my active building 'career' was back before folks in my locale had [or at least used much] AC to keep humidity in the home/vehicle low and gloss/sealed surfaces per se make no difference.
What matters is how thick it is and/or how well it seals the wood's pores, which stiffens it a little, though not enough to require increasing damping IME. Ditto for marine or permanent outdoor apps where I sealed with epoxy resin to thwart moisture, termites and 'carpenter' ants.
GM
What matters is how thick it is and/or how well it seals the wood's pores, which stiffens it a little, though not enough to require increasing damping IME. Ditto for marine or permanent outdoor apps where I sealed with epoxy resin to thwart moisture, termites and 'carpenter' ants.
GM
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