The original objective of this project was to use 4 very nice book-matched mesquite planks for a receiver cabinet with turquoise inlay. After purchasing these planks at a southern Arizona mesquite mill, I decided instead to use them for the exterior of a bookshelf speaker cabinet pair. Due to width constraints and other considerations, I decided on the Brines Acoustics B10-A10 with Mark Audio Alpair 10Ps.
So the "substrate" cabinet was build with a slightly modified BA B10-A10 flat pac of .5" baltic birch, then came the harder parts: with the advise of a woodshop teacher, the .75" mesquite planks were planed flat using a shims and a tray on a rotary-head planer. This reduced the .75" thickness of the planks to .5". A band saw was used to rough-trim the planks into baffles, sides and tops. A plunge router and jasper jig were used for flush mounting the drivers.
The mesquite was then glued/clamped to birch. The baffle was especially tricky as the driver hole in the mesquite had to line-up perfectly with the driver hole on the birch….no easy task as the mesquite really wanted to skate off kilter when clamped with all the glue. I had to hold it in place and, little by little, applying more clamps and torque.
I routed the edges first using a flush bit and then a .5" radius rounder. The cabinets are now ready to have their cracks and knot-holes filled with turquoise and epoxy/resin. I practiced several techniques using different grades of crushed rock and trying both super glue and epoxy resin and different types of tung oil. I've settled on medium grade crushed turquoise, epoxy/resin instead of superglue and Formby's low gloss tung oil.
I'll start the inlay tomorrow…below are photos of the planks, the birch cabinet substrate and some practice inlay on mesquite scraps.
So the "substrate" cabinet was build with a slightly modified BA B10-A10 flat pac of .5" baltic birch, then came the harder parts: with the advise of a woodshop teacher, the .75" mesquite planks were planed flat using a shims and a tray on a rotary-head planer. This reduced the .75" thickness of the planks to .5". A band saw was used to rough-trim the planks into baffles, sides and tops. A plunge router and jasper jig were used for flush mounting the drivers.
The mesquite was then glued/clamped to birch. The baffle was especially tricky as the driver hole in the mesquite had to line-up perfectly with the driver hole on the birch….no easy task as the mesquite really wanted to skate off kilter when clamped with all the glue. I had to hold it in place and, little by little, applying more clamps and torque.
I routed the edges first using a flush bit and then a .5" radius rounder. The cabinets are now ready to have their cracks and knot-holes filled with turquoise and epoxy/resin. I practiced several techniques using different grades of crushed rock and trying both super glue and epoxy resin and different types of tung oil. I've settled on medium grade crushed turquoise, epoxy/resin instead of superglue and Formby's low gloss tung oil.
I'll start the inlay tomorrow…below are photos of the planks, the birch cabinet substrate and some practice inlay on mesquite scraps.
As beautiful as wood is, aren't you concerned that the cracks will continue over time?
I,m sure you have cut solids with a table saw and noticed the incredible stress taking place around these areas of concern. I have had the blade bind and almost stop on some occasions!
Solid wood also isn't dead like MDF and might add its own signature. Looks like the area is small enough to at least minimize these contributions.
Not trying to dampen your very nice build and of course hope nothing manifests itself in this area.
Regards
David
I,m sure you have cut solids with a table saw and noticed the incredible stress taking place around these areas of concern. I have had the blade bind and almost stop on some occasions!
Solid wood also isn't dead like MDF and might add its own signature. Looks like the area is small enough to at least minimize these contributions.
Not trying to dampen your very nice build and of course hope nothing manifests itself in this area.
Regards
David
Hi David,
Thank you for your interest and your post. But honestly, I'm not concerned in the least, for a variety of reasons.
The cracks and knot-holes are what attracted me to the medium in the first place. I've built many many speaker cabinets over the past 10 years using baltic birch ply, other plywoods, mdf and solids as well. This particular project is much more an experiment in aesthetics than a quest for the best sounding speaker.
Also, in this case this mesquite is really just a a thicker veneer (rather than a complete cabinet) glued onto substrate being a very well designed plywood bass reflex that won't have any "pumping woofers" but rather a nice full range driver that is unlikely stress the cab too much.
Worst case, if the cracks become bigger, they'll be filled with more epoxy and whatever other stuff, turquoise, malachite or even small copper tears. While I recognize that these fillers may not be the best for ultimate audio, I'm quite attracted to what hopefully may be the end result: a cool looking cabinet that will likely perform reasonable well…..we'll see in the end and will keep you posted.
Regards,
Mario
Thank you for your interest and your post. But honestly, I'm not concerned in the least, for a variety of reasons.
The cracks and knot-holes are what attracted me to the medium in the first place. I've built many many speaker cabinets over the past 10 years using baltic birch ply, other plywoods, mdf and solids as well. This particular project is much more an experiment in aesthetics than a quest for the best sounding speaker.
Also, in this case this mesquite is really just a a thicker veneer (rather than a complete cabinet) glued onto substrate being a very well designed plywood bass reflex that won't have any "pumping woofers" but rather a nice full range driver that is unlikely stress the cab too much.
Worst case, if the cracks become bigger, they'll be filled with more epoxy and whatever other stuff, turquoise, malachite or even small copper tears. While I recognize that these fillers may not be the best for ultimate audio, I'm quite attracted to what hopefully may be the end result: a cool looking cabinet that will likely perform reasonable well…..we'll see in the end and will keep you posted.
Regards,
Mario
Finished! For photos of results see post #2973:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/65061-full-range-speaker-photo-gallery-298.html
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/65061-full-range-speaker-photo-gallery-298.html
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