Another FHXL Build

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There are probably several "formulas", but my own is :
-short nap 3" paint roller, look to achieve a very light "eggshell" texture on both surfaces, extra thick around the edges
- two very thin coats of glue to each surface, dry between 10-15 min between(depending on ambient air temp /humidity)
- let dry to the touch before ironing on
- use a cheap dedicated clothes iron ( not your wife's nice steamer) set to highest temp (usually labelled "linen") , don't worry about any minor scorching on edges, around driver cut outs, etc - in fact they can provide a guide for the trimming out of rebated driver cut-outs, and will sand out
- I've never found a veneer roller necessary- the slow continuous pressure of the iron has been enough
- for designs that are tilted back, I like the grain to follow the angle (in the case of the FHs, 5dg), as well as to wrap the grain figuring contiguously around the sides and top in matched pattern on the pair. With the curved side panels of this design, that means with careful alignment you'll be able to yield both enclosures from a single 4x8ft sheet, with some awkward offcuts/waste - IIWII
- I do the fronts (and backs when applicable) first, then the two sides, and the tops (bottoms) last. It's unavoidable that the exposed edges of the paper substrate will show, but I've found that with careful trimming/sanding, that doesn't stand out much.
 
Hi Eric - those speakers are absolutely gorgeous! I'll be following your progress as you finish up for sure. I just received the XL plans myself a couple of days ago (thanks Dave!), and was looking for ideas. There's lots of good info in this thread.

My current project is a version of the Red Light District using aluminum, maple and bubinga. It's gorgeous wood but it ain't cheap, usually going for roughly twice the price of cherry. I got lucky and purchased mine by the pound as 3" (~76 mm) wide cutoffs from one of the national woodworking store chains. It was an impulse buy for one of those "someday" projects, except that "someday" turned out to be just 3 months later!

I'm ~8 hours into breaking in a pair of Alpair 10.3s, and so far I'm extremely impressed. I had reservations about them at first because of their relative insensitivity, but my little 4-watt RH84 (single-ended pentode) drives them to satisfying levels - and that's with them "mounted" in their shipping boxes and playing in a 24 x17 living room. I can't wait to hear them mounted in the FHXL cabinets!
 
Zenith: thanks for sharing your kind comments on my build! BTW- nice avatar - I've got a few radio restoration projects on my web page (signature link). Looks like your new amp would be a great match to my speakers! What kind of finish are you using for your bubinga? I'm still playing with finishes to see what I like. So far, my plan is to put 3-4 coats of 100% tung oil (to accent the grain) then cover with some semi-gloss Formby's Tung Oil Finish to build a bit of a protective layer on top. The challenge is to keep the Formby's from making the finished speaker look like shiny plastic - I think a little wiping after application and a gentle scrub with a grey pad between coats will help with this.

The veneer arrived and looks very nice. It's a bit thicker than I was expecting, a total of 0.027" including the 10mil paper backer. I started laying out how I will cut pieces from it to maximize the leftover for another project. I left about 1/2" to 3/4" border around all of my pieces as I traced things out. Given that I don't have an 8'x4' hard work space for cutting with a razor knife, I discovered that it cuts sufficiently well with a heavy pair of scissors. I also had some good success gluing up a scrap of veneer to a right-angle set of boards that I made for test purposes. Chris - your advice for applying glue worked great, thank you! It looks like the biggest challenge will be to keep the veneer from shifting slightly as the glue melts under the hot iron. I guess the solution is to press the iron (and veneer) in the direction of the joint to keep things better aligned and more hidden. I also glued my kraft paper (layer between veneer and iron to keep glue off the iron) to the edge of my test strip because I was a bit too generous with the glue in that spot... Practice, practice, practice to eliminate surprises.

Also, I found a digital angle-finder to be invaluable while setting up my table saw for the 5 degree angle cuts when making the cabinets. I think it came from Harbor Freight or some similar outlet for a few bucks. This is a highly recommended tool!

Question: What is the ideal distance between the bottom of the driver hole and the bottom of the netting to hold the acoustastuff in place? Should it just be a loose fill with air spaces around it (if I place the netting 15" or so below the driver), or is it intended to be a more discrete plug / "air flow" barrier for the driver (if I place the netting 10" or so below the driver)?
 

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Eric - another handy gadget to add to your collection would be one of these

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Paul, ever used the Howard's Orange Oil Feed& Wax ? They make a great line of refinishing products, and this one almost smells good enough to spread on your toast

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
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Paul: I am aware that pure oils never "dry" though Formby's does work on top of 100% pure oil, I've been playing with a test piece of wood for a few weeks now. The Formby's adds nice color, but doesn't get the grain to pop like the 100% oil does. The combination of them is nice. I'm open to other things as well. I saw a video some time ago about WaterLox that might be worth a try.

Chris: I saw the magnetic angle finder in the FHXL plans. I would imagine this works well in a dedicated shop where you set your saw up, level it, and never move it again. I don't have this luxury of space, so my saw is on wheels and moves around all of the time. Thus, having the angle finder with a pivot point in the middle works quite well with my setup. I have some of the Howard's Feed-N-Wax that I haven't tried on raw wood yet. Might be an interesting option, though this stuff doesn't seem to really "dry" either.
 
Eric - the magnetic gauge has a zero reset for before you set the blade - I have both, and love 'em equally as much - oops,. Paul beat me to that

I've only ever used the Feed n Wax for maintenance of existing oiled finish - on vintage commercial speakers such as JBL, EPI, etc. IIRC, on a test I did a while back, it doesn't add much of any color to raw wood / veneers.
 
the magnetic gauge has a zero reset for before you set the blade - I have both, and love 'em equally as much

Ah, that makes a lot of sense! Good to know.

I'm open to other finishes for bubinga that will add some contrast to the grain and still help protect the wood. Seems that most people use some sort of wiping varnish...
 
frugal-phile™
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Question: What is the ideal distance between the bottom of the driver hole and the bottom of the netting to hold the acoustastuff in place? Should it just be a loose fill with air spaces around it (if I place the netting 15" or so below the driver), or is it intended to be a more discrete plug / "air flow" barrier for the driver (if I place the netting 10" or so below the driver)?

You can start right under the driver and reach down to approx half=ay towards the choke point.

The polyfluff should be very well teased, and is usually sufficiently volumous that it will friction fit.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


This is 40g of acoustastuff in the bag and teased out. This is the amount we ship with the FH3 flat-paks for under the driver (but on average only half id used) but is approximately the right amount for FHXL with A10x.

dave
 
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