Solid wood
I built these ~3 years ago out of local 1 1/4" cherry boards, 4 pcs. joined with biscuits & gorilla glue for front baffle and wings... nary a crack in sight.
John L.
I built these ~3 years ago out of local 1 1/4" cherry boards, 4 pcs. joined with biscuits & gorilla glue for front baffle and wings... nary a crack in sight.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
John L.
Hi,
What John is trying to say, (If I haven't misunderstood) if one have no experience with solid wood, it could mean disappointment later. Especially if one is living with a lot of changes of humidity.
And it's worse in a box with six walls connected to each other, not so critical with ob speakers.
Peter
What John is trying to say, (If I haven't misunderstood) if one have no experience with solid wood, it could mean disappointment later. Especially if one is living with a lot of changes of humidity.
And it's worse in a box with six walls connected to each other, not so critical with ob speakers.
Peter
peterbrorsson said:
You've obviously misunderstood... take your personal agenda elsewhere... doesn't belong here.. stalking degrades ones opininion to that of a petty thief....
Built all sorts of wood furniture/speakers over 30+ yrs... just as in using metals and other materials, if you don't follow established guidelines and proper engineering (contrary to what I do) you'll screwup.... same with posting inappropriate ad-hominem (might want to Google this to see what it means) comments on forums and newsgroups.
Wow, you certainly read a lot more into Peter's post than I did. What he said is entirely correct: If a solid wood open baffle has nothing glued lengthwise across the grain to impede its freedom of movement, of course it will probably never crack. But a six-sided box will necessarily have at least two sides with lengthwise grain glued across the width. And if said panel is flatsawn and greater than 6" or so across, there is a fair likelihood that it will crack.
John
Lol at the time I thought it was probably a bit impractical but, I needed a break from subjects like math, biology and science. So I took woodwork as a highschool subject... (our high-schools goes till 12th grade) I realy love wood.
I have to agree with what has been said repetitively, the only way to have extended pieces of wood, is to use properly jointed frames and panels, which allows for seasonal expansion and contraction.
Foregoing this, the only variable is the amount of time before you have a failure in the wood.
I have to agree with what has been said repetitively, the only way to have extended pieces of wood, is to use properly jointed frames and panels, which allows for seasonal expansion and contraction.
Foregoing this, the only variable is the amount of time before you have a failure in the wood.
s7horton said:
Here's a project I'm working on the demonstrates my lack of ability, especially for finishing:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106736&perpage=25&pagenumber=4
The secret...? You've figured it out?
I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm a carpenter - trained, apprenticed, licensed with more than 20 years in the trade. You name it, I've built it - from furniture (yes, with solid wood) to houses.
I have a really good understanding of solid wood properties, and I know how to build with it. I know the rules for joining it and one of the big ones (if not the biggest) is to avoid cross-grain joints.
Fortunately, I don't have to preach that nugget of knowledge anymore because you know the secret.
Care to share it?
dlneubec and MJL, et al...
First some good stuff:
MJL, thanks for the included link to your loudspeaker project. They do look marvelous, and anybody that can do that does get respect from me (regardless of other posts, and the odd peck back and forth)
same to dlneubec...wonderful looking, and most likely excellent sounding.
This is one area where I think me and MJL can agree. Solid wood for loudspeakers is expensive and not really warranted. I know I plug "no mdf", and am "pro" Baltic Birch plywood. But I think in the front baffle of MJL's speaker project I can see the need and usefullness of it. I guess if Thiel can use it on a machined front baffle of similar shape, it may not be all that bad.
I still subscribe to the notion of BB, but there are other construction techniques that may be quite good. I hope MJL that you finished both the inside and outside of your enclosures similarly. If you have, you will hear the difference.
One technique that I am quite interested in is the use of "torsion box" and curved surfaces. I guess a natural progression towards a lightweight rigid enclosure.
Anyways thought I'd drop a couple of compliments where they are due.
PS: leadbelly, nice little aspeakers, and someplace I saw a link to some solid wood speakers made from 100 year old whiskey barrels or similar , from Pioneer, no less. So infact perhaps good examples of each type of construction can be found.
First some good stuff:
MJL, thanks for the included link to your loudspeaker project. They do look marvelous, and anybody that can do that does get respect from me (regardless of other posts, and the odd peck back and forth)
same to dlneubec...wonderful looking, and most likely excellent sounding.
This is one area where I think me and MJL can agree. Solid wood for loudspeakers is expensive and not really warranted. I know I plug "no mdf", and am "pro" Baltic Birch plywood. But I think in the front baffle of MJL's speaker project I can see the need and usefullness of it. I guess if Thiel can use it on a machined front baffle of similar shape, it may not be all that bad.
I still subscribe to the notion of BB, but there are other construction techniques that may be quite good. I hope MJL that you finished both the inside and outside of your enclosures similarly. If you have, you will hear the difference.
One technique that I am quite interested in is the use of "torsion box" and curved surfaces. I guess a natural progression towards a lightweight rigid enclosure.
Anyways thought I'd drop a couple of compliments where they are due.
PS: leadbelly, nice little aspeakers, and someplace I saw a link to some solid wood speakers made from 100 year old whiskey barrels or similar , from Pioneer, no less. So infact perhaps good examples of each type of construction can be found.
MJL21193,
Had a look at your link, not bad for a fresh man reg finishing
Joke aside, it looks really good! Not my stew of brew with high gloss but can appreciate the effort spent.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like this WB urethane is made for rolling or brushing?
Try to get hold of lacquer that is meant for spraying instead as the reology is different for brushing and spraying.
Could be an explanation why you got orange peel in the process.
If you would have diluted it more, maybe you would have less orange peel but with more fibre rising and sagging. Compromises as ever!
On the other hand WB lacquers are more difficult to get as smooth as SB, mostly due to fast drying and surface tension of water.
Generally a WB lacquer requires higher pressure in the gun and more atomization air to get better result.
89 dollars/L or gallon?
Ouch, I'm pretty lucky as I get it for free or can make it from schratch if necessary.
Peace on earth
Had a look at your link, not bad for a fresh man reg finishing
Joke aside, it looks really good! Not my stew of brew with high gloss but can appreciate the effort spent.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like this WB urethane is made for rolling or brushing?
Try to get hold of lacquer that is meant for spraying instead as the reology is different for brushing and spraying.
Could be an explanation why you got orange peel in the process.
If you would have diluted it more, maybe you would have less orange peel but with more fibre rising and sagging. Compromises as ever!
On the other hand WB lacquers are more difficult to get as smooth as SB, mostly due to fast drying and surface tension of water.
Generally a WB lacquer requires higher pressure in the gun and more atomization air to get better result.
89 dollars/L or gallon?
Ouch, I'm pretty lucky as I get it for free or can make it from schratch if necessary.
Peace on earth
peterbrorsson said:
Hi Peter,
Here's the data sheet for it:
http://www.sherlink.com/sher-link/ImgServ?id=datapages/armorseal_1k_wb_urethane_8-49.pdf
You're correct, it's originally meant for brush or roller. I thinned it quite a bit to spray and had the pressure at about 65 psi. The orange peel could be from using a cheap gun and a small compressor. I always run out of air while spraying. Not as big a problem for me though, as I sand this flat anyhow.
Yes, $89/gallon (that's not bad though, regular house paint, the kind I use here, is $45/gallon.)
auplater said:
Well, I normally avoid sniping at typos, since it would be a full-time career here at diyA - nor am I immune to typos myself. What got my attention was the condescending assumption that no-one here would know what an ad hominem argument was.
But I was feeling more cranky then than I am now, which may be true of you as well; in any case, my apologies to all for increasing the crankiness quotient of the thread.
Regards.
Aengus
Well, I normally avoid sniping at typos, since it would be a full-time career here at diyA - nor am I immune to typos myself. What got my attention was the condescending assumption that no-one here would know what an ad hominem argument was.
But I was feeling more cranky then than I am now, which may be true of you as well; in any case, my apologies to all for increasing the crankiness quotient of the thread.
Regards.
Aengus
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