A sad day: my speakers nekkid no more... (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Here's the grueling process photo-documented (but I did restrain myself and didn't quite go for the "waiting for paint to dry" bore fest it could have turned out to be).
Click here for more details of this long process.

 

[Chris Carswell]

Once again Pat, nicely done !!!
Green??? I wanted to rag ya about that in ATL
I did want to hear those but I was in the other room (+ had to leave early for the Stones) & didn't get a chance to listen to them. I was more concerned with the MDT-30. I was considering them for a new project. Do you still have the FRD files (or higher res. response graph pics) for them in that size baffle?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a little song called "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"!
They do look great Pat! BTW, I'm sure Hank will tell you that you'll get a much more even finish when dying oak if you first use a sanding sealer to level out the finish. I think the pre-stain stuff I used on solid oak in the past does the same thing.

 

[Pete Mazz]

Pat, you realize you have to send in your NSAA badge and sign the NDA on the secret handshake.
I'm very dissappointed!
Pete

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Pat, good work. Those are certainly holidayish. Mike Knapp would appreciate them. If you'd only include lots of photos with your projects...

 

[Patrick Sun]

Chris, here's a link to my FRD and ZMA files for both drivers. It's a zip file.
For everyone else, I'm deeply apologetic to speaker nudists everywhere for my defection.

 

[David-S]

Did you do the poly on the (painted) baffles too?
They look, well, cool

 

[Mike Knapp]

Wow! I like those quite a bit, but I bet you knew I would.
I have used the wood dye before (on the pre-amp I built) but I noticed that it raised the grain of the wood more than the usual stain. Did you have to sand between the dye process and the poly? I will admit that I didnt do that and I have been meaning to re-finish the pre-amp correctly ever since it was finished. If you didnt sand, is your surface smooth?
That is a great color combinition you have there as well. Very nicely done...I am envious.
Were the cabinets MDF or some hardwood?
Mike

 

[Pete Mazz]

There are alcohol based dyes and water based ones. The water based will raise the grain.
Dyes should be liberally applied. Keeping the surface wet will eliminate uneven coloration.
I forgive you Pat, but the other members are out for a lynching.
They do look good, BTW.
Pete

 

[Patrick Sun]

I sprayed a clear coat on the green baffles after the hammered paint dried (over a day or two of drying time). I made the mistake of spraying the center channel front baffle before the paint completely dried/cured, and there was some interaction between the clear coat spray and the green hammered paint, but at that point, I just didn't care, and it didn't really mess the "look" up all that much. There is some poly on the edges of the front baffle, but it neither helps or hinders the finish.

I experimented with sanding after applying the dye, but using either 220 grit or 400 grit wet sandpaper (using it dry)would scrape off the dye, so I didn't sand with sandpaper after that (too lazy to go buy some steel wool), and just used the palm of my hand to smooth off any little bitty bumps. In between poly-coats, I did the same, used my palm to sand down the little bitty spots (or used my fingernail to sand down a spot or two). I laid it on thick for the final coat. The sides are not perfectly smooth, but, again, I didn't care because it didn't really affect the look of the speaker (only the feel, and who really feels up speaker exteriors?) The cabinets are totally MDF.

The actual Bing Cherry dye applied with 2 coats yields a darker finish than what's in the photos, but it's pretty rich in color once you slap the glossy poly-coat on it.

On the bottle of the wood dyes, it appears that it had tung oil for the base, and pigment added to it.

 

[Mike Knapp]

Patrick,
As I said the speakers look fantastic. I thought I was the only guy that liked color in my speakers
Just to clarify, the dye was applied to a wood veneer that was glued to the MDF correct? I have not experiemented with dye direcetly on MDF, but I think it may prove interesting. I was wondering if you had dyed the MDF directly.
I cant get over how nice they look. I bet the poly really made the color look rich. I have hardwood floors (you knew that of course you have been to my house) and when they were re-finished I was amazed at how much different the wood looked after it got it's poly coat.
Your work here may inspire me to do some work in wood (using colorful dyes) rather than my usual painted and laminate surfaces. Really well done.
Mike

 

[Patrick Sun]

The dye was applied to the veneer after the veneer was ironed/glued on. No experimention with dye on MDF for me. Waste of dye ($6/bottle), better off just priming and painting.

I did try the Poly satin finish, but it was dull/lifeless, so I sanded that satin coat off the bottom side of one of the speakers (as best as I could), and re-dyed the bottom side veneer and then applied the Poly gloss finish to it to fix that bit of experimentation.

 

[Mike Knapp]

Thank you kind sir.

Mike

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

God didn't mean for wood to be dyed colors. Well, maybe "tinted"..., right, Brian?

 

[Jon Torres]

How did you get the veneer so close to the front baffle? You couldn't use the flush trim bit for that section. Are you just really careful? Oh, and they look great.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Pat,
You'll have to use some of the wipe-on poly that we use here. You won't ever want to use the Minwax stuff again.
Yes, Hank it should only be tinted! But anything's better than stained! I'll have to see how the red mahogany dye does on some solid cherry I've got on the way just to compare how solid wood takes it compared to veneer.
I guess Mr. Knapp didn't see my red mahogany dyed maple veneer huh? The picture doesn't really do it justice.
Link Removed

 

[Mike Knapp]

I think the dye is a splendid idea. It allows the woodgrain to show through while providing a wonderful pallette to work with. I have seen dyed wood furniture and it can look like a work of art. In fact I have seen artists at shows that are using dyed wood as a medium in their artwork.

I was thrilled at the yellow pre-amp I made except for the final finish. I like color....anything that gives me color is a good thing.

Mike

 

[Mike Knapp]

Brian, That is beautiful as well!
But, what I especially like about Patricks speaker is the use of the complimentary color scheme. The green and the deep red work so well together, fighting each other just to the point that they become partners. But I digress into things artistic!
I am considering re-building my cheeky monkeys to take advantage of something similar to what Patrick has acheived with the use of the complimentary colors he chose.
He may be an artist and not even know it!
Mike

 

[Patrick Sun]

Jon, for the edges that were next to the front baffle, I either relied on the inherent machine cuts from the veneer sheets' sides, or if I had to make the cuts across the grain, I just winged it with either the scissors or a straight edge and utility knife. I mostly winged it with scissors (the edges aren't perfect, but close enough to not be distractingly unsightly).

The proper way it to use a straight edge and veneer cutter/utility knife. But what you do want to do is line up the piece of veneer so that the "straight" edge butts up with the line of the edge, and then you just trim off the excess on the other 3 sides with the trim bit.

One more thing, I applied the veneer in the following order (I'll make a note on my webpage later):

Bottom
Sides
Top

This will allow you to sand the edges smoothly with the right "coverage" of the veneer edges.

 

[Chris Keen]

Brian,

What brand of Red Mahogany did you use, and was it water or alcohol based? I'm looking for a good one to use on a subwoofer I'll be building in late December or early January.

Also, has anyone ever experimented with mixing dyes to get the tint they were after? For example, maybe something like two parts red mahogany to one part brown mahogany. Just curious and fishing for some inputs.

Pat and Brian, both look wonderful. You should both be proud.