cabinet finishing and construction help! (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Matthew]

I will be building a cabinet for my front speakers very soon and need some help with making them as dead as possible and making them look decent. I build car audio cabinets primarily so i have the contruction methods down, but i cant just carpet something for home use..

need some ideas on how to make a presentable finish, heard that perhaps i should make the cabinets out of mdf and then put a layer of some sort of plywood over that and finish it, any ideas?? and will 3/4" mdf be dead enough for home use with a 5.25" midwoofer and a ribbon tweet with some bracing..seems like it would be fine with some good braces, but want to be sure, dont want any resonating at all.. really have no clue about this, never had to make a cabinet look nice before...lol..

 

[Zac_F]

Sounds ok to me. I wouldn't go too crazy on the bracing if you're using plywood over mdf. Should be plenty stiff and dead. You should only need the ply over the front/rear. The sides should be ok without it.

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

I would make the baffle a little thicker than 3/4. One to one and a half inches. I agree with the preveous poster that you would want to either internally brace or cover the 3/4 MDF with a finish grade plywood. Alternatives to the plywood facade are wood veneer, various painting schemes or high end formica type laminates.

 

[Stephen Matthew]

any ideas or tips on how to go about laminates or veneer?? cant paint very well, plus having to prepare the wood to perfect is a pita...

thanks!

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

What ribbon tweeter/driver are you using?

 

[Stephen Matthew]

looking at the Boehhider Graebenher Ribbons, either the neo3 pdr or the neo 8. saw them here www.gr-research.com . will have a chance to try out the neo3 soon hopefully.

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

I have a sweet spot for ribbons. I just finished a center channel MTM using the HiVi RT2C I was also looking at those neos. Keep us posted with the results.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Stephen, if you are new to veneering/wood finishing, there's a lot of information you need and I suggest some practice would be a great way to build skill and confidence. Too much info for a post, but I recommend you go to a woodworking supply store or large bookstore and pick up a book on wood finishing and also one on veneering. If there is a Woodcraft store in your area, that would be a great place to go. The employees usually have quite a bit of experience and are a great source of info.
An alternative that's cheaper and easier is laminate, as in WilsonArt and Formica. Home Depot and Lowes carry some basic colors.

 

[Stephen Matthew]

thanks for the ideas, yeah i figured getting a veneer to work half decent would likely be tough, need to read up on it some.. one last question, something i hadnt considered before, how would black vinyl look??

thanks again!

 

[Clay Autery]

I just covered my Flexi-Rack shelves with Wilson Art Part # 1595 107 (matte black)(the 107 means the thicker horizontal stuff... which btw, is more tolerant for surface imperfections.
I think it came out really nice, and so does my wife... which of course is THE most important thing when you are making major changes to anything other than the garage.
I was seriously considering covering basically everything in my HT with it.... media cabinet, 281s, LCC, Tempest, and tables... Not sure now...
It is NOT hard to work with, but it does have a learning curve to it, and you must be very meticulous in your procedure AND your cleanliness... (Also make sure your saw is set at 90 degrees... )