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Ughhh! glue!!!!!!!!!! (1 Viewer)

Joe Tilley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 1, 2002
Messages
686
I could kick myself in the ass today:angry: I finally decided to cover my sono in some birch veneer today & I wish I would have thought it out a little longer. I made the big mistake of trying to use water based contact cement, as the instructions for the veneer said to use such. Every thing seamed to be fine at first but after letting the glue set to dry it began to lift the first layer off the sono tube. Nothing major but it was enough to screw things up some as it caused little ripples in patches of the tube. So to keep the rest of it from doing the same thing I kicked the heat up hoping to dry it out faster, but than noticed it was also screwing up the veneer:angry: :angry: At this point i was pretty pissed & had to throw some things around to vent a little, Damn glue, Damn veneer, Damn stupid me for not thinking ugh why do this always seam to happen:angry:
Anyway I thought what the hell I'll throw some regular contact cement over the top of it & go from there. Everything seamed fine again the sono did not lift any farther & this stuff at least has some stick to it. But soon to just add to my anger after laying most of the veneer down & having it looking good the first layer of paper of the tube lifted off. This was it now I was just ready to, well cuss scream kick stuff around like an idiot be ever so pissed at myself for buying that damn water based crap when I knew I shouldn't have.
So now I was finding myself peeling the first layer off my sono & trying to make the best of the damage & still salvage the tube. I think I will be OK as at least its not the whole tube but maybe about 1/3 of it that is damaged.
I used a good smooth coat of glaze coat (body filler) to help smooth down the rougher spots & have stopped there for now, & I'm gonna wait a day or two to try this again.
Well I think I'll quit with my ranting & finish my Beer
htf_images_smilies_yum.gif
I just needed to get it off my chest.
 

Hank Frankenberg

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 13, 1998
Messages
2,573
Joe, welcome to D-I-Y! If you're not new, I apologize. Look at the bright side: you're brave to admit your mess-up and your frustration here - I salute you. Have another beer and take another shot at it. BTW, I tried water-based contact cement once and that was enough. ;)
 

Dan Hine

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Messages
1,312
Count me in as another guy who tried water based contact cement. I hate that stuff! Give it another shot, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

ChristopherD

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 28, 2002
Messages
107
I don't have time do describe all of the things that went wrong with my first attempts at DIY. I finally got the old-why-did-I-buy-that-garbage-I-should-have-listened-to-Hank-and-Brian crap veneer off yesterday and will start the process again. Oh well. The next ones will be better. (Repeat to self 10X.) Try to keep a positive attitude. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!
 

Dan Wesnor

Second Unit
Joined
Apr 28, 1999
Messages
389
My experience is that no method of veneering will work well without a significant amount of pressure applied to press the veneer onto the substrate. I imagine this would be very difficult to do with sonotube without crushing it.

Also, the springiness of the veneer will tend to pull it off of the round sonotube. Try wrapping the veneer around the tube first with no glue, holding in place with string or bungee cords. Then use a spray bottle of water and a steam iron to steam the veneer into shape, using the tube as a mold. This will reduce the veneer's natural desire to return to a flat position.

I don't know how you're going to get enough pressure on it to cure the cement (25psi!) without deforming the tube. This is hard enough to do using MDF.
 

Joe Tilley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 1, 2002
Messages
686
Thanks for the support guys. I went out today & tried out a small section on some extra sono with just the regular contact cement & things went perfect. It wont be until Thursday night that I get a chance to try the real thing out again so hopefully things will go OK. At least this time I know what not to do:b

Dan the veneer comes rolled up so its no problem getting it to fit around the tube at all. As for the pressure on it that's something I didn't think about so I'm glad you pointed it out. I don't think it should be a problem as the section I tested out seams to have bonded pretty well, I just wish I would have thought about trying a piece like this the first time. I guess I'll see how well the test piece holds out after it has had a chance to set some. As it sets all I did was use a roller to press the veneer down, & it seams to be holding quite well so we'll see what happens.
 

George W

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 25, 2001
Messages
91
Here's a little tip for anyone who manages to drip some glue on the good side of the veneer. Use some "goo gone" on the site as soon as possible and then wipe it with water. It won't completely remove it as the glue seeps down into the grain really quickly but it does a good job of removing as much as possible and makes any glue marks difficult to see in a finished speaker. Good luck with the rest of your veneer work. Just go slow and it should turn out well.

George
 

Brian Bunge

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2000
Messages
3,716
I use mineral spirits to get glue off of the face side of the veneer. Works great every time.
 

Dave Poehlman

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2000
Messages
3,813
Hmmm.. thanks for raising a good point, Joe.

I've used water-based adhesives with no problem on MDF, but I would have made the same mistake on a sonotube myself. Until I read this post, that is.

At least you can take heart you've prevented at least 1 HTF member from the same fate.
 

Joe Tilley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 1, 2002
Messages
686
Well I got most of my sono done last night & it came out great. I had to use red oak instead of the birch that I wonted because I couldn't find enough birch to cover it. It looks alot nicer than I had thought it would with the oak so I'm very happy with the results. My end caps however are birch but it all seams to go together very nice.
I ended up just using a couple coats of regular contact cement on both the tube & veneer to hold everything down & never had any problems out of it. Now I just need to finish veneering the edges on my end caps & put on some stain:D

Oh ya I did learn one other thing last night. Don't ever try to trim your veneer on the tube without making sure it cant move on you. I had a mishap right as I was finishing up & cut a pretty good chunk off the tip of my finger, I even cut some of my nail off:b Typing is fun now though being one finger short, literally.
Anyway I will try to get up some pictures soon so everyone can check it out.
 

Joe Tilley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 1, 2002
Messages
686
:D :D Um well I could put up some pictures of the finger if you like. But I think people would be more interested in the sub, but than again you never know;)
By the time I do get a chance to get it all finished up & post pictures I think it should be healed up. That is unless I slip up again I'm pretty bad about cutting myself at least once any time I get around something sharp:b
 

Dave Milne

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 2, 2001
Messages
568
I've always had reasonably good luck with solvent contact cement and veneers (the water-based stuff is awful). However, my friend has a pro cabinet shop and he showed me an awesome tool: a huge vacuum bag. He says he now uses regular yellow glue for veneers and clamps it with this bag. You put the entire glued-up panel (or speaker or whatever) in the bag, seal it up, and pump it down. It applies an even 15 psi clamping force on all surfaces. He says he'll never go back to contact cement.
 

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