Zaph's B3S Project complete *PIC*

[donparsons]

Provided Link: The rest of the pics


Here goes my write up on Zaph’s B3S project.

This is the first project that I have built from start to finish with no help and I am quite proud of how they came out. On past projects I have had premade cabinets, Max’s laser cut cabinets, or had a contractor friend do the cabinets. Not on this one.

The cabinets are made of 1/2” mdf. I followed Zaph’s instructions, and to make gluing easier for a noob, I ran my rabbeting bit down the edges to create a recess. What makes these speakers an accomplishment is the finish. As a person who hates painting it was possibly ill advised to choose a piano black finish as my first (non latex) paint job.

What follows is the recipe I used for the finish, per the instructions of some very wise individuals; I chose Krylon Black Primer, and Gloss Black.

I began by rough sanding the boxes with 120 grit paper and bondoing a couple of small seams. Per Wolf, I used a mixture of water and wood glue and sealed the end grain 3 times. I then began laying down 4 coats of primer. After lots of primer, I promptly sanded through it with 320, put on two more coats of primer. Then I put on 4 coats of gloss black, which I then sanded with 400 wet/dry, and was disappointed at the finish. Mike C and Bob Barkto gave me some finishing advice and I trudged on. 4 more coats of gloss and sanding with 600 got me closer. Two final coats of gloss and I was out of paint. I looked around for some 1000 grit paper, but the best I could find was 0000 steel wool and no. 7 rubbing compound. I steel wooled the boxes and started rubbing them out and amazingly the things turned shiny. I used some Zaino car polish I had on hand over top of the rubbing compound and the things turned mirror like! Three coats of the polish and 3 coats of Zaino Gloss enhancer, and I am finished.

If I had a professional do these, I would be relatively happy. There are a few flaws, but they actually look amazing considering the craftsman.

Budget:
Drivers: $21
Crossover parts: $25
Wood: $6
Paint: $25
Sandpaper etc: $20
Labor (at my market hourly rate): $2,800
Labor (at my craftsman rate): $.05
Zaph's Design fee: $0.00 (and I read at one point that unless I knew him I was not to e-mail him. I loved that post. )

This indicates that I had better keep my day job, as I doubt I could sell this pair of speakers for $4,000. Unless I could pair them with a 4” bass module….

Thanks to everyone for their help.

[donparsons]

[waynew]

Well done. Very nice on the finish. You should see my first effort with gloss black...it looked horrible. I went through 12 spray cans of black lacquer...man did that suck!

[kene]

[donparsons]

You probably weren't getting good advice from guys like you, Bob Barkto, Wolf, and Mike C. at the time.

Next week, I'll post a picture of what the guy I made these for is building me.

Thanks,

Don

[curt_c]

You've got waaay more patience than I have!

Very impressive!

C

[Wolf]

> You probably weren't getting good advice
> from guys like you, Bob Barkto, Wolf, and
> Mike C. at the time.

I'd like to know how I helped you along in this project. Had it been me, I'd used a high-build Primer from Duplicolor, and I didn't get great results from the Krylon primer. BTW- I am envious at how reflective those really are! If you want to experiment, swap the B3S drivers for the Aura NS3-193-8A, and use his crossover for the Aura full-range project, or none at all. I think they sound better. =-)
Nicely done!
Wolf

[shawn_a]

But I see a lot of head-knocking in your future once you get the Alsa stuff for the sub. It's something to behold and yields some really hot results. I have one of their sample packs around the house somewhere and the metallics are simply astounding looking. The mirror black will probably knock you on your arse.

shawn

[bobbarkto]

I can't see Seattle. But the rest of the world is visible in the reflection!

[donparsons]

> But I see a lot of head-knocking in your
> future once you get the Alsa stuff for the
> sub. It's something to behold and yields
> some really hot results. I have one of their
> sample packs around the house somewhere and
> the metallics are simply astounding looking.
> The mirror black will probably knock you on
> your arse.

> shawn

Originally this project was going to be a little bit of black analine dye over some red oak. The oak was warped so mdf was needed. My friend wanted a black finish. The rest is kind of an OCD blackout that lasted for the better part of two weeks.

I am really looking forward to the Alsa stuff, although it appears you need to do a very good job with prep to get great mirror results. At least I won't have to hand buff it to a high shine.

[donparsons]

> I'd like to know how I helped you along in
> this project. Had it been me, I'd used a
> high-build Primer from Duplicolor, and I
> didn't get great results from the Krylon
> primer. BTW- I am envious at how reflective
> those really are! If you want to experiment,
> swap the B3S drivers for the Aura
> NS3-193-8A, and use his crossover for the
> Aura full-range project, or none at all. I
> think they sound better. =-)
> Nicely done!
> Wolf

You told me about sealing the end with glue and water. You also told me about the high build primer, but I couldn't find any close by so I went with Krylon on the advice of Bob Barkto.

I will not be experimenting. I was scared to death putting in the last screw last night, I was certain I was going to slip and gouge them.

[Wolf]

> You told me about sealing the end with glue
> and water. You also told me about the high
> build primer, but I couldn't find any close
> by so I went with Krylon on the advice of
> Bob Barkto.

Cool! I'm glad I could help you along! =-)

> I will not be experimenting. I was scared to
> death putting in the last screw last night,
> I was certain I was going to slip and gouge
> them.

Okay- It was just a thought. Again- Nice Job!
Later,
Wolf

[danklugherz]

> Here goes my write up on Zaph’s B3S project.

> This is the first project that I have built
> from start to finish with no help and I am
> quite proud of how they came out. On past
> projects I have had premade cabinets, Max’s
> laser cut cabinets, or had a contractor
> friend do the cabinets. Not on this one.

> The cabinets are made of 1/2” mdf. I
> followed Zaph’s instructions, and to make
> gluing easier for a noob, I ran my rabbeting
> bit down the edges to create a recess. What
> makes these speakers an accomplishment is
> the finish. As a person who hates painting
> it was possibly ill advised to choose a
> piano black finish as my first (non latex)
> paint job.

> What follows is the recipe I used for the
> finish, per the instructions of some very
> wise individuals; I chose Krylon Black
> Primer, and Gloss Black.

> I began by rough sanding the boxes with 120
> grit paper and bondoing a couple of small
> seams. Per Wolf, I used a mixture of water
> and wood glue and sealed the end grain 3
> times. I then began laying down 4 coats of
> primer. After lots of primer, I promptly
> sanded through it with 320, put on two more
> coats of primer. Then I put on 4 coats of
> gloss black, which I then sanded with 400
> wet/dry, and was disappointed at the finish.
> Mike C and Bob Barkto gave me some finishing
> advice and I trudged on. 4 more coats of
> gloss and sanding with 600 got me closer.
> Two final coats of gloss and I was out of
> paint. I looked around for some 1000 grit
> paper, but the best I could find was 0000
> steel wool and no. 7 rubbing compound. I
> steel wooled the boxes and started rubbing
> them out and amazingly the things turned
> shiny. I used some Zaino car polish I had on
> hand over top of the rubbing compound and
> the things turned mirror like! Three coats
> of the polish and 3 coats of Zaino Gloss
> enhancer, and I am finished.

> If I had a professional do these, I would be
> relatively happy. There are a few flaws, but
> they actually look amazing considering the
> craftsman.

> Budget:
> Drivers: $21
> Crossover parts: $25
> Wood: $6
> Paint: $25
> Sandpaper etc: $20
> Labor (at my market hourly rate): $2,800
> Labor (at my craftsman rate): $.05
> Zaph's Design fee: $0.00 (and I read at one
> point that unless I knew him I was not to
> e-mail him. I loved that post. )

> This indicates that I had better keep my day
> job, as I doubt I could sell this pair of
> speakers for $4,000. Unless I could pair
> them with a 4” bass module….

> Thanks to everyone for their help.

Nice finish Don. Your friend will be very happy with them I'm sure. Good write-up too.

Dan

[dlneubec]

[envisionelec]

> This indicates that I had better keep my day
> job, as I doubt I could sell this pair of
> speakers for $4,000. Unless I could pair
> them with a 4” bass module….

> Thanks to everyone for their help.

That looks frickin' incredible. I only wish I could do work like that!

[donparsons]

> That looks frickin' incredible. I only wish
> I could do work like that!

If I can do it, anyone can do it. It only looks that good after the very last step. It looked like crap for 2 weeks, 5 days and 20 hours. I only stopped because I ran out of paint. Then I decided to try the rubbing compound: Poof they looked really good. A couple coats of polish and gloss enhancer and I was done.

[jkrutke]

Thanks for the write-up on the finishing. Those look better than anything I've every done. I'll have to give your method a try some day. My few attempts at piano black have failed miserably.


(Originally posted by: jkrutke)

[Paul K.]

way too much work to get that look for my tastes!
Paul

> Here goes my write up on Zaph’s B3S project.

> This is the first project that I have built
> from start to finish with no help and I am
> quite proud of how they came out. On past
> projects I have had premade cabinets, Max’s
> laser cut cabinets, or had a contractor
> friend do the cabinets. Not on this one.

> The cabinets are made of 1/2” mdf. I
> followed Zaph’s instructions, and to make
> gluing easier for a noob, I ran my rabbeting
> bit down the edges to create a recess. What
> makes these speakers an accomplishment is
> the finish. As a person who hates painting
> it was possibly ill advised to choose a
> piano black finish as my first (non latex)
> paint job.

> What follows is the recipe I used for the
> finish, per the instructions of some very
> wise individuals; I chose Krylon Black
> Primer, and Gloss Black.

> I began by rough sanding the boxes with 120
> grit paper and bondoing a couple of small
> seams. Per Wolf, I used a mixture of water
> and wood glue and sealed the end grain 3
> times. I then began laying down 4 coats of
> primer. After lots of primer, I promptly
> sanded through it with 320, put on two more
> coats of primer. Then I put on 4 coats of
> gloss black, which I then sanded with 400
> wet/dry, and was disappointed at the finish.
> Mike C and Bob Barkto gave me some finishing
> advice and I trudged on. 4 more coats of
> gloss and sanding with 600 got me closer.
> Two final coats of gloss and I was out of
> paint. I looked around for some 1000 grit
> paper, but the best I could find was 0000
> steel wool and no. 7 rubbing compound. I
> steel wooled the boxes and started rubbing
> them out and amazingly the things turned
> shiny. I used some Zaino car polish I had on
> hand over top of the rubbing compound and
> the things turned mirror like! Three coats
> of the polish and 3 coats of Zaino Gloss
> enhancer, and I am finished.

> If I had a professional do these, I would be
> relatively happy. There are a few flaws, but
> they actually look amazing considering the
> craftsman.

> Budget:
> Drivers: $21
> Crossover parts: $25
> Wood: $6
> Paint: $25
> Sandpaper etc: $20
> Labor (at my market hourly rate): $2,800
> Labor (at my craftsman rate): $.05
> Zaph's Design fee: $0.00 (and I read at one
> point that unless I knew him I was not to
> e-mail him. I loved that post. )

> This indicates that I had better keep my day
> job, as I doubt I could sell this pair of
> speakers for $4,000. Unless I could pair
> them with a 4” bass module….

> Thanks to everyone for their help.

[donparsons]

Mr. Krutke,

Thank you for the kind words and all you do to help knuckleheads like me build successful projects. Your B3S design sounds unbelievable for what it is and I know my friend will be very happy with his mini speakers.

I have only recently gotten into the hobby and hope to someday be able to create my own designs. For now, the resources that are available to make really great sounding speakers will surely keep me busy.

Thanks again...

[donparsons]

> way too much work to get that look for my
> tastes!
> Paul

Notice they aren't for me. Mine are raw mdf at this point...