Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

[Soundslike]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Or, I suppose it would be possible to veneer the sides as planned and then notch the overlap where it folds over the baffle. That would only work if you could live with a segmented look, but that could be minimized somewhat by sanding to an extent allowed by the thickness of the veneer. It would also mean a seam where the veneer starts on the front face of the baffle. Of course, you'd likely end up with a little "pucker" at the inside corner of each notch that would have to be sanded away. So, to work, I guess you'd need the thickest, most flexible, veneer available. I think I'd resort to paint, or remake the front baffles in a contrasting solid wood, and veneer up to the edges of it.

These ideas might sound tough, but judging by the quality of the work you've done so far, you're up to it...

[Soundslike]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

The compound curve issue you face at the edges of the baffle might actually be an opportunity to come up with an even nicer overall look. How about painting the edges, probably with a semi-gloss black, then veneering the sides, with the baffle painted a contrasting color such as silver? The top could either be veneered, or painted to match the edges. If you were interested in doing that, hopefully you haven't flush trimmed the baffles just yet, so they could be flush trimmed to the veneer height. I think you might well end up with an even more interesting look...

[Jeanie]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

This is a very nice looking cabinet. A far cry from the plywood boxes I make, particularly the robust cross-bracing. The curvilinear sides will also contribute to the cabinet stiffness.

[cowtown]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

I thought it was gonna look like this:



Nice work! I'm waiting for the finished veneer with baited breath.

Yeah, my wife was OK with everything up to the swiveling cannon. I had to scrap the idea and start over.

[denton]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Carmody's Tarkus

I thought it was gonna look like this:



Nice work! I'm waiting for the finished veneer with baited breath.

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: A dilemma

Thanks everyone! These have really been a lot of fun to build so far. But I think the really difficult part is ahead....

Thinking about veneer, the original plan was to do a 3/4" roundover on the 4 vertical curved edges, which is what the Sketchup graphic shows. But how would I go about veneering around this? I am realizing that, by doing a roundover there, a compound curve would be created. How the heck could this be covered smoothly?

Another possibility would be to just flush-trim the vertical edges, and veneer the sides and front with separate pieces. But I'd really prefer that the veneer wrapped around the front edges to reinforce the "boat" design.

Fortunately nothing is trimmed or rounded-over yet, so I'll just sit here and wait for the "no problem, it's easy, just do this..." answers to roll in.:D

--Colin

Get some 3/4" hardwood strips and lay them on the edges. Use the router to put a roundover on those, since the strips will likely be able to bend around those large radii.

Or, if you don't mind using oak, you can purchase 3/4" quarter rounds that you could lay on the edges (once prepped by the router).

[andykriech]

Re: A dilemma

Thanks everyone! These have really been a lot of fun to build so far. But I think the really difficult part is ahead....

Thinking about veneer, the original plan was to do a 3/4" roundover on the 4 vertical curved edges, which is what the Sketchup graphic shows. But how would I go about veneering around this? I am realizing that, by doing a roundover there, a compound curve would be created. How the heck could this be covered smoothly?

Another possibility would be to just flush-trim the vertical edges, and veneer the sides and front with separate pieces. But I'd really prefer that the veneer wrapped around the front edges to reinforce the "boat" design.

Fortunately nothing is trimmed or rounded-over yet, so I'll just sit here and wait for the "no problem, it's easy, just do this..." answers to roll in.:D

--Colin

Hmmm...that gets tough quickly.
While I know it is mixing modes, a 3/4" chamfer would allow you to veneer the chamfered edge. I do realize that the flat edge isn't keeping to the curved theme, but it is at least easily done.
Check out jclin4's Hold Outs for a recent example or the Drake in the project showcase. This would work on your curved edge, too.

HTH, Andy.

[cowtown]

A dilemma

Thanks everyone! These have really been a lot of fun to build so far. But I think the really difficult part is ahead....

Thinking about veneer, the original plan was to do a 3/4" roundover on the 4 vertical curved edges, which is what the Sketchup graphic shows. But how would I go about veneering around this? I am realizing that, by doing a roundover there, a compound curve would be created. How the heck could this be covered smoothly?

Another possibility would be to just flush-trim the vertical edges, and veneer the sides and front with separate pieces. But I'd really prefer that the veneer wrapped around the front edges to reinforce the "boat" design.

Fortunately nothing is trimmed or rounded-over yet, so I'll just sit here and wait for the "no problem, it's easy, just do this..." answers to roll in.:D

--Colin

[cantgetitright]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Very nice. Them are going to sound great. Wow.

[Randall Kepley]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Cowtown , those are looking fantastic my man! I love the dowel supports , it is far stronger than many would ever think. Cant wait for the veneer work. Keep it coming , were waiting. R.K.

[bill poster]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Very nice. Glad to see someone using curves in cabinet builds!

[Mark65]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

I'm likin' it...a lot!

Great work!


Mark

[fastbike1]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Really, really, looking good. Those are going to be outstanding.

[cowtown]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

Made some good progress this weekend, to the point where I could actually test-listen to one of them for the first time. It's too early to say how they sound since the other cabinet isn't done, there was no lining installed, and the drivers are still stiff, but the phrase "plenty of bass!" comes to mind.

Gluing the curved sides on was quite a bit harder than I expected it to be. I used two hold-down straps to get the first panel (3/16" tempered HDF) glued onto the skeleton, and it was tricky getting the HDF to seat all the way along the MDF. It wanted pop up and away from parts of the curve. I thought about shooting some brads into it to tack it down, but I want to do a roundover later so clamps were the only way to go. With some struggling it eventually worked out OK, and the following layers were a bit easier.

I re-discovered the old axiom of "you can never have enough clamps," and took a run to Harbor for 6 more after struggling with the first few panels. I still could have used a few more.

Also had a chance to build the crossovers on some thin oak scrap with dowel scraps for legs. They'll sit on the bottom of the cabinet.

Chamfered the mid just so it doesn't nag at me later. Building the sealed MT section:






Crossovers with separate inputs for the W and TM sections:


It's starting to look like a speaker! I haven't done any flush-trimming or roundovers yet, but had to drag it into the living room to see how it looks:

[jonpike]

Re: Carmody Tarkus 3-Way in a one-piece curved cabinet

A single layer of 3/4" MDF will resonate/transmit some of the back wave - if you put your hand on it while the speaker's playing, you'll feel some significant vibrations.

Looking good... nice photodoc'in...

If there are concerns with the thickness/stiffness, something you could do fairly easily would be to glue a few "bars" of hardwood, BB or something stiff, against the back of the baffle. Say an inch to inch and a half wide, half inch thick, glue the thin edge to the baffle. Any flexing would have to flex it thru the thicker width. Lots of stiffness added. Probably not as good as a 1.5" thick baffle, but probably a decent improvement. I'd use epoxy, for a really solid joint. Maybe a bit of foam or felt on the sides near the midrange to cut down potential reflections...

Looking at the back of the baffle pic, you could do one between the woofer and mid, between the woofer and the port, and maybe one between the tweeter and woofer, if you did a little filing to make a clearance notch going over the T nuts.

edit: After thinking about it and looking at where the dowels are, the one between port and woofer would be a little redundant. Maybe a couple vertical ones between the outer dowels and the bottom, if one wants to get compulsive... ;-)