Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

[gadkins]

Hello everyone.
I wanted to post the pictures and describe the adventure of assembling my overnight sensation knock down kit. (disclaimer) I have pretty much zero experience with woodworking.

After I completed assembly of the kit (Which was very easy and straight forward) I wanted to apply stain. I block sanded the wood out to 400 grit and I applied minwax ebony stain. Even though I followed the instructions, it seems that I messed something up during the stain application; the stain didn't darken the wood as much as I would have liked and it turned out blotchy. After a 2nd application of stain I was happier with the color, but it was still blotchy. I decided to apply a 3rd coat of stain. I didn't wait long enough between coats and the 2nd coat started to lift when I was brushing on the 3rd coat on.

At that point I was getting frustrated. So I decided to start over, I used a 120 and a 220 grit pad on a DA sander and went to work. I completely stripped the wood and started from scratch. I re-stained them both, this time I was considerably happier with the results. They both have a little uneven color and blotches in spots; I decided it was good enough so I let the stain cure for about a week, in the meantime I was reading up on finishing the wood. I made bit of an uninformed decision. I decided to spray on some PPG Acrylic Urethane clear. I sprayed on 3 coats; the cleat didn’t lift or have any adverse reaction with the wood/stain, I’m very thankful for that. It's not as smooth as I'd like, but decent enough.
I went over them with some hand glaze and finished the assembly. I plan on buffing and adding wax after they cure for about a month. I didn’t think to take pictures of the crossovers or the internals. It’s nothing outstanding at any rate, just the components laid out on a piece of peg board.

On to the pictures

[Leroy R]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Very nice. The combination of the black stain and clear coat really bring out the character of the wood grain.

[johnlinvell]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Beautiful speakers.....very nice work.....

[Benji]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

*BEAUTIFUL* speakers there..... I think they have to go in as one of my top favourites ever....

[jonlem]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Very nice.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Yup, and that's just diy's knockdown kit (Birch? ply?)? (no veneer?)

[gadkins]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Yup, and that's just diy's knockdown kit (Birch? ply?)? (no veneer?)

Yep; birch ply, this was the knock down kit purchased from Parts Express. The only tool I used was a pneumatic sander. I used it to take the little lip down around some of the edges. A router would have worked better.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Funny, but they're so shiny, stealth like, almost invisible.

[joeybutts]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Funny, but they're so shiny, stealth like, almost invisible.

Agreed. WOW. Did you do this with a HVLP?

[gadkins]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Agreed. WOW. Did you do this with a HVLP?

I used an Eastwood HVLP gravity feed. They are slightly higher quality than the harbor freight guns. I have a little body shop experience, plus easy access to a lot of supplies, as my uncle runs an auto body supply shop in town. I painted these outside on a set of saw horses. It would have been nicer to use a booth, but it's not necessary in this case.

I have concerns about the longevity of this type of finish. It's my understanding that wood will slightly shrink and expand with temp and humidity changes. This might cause the clear to crack or peel over time. This is cheap clear, so it's never going to get as hard as some of the higher end stuff. That might be the saving grace in this case.

[Navy Guy]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

For an uniformed decision, these certainly turned out excellent. I can't believe the shine you achieved without wet sanding and polishing.

[bobbarkto]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Should be fine in an indoor environment.

One thing that distinguishes wood finishes from others is flexibility of the dry film.

Outdoors or in extreme environments this is crucial. In an environment like a typical home it is less important and your less expensive clear will probably retain enough flex for the life of the speaker.
With a 2k urethane and a home with poor climate control it could be a problem, but not too likely. Outdoors it often is a problem.

Wood moves with moisture. Heat has an extremely small effect and is not normally considered until you get into very large structures. The difference in thermal and moisture induced movement is huge and moisture levels tend to follow thermals so...

...

I have concerns about the longevity of this type of finish. It's my understanding that wood will slightly shrink and expand with temp and humidity changes. This might cause the clear to crack or peel over time. This is cheap clear, so it's never going to get as hard as some of the higher end stuff. That might be the saving grace in this case.

[lowpolyjoe]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Wow - great finish on those

[Difvision]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

So... the OS, the reason I haven't built them yet is that finishing them is tough... the driver, IMO, does not lend well to many box colors .... but this project is great... it brings another nice finish to them. The other finish I liked was black or white.

Great craftsmanship of course, helps. Congrats on the pair.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: Overnight Sensation knock down kit. With PPG clear

Sooooooooo shiny! I'm hypnotized.