Next Project: Arc 40 CBT Array

[Kevin K.]

Kevin, awesome project on every level. If you have the ability to spray, there are professional products you could purchase that you could get the same fine finish
in a fraction of the time you have spent on the beautiful results you achieved.

Please share, I'm all ears. I did pick up some Sherwin Williams Precat Lacquer for this project. It's the T77 F37. I know multiple coats of this can be applied, sanded, applied and sanded but I just thought it might still be faster to apply the grain filler first. Thanks.

[Squidspeak]

Kevin, awesome project on every level. If you have the ability to spray, there are professional products you could purchase that you could get the same fine finish
in a fraction of the time you have spent on the beautiful results you achieved.

[Kevin K.]

Wow - BLO really made the Sapele pop. Too pretty for words.

Do you have any problems getting the Sealcoat nice and flat?
I can't seem to lay it on totally flat and even because it wants to dry so fast.

I know exactly what you mean. I applied it with a cloth and yes, there were some areas that didn't lay down nice and flat because it was drying so fast. Wasn't to concerned about it since most of it would be sanded or scraped off when applying the grain filler. After this next coat of BLO dries, I will spray the sealcoat on prior to the lacquer. Do you have a compressor and spray gun? I sprayed it on the Silverbacks and it worked pretty good for me. I like spraying for the exact reason you mentioned, nice and flat. Just have to get accustomed to spraying to avoid the runs. It's better to shoot many light coats instead of one heavy one.

[donradick]

Wow - BLO really made the Sapele pop. Too pretty for words.

Do you have any problems getting the Sealcoat nice and flat?
I can't seem to lay it on totally flat and even because it wants to dry so fast.

[Kevin K.]

These speakers just keep getting better and better looking.

Fantastic design and craftsmanship.

Thank You Sir!

[Navy Guy]

This filler worked a lot better for me. No spots and it indeed looked clear if another liquid was applied over it. This is the first time I used the Crystalac. The only other time I tried to use grain filler was on the "Silverbacks", maybe that's what you are referring to when you said "did it work better". The filler I tried on the Silverbacks was something made by Behlen. It looked very similar but dried to more of a white color and didn't really become completely invisible when you top coated it.

Ahh, I thought you tried Crystalac on those too.

[Kevin K.]

That grain looks really nice after the BLO! Did the filler work better for you this Rhine or are you still getting white spots?

This filler worked a lot better for me. No spots and it indeed looked clear if another liquid was applied over it. This is the first time I used the Crystalac. The only other time I tried to use grain filler was on the "Silverbacks", maybe that's what you are referring to when you said "did it work better". The filler I tried on the Silverbacks was something made by Behlen. It looked very similar but dried to more of a white color and didn't really become completely invisible when you top coated it.

[Navy Guy]

That grain looks really nice after the BLO! Did the filler work better for you this Rhine or are you still getting white spots?

[Pallas]

These speakers just keep getting better and better looking.

Fantastic design and craftsmanship.

[Kevin K.]

Very nice Kevin. They look amazing. If I have have missed it, how did you trim the veneer across the angled joints? A regular trim router wouldn't work.

Thanks Ani! I posted a video showing the technique used. Look back to post #157 (messed up and had the phone vertical) and then post #158 (corrected the phone and re-shot the vid). Hope it helps.

[Kevin K.]

What the .... ?

I only look in here occasionally, but did you notice that these towers went from a "squarish" X-section to a hex shape??
Maybe you covered this on one of the other 11 PAGES of threads (I just can't look through all that), but those look absolutely gorgeous (and difficult to create)!

Thanks Chris! They changed pretty early on (probably second or third page in your browser). It was primarily for stability and it helped a lot. Yea, lot of pages, but it's a monster build. Hope you can make MWAF and get a closer look.

[ani_101]

Very nice Kevin. They look amazing. If I have have missed it, how did you trim the veneer across the angled joints? A regular trim router wouldn't work.

[Chris Roemer]

What the .... ?

I only look in here occasionally, but did you notice that these towers went from a "squarish" X-section to a hex shape??
Maybe you covered this on one of the other 11 PAGES of threads (I just can't look through all that), but those look absolutely gorgeous (and difficult to create)!

[Kevin K.]

Wow, six weeks have gone by since the last update! Sorry fellas, the delay was due to a move and the new home was too nice to pass up. Kole is super excited because he has an upstairs bedroom now. We're starting to adjust and get settled in now so it's time to get back to work on the arrays. Still following John's finish recipe and it's working great so far. Had to finish the baffles first and get a couple of coats of seal coat on them to prevent the BLO from effecting them if I got messy on the Sapele. The baffles took up the better part of one of those six weekends that went by. That was followed by the first coat of BLO to the Sapele, and that was another one of those weekends. After that was the moving process. Just me and Kole for the most part so it took a while. These first couple of photos were taken over a month ago so I believe the first coat of BLO had plenty of time to dry. Still get blown away every time I apply the oil. The Sapele looks so plain dry, then you apply the oil and it just comes to life, amazing! Really hoping they will look close to this after the Lacquer.







This weekend consisted of one coat of seal coat over the BLO followed by grain filling and then the second coat of BLO. Here are a couple of more pics although they wont look much different than the previous ones. You probably can't tell from the photos, but with just one coat of the grain filler they feel smooth as a babies .... No sense trying to type it, stupid software thinks it's a bad word.





Couldn't find a lot of information about grain filling with Crystalac. Worked out a technique that seemed to yield pretty good results for me. Here is a video showing how I did it. Let me preface this with the statement: In no way am I claiming to be a master woodworker, in fact, don't have much more experience at that than speaker building. Just kinda feeling my way around taking advice where I can, when I can and following that with the old saying, practice makes perfect. For the record, these are far from perfect but I'm learning to accept my limitations and working to improve my skills. The video is a little long at 6 minutes and needs some editing. For now, the arrays take priority, learning how to edit a video can wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEj3DlASIrM

So, now they sit again for another week. Next weekend the final part of the finish process gets completed, hopefully. It will consist of putting on another coat of the Zinsser Seal Coat and then spraying the lacquer, Yee Haw! That's Texas yall!

One more thing to add. I sent Rick the Clio files from the two woofers in series and the four tweeters in series. He will be working on the shading values so we can incorporate all of the parts required in the order to be placed within the next week or so. Once that stuff lands, doubt I'm gonna sleep again until I hear em fire up. Thank goodness someone created Energy Drinks.

[jhollander]

BLO is opposite of what you would think.
http://news.thefinishingstore.com/index.php/tip-linseed-oil-gets-darker-in-the-dark/