Next Project: Arc 40 CBT Array

[Kevin K.]

Thanks fellas! And Tom, that's high praise coming from a guy with so many incredible builds under his belt.

It's obvious you know a lot about the different wood species Roman. I honestly didn't realize it was that uncommon. Definitely pricey, spent almost as much for the veneer on the baffle as I did for a full sheet of Sapele, but IMHO, worth it. The Karelian Birch has a striking character that just has to be seen up close to be believed.

Roman, do you have any experience with the Karelian Birch? What do you think about the Boiled Linseed Oil on it? Any negatives about it I should watch out for? Was still thinking about picking up some Tung Oil, not the Home Depot stuff, but the real stuff. Rocklers is about the closest place to me that carries it.

[donradick]

Kevin, I am in awe....

re: finishing.
I've recently moved to all oil based wipe on finishes.

I'm really digging a wipe on mix:
1/3 boiled linseed (or tung) oil
1/3 mineral spirits
1/3 oil poly

Give it try - I find that it really makes the grain pop, and it's foolproof.
Standard instruction is to apply liberably, wipe off after 15 minutes, then
repeat after 24 hours. After a few coats, if you let it dry for 7 days or
so, you can finish with 1 or 2 coats of full strength wipe on poly.

And, yeah, that Karelian Birch veneer is totally awesome.

[Kevin K.]

Thanks Don! I'll give your recipe a try on some of my cut outs. What's your favorite sheen when it comes to the Poly: flat, semi, or high gloss?

[donradick]

Thanks Don! I'll give your recipe a try on some of my cut outs. What's your favorite sheen when it comes to the Poly: flat, semi, or high gloss?

I used to dig high gloss, but then my (totally supportive) SO expressed a preference for satin/semi gloss, so that's what I use now.

[r-carpenter]

Roman, do you have any experience with the Karelian Birch? What do you think about the Boiled Linseed Oil on it? Any negatives about it I should watch out for? Was still thinking about picking up some Tung Oil, not the Home Depot stuff, but the real stuff. Rocklers is about the closest place to me that carries it.

I build a nice dining room table for a customer, few years back.
Korelian likes a high gloss, high-build clear finish. Best is under french-polished shellac but a clear 2k will do it's justice as well. Oil may not be the best choice for it. All tho, the wood is so 3-dimentional in character that even a low build finish will do magic. Korelian Birch becomes more amberish in time and the contrast accentuates. I would stay away from any sorts of stains as well.
If you can spray a few coats of good old nitrocellulose lacquer on the speakers, I think it would look spectacular.

[donradick]

re: Roman -- wow, that's really special.

[Kevin K.]

I build a nice dining room table for a customer, few years back.
Korelian likes a high gloss, high-build clear finish. Best is under french-polished shellac but a clear 2k will do it's justice as well. Oil may not be the best choice for it. All tho, the wood is so 3-dimentional in character that even a low build finish will do magic. Korelian Birch becomes more amberish in time and the contrast accentuates. I would stay away from any sorts of stains as well.
If you can spray a few coats of good old nitrocellulose lacquer on the speakers, I think it would look spectacular.

Spectacular looking Roman. Thanks for the advice. I sprayed lacquer on the Archers but the Texas heat was wreaking havoc on the finish, had a lot of orange peel. Tried a retarder but not much improvement. It's starting to cool off a little down here now, so could probably get away with it in the evenings or early mornings.

[Kevin K.]

Thought I would share a couple of other things some of the builders may find helpful. I needed angles on the damping foam for my arrays and trying to cut the angles with a razor knife just wasn't working out. Found the best way to cut these was on a band saw. I realize not everyone has a band saw, but if you do, a 14 tooth per inch blade is the way to go. Cuts the foam very clean.

[r-carpenter]

Spectacular looking Roman. Thanks for the advice. I sprayed lacquer on the Archers but the Texas heat was wreaking havoc on the finish, had a lot of orange peel. Tried a retarder but not much improvement. It's starting to cool off a little down here now, so could probably get away with it in the evenings or early mornings.

Thanks guys.
In TX I would probably look in to classic marine varnish. It likes heat and cures well. Can be buffed up to a high gloss.

[Kevin K.]

I want to preface this next thing with the fact that I love PE and all they do for us. But, sometimes they just don't have everything you need and you need an alternative source. PE carries crimp on terminals, but they don't carry all of them needed to do the job right. Through research, I have discovered you typically have two different thicknesses of terminals on the drivers, they are referred to as .5 or .8mm terminals. We are not talking about the width here (.110, .187, .250 being the most common), but the thickness. A cheap set of dial calipers will help you figure out which ones you need. If your calipers only measure in inches, the .5mm will be somewhere around .020, and the .8mm will be around .032. Here's a PDF explaining the differences for those who have ever wondered why some of the terminals would push on and still feel loose while others fit just right.

http://www.ferrulesdirect.com/pdf/Sp...Difference.pdf

Found this source online and they carry about every type of crimp on terminal you can imagine. Prices are very reasonable. Hopefully, PE doesn't view this as me trying to re-direct business somewhere else. They just need to carry all of the ones we need and I will gladly buy em from them.

As luck would have it, I needed the .5mm terminals for my tweeters and the .8mm terminals for the mids. Ended up buying a bag of 100 of each of the sizes needed. Gonna need most of them for the arrays and will have a little stock left over for future builds.

[Wolf]

I just squeeze them tighter with needle-nose pliers, BUT, I'm not installing that many drivers in a cab like you are.
Good info there, Kev!
Wolf

[greywarden]

woooooooooow what a cool build, really love the shape and the veneer as well.

[lowpolyjoe]

AWESOME build. I stumbled across Karelian Birch a few years ago. absolutely love it. i thought it contrasted well with bubinga. my finish was shellac plus a little furniture wax.

can't wait to see more of your project

[Kevin K.]

I just squeeze them tighter with needle-nose pliers, BUT, I'm not installing that many drivers in a cab like you are.
Good info there, Kev!
Wolf

That's the way I've always done it in the past Ben but like you said, there are a few more drivers involved here and I was worried about the hand cramps.

woooooooooow what a cool build, really love the shape and the veneer as well.

Thank you Sir!

AWESOME build. I stumbled across Karelian Birch a few years ago. absolutely love it. i thought it contrasted well with bubinga. my finish was shellac plus a little furniture wax.

can't wait to see more of your project

Thanks Joe, your cabinets are stunning. Love Bubinga but just couldn't swallow the cost for that on my project and decided on Sapele. It won't be as striking but the contrast should still be nice.



Stay tuned fellas, these should start to come together in the next few weeks or so.

[Derekj]

Nice project! I really like those SB drivers - good bang for the buck.