Two-Way Version 2 build thread

[DeZZar]

Tackling the main box now. Again marked up the leather wrap to try and keep the glue-up tidy. Working with contact adhesive can pretty quickly get out of control and you need to take care you don't get drips and strings of the stuff all over the place.

Not easy but I find brushing it on and working with small "fresher" amounts in a separate cup is the way to go. If you pour a lot out into your "working" cup it can end up getting thicker and tackier as you try and work with it. Fresh adhesive from the can is thinner and spreads really easily. Just don't brush it back and forth a lot - apply, spread, leave.

Anyway so here lining it up. I glue this on in sections obviously. Just have to make sure the glue goes on smooth without pooling it up anywhere or allowing any joining areas (where you stop and then resume) to end up with a build up of glue - this will show through.

Starting with the bottom edge and then flipping it over for the back and finishing back up in this position for the front.


Flipped over, now for the back.


Pausing here to trim and fold into the edges of the rear crossover compartment.

[DeZZar]

Oh before I started the wrap I also painted the inside of the port where it might be seen.

[DeZZar]

And finally flipped back over for the front edge with the driver cutouts trimmed.


Finally working around each side folding the leather over into the recess.


I usually paint or stain the mounting surface for the drivers so there no chance of seeing any bare timber.


Wrap completed now time to attach one side ready to fit out the wiring and foams.

[tomzarbo]

This is a really good tutorial on how to cover a cabinet with fabric. Its looking super sharp.
TomZ

[DeZZar]

This is a really good tutorial on how to cover a cabinet with fabric. Its looking super sharp

Thanks Tom. So far so good. Should have the sides on and all sealed up in the next day or so which means the hard parts done!!

[Wolf]

I actually have leather ready to wrap my EMP build, so this is very timely.
Thanks,
Wolf

[JonathanPenner]

Well done! It’s looking really good so far. Great tip about the recessed channels to get a nice clean edge. My instinct would have been to hammer the sides with staples. This is turning out much better!

[DeZZar]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Ok....well here goes nothing - time to glue a side panel on!!

Plenty of glue on every possible square inch!


Screwed in place as well to make sure everything stays in position and is clamped down whilst the glue dries. Screws will just stay in, no real point removing them.




Nothing more we can do at this point except look back and see if we achieved perfection or not!

...and I'm pretty happy with that!

[DeZZar]

Time to fit out the insides.



I 3D printed these little clips to hold the cable down inside the box. They work really well and are easy to print. I just glue them down with a little CA glue and accelerator.


Helps keep things nice and tidy,


Felt lining on the side panels and some acoustic foam and we are just about ready to glue on the second side.

[fatmarley]

Wow - the attention to detail is awesome!

I've recently finished a build using faux leather (black and white) but it's nowhere near as tidy.

[DeZZar]

Wow - the attention to detail is awesome!

I've recently finished a build using faux leather (black and white) but it's nowhere near as tidy.

Thank you

To be fair you're are not seeing my first attempts with this stuff - I've worked with it a fair bit as most of my designs have incorporated it in some way. But trust me there are PLENTY of failed attempts behind this one!

[DeZZar]

Have started turning my attention to the side panels for this build as well. I picked up some recycled flooring from a local supplier (I think it may have just been surplus/offcuts as it doesn't appear to have been used before). Its an Australian native hardwood called Jarrah which is very heavy, hard and dense but has a beautiful red/pinkish tone in raw form and a brilliant deep red color with the right finish.


It's 19mm (3/4 inch) thick and will be partially recessed into the side panels with a curved surface profile protruding a little.

As a side note - I spent a little time thinking about the panel glue up and how to keep the panels really flat and straight as the pressure from the sides can bow the whole glue up and the individual peices themselves had very slight twists and bends.

Clamping them down to the bar clamps was out of the question as it turns out despite my bar clamps all being the same they actually have a huge variance in bar height between them making it a pain to level things out when laying it all down on a surface (that's what I get for being cheap).

My search for a solution lead to all sorts of expensive rips offs until I decided to just go and buy some cheap steel inch square tube, cut it into lengths and clamp it down with my existing F clamps - cost like 9 bucks and works incredibly well! I know its kind of obvious, but my point is, don't get sucked into buying those panel clamps etc - bunch of stuffing around and guaranteed not to exert the force you can achieve this way.

Results speak for themselves - the boards are very flat and will only need 0.02 of an inch taken off in the thicknesser!

[DeZZar]

I was aiming here for the panels to essentially create a constrained layer but I haven't yet made up my mind about which glue I should use. For it to work as a constrained layer the glue would really need to form a sort of membrane rather than being mostly soaked up like normal wood glue. I was thinking about spreading on a layer of construction adhesive (liquid nails).

Any thoughts?

[fatmarley]

Thank you

To be fair you're are not seeing my first attempts with this stuff - I've worked with it a fair bit as most of my designs have incorporated it in some way. But trust me there are PLENTY of failed attempts behind this one!

That makes me feel better - Thanks

[fatmarley]

I was aiming here for the panels to essentially create a constrained layer but I haven't yet made up my mind about which glue I should use. For it to work as a constrained layer the glue would really need to form a sort of membrane rather than being mostly soaked up like normal wood glue. I was thinking about spreading on a layer of construction adhesive (liquid nails).

Any thoughts?

It absolutely works best when you use a very thin layer, and has to be something viscoelastic. Don't make the mistake of thinking the thicker, the better, you only need it to be about 1mm thick. Over here in the UK we have stuff called PU18 that works very well. DAP Alex may work, but I don't know how strong it would be when used as glue.