Home » Sponsored » Pi Speakers » 2Pi Picture, finally finished
2Pi Picture, finally finished [message #36157] Mon, 29 April 2002 16:51 Go to next message
bmar is currently offline  bmar
Messages: 346
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
Hi All,

Finally finished up the 2Pi speakers I have been working on for a while now. Veneer is Walnut on the face and Cherry on the sides.
A very articulate and delicate sounding speaker. They produce a nice sound image. Been listening to them all night now with my tube rig.

Wow, book-matched! Details on the veneer? [message #36158 is a reply to message #36157] Mon, 29 April 2002 17:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
BillEpstein is currently offline  BillEpstein
Messages: 886
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
NBS backed, plain, what kind of glue? Was the quilted cherry hard to flatten?
Details, Details, please.
Re: Wow, book-matched! Details on the veneer? [message #36160 is a reply to message #36158] Mon, 29 April 2002 17:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
bmar is currently offline  bmar
Messages: 346
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
Ahhhhh where to even begin! what a project this turned out to be.
The veneer is plain. I was lucky and it was pretty flat so the wife’s iron worked out a few small waves. I did have two pieces I was going to use. after a sprits of water and a touch of the iron they turned into potato chips! those pieces set aside until I can put some glycerin/alcohol mixture on and press it out.
so flattening was easy. I found I had to be extra finicky while shooting the edges so the pieces would match up. I use holed tape and ironed on after getting the glue wet. I also discovered near the end that if I put 3 or 4 pieces of tape across the joint to hold it together, then run the tape the length of the joint. holding the panels at an angle also helps put pressure on the joint when laid flat. I was going to book match the side too with the cherry but decided it would be too wasteful for the inch i needed. the joints on the back are an ugly scene by the way!
glue huh..... well, the more I read the more sorry I am that I used contact cement. just the regular old fashioned brain cell killin contact cement! It's easy and it's a snap. It hammers down nice but the glue line can move. The stuff never really gets hard so in theory your glue line can always be loose. what I especially dont like is. if you have a piece of veneer that wasnt perfectly flat. Sitting in the sun can let the glue loose. (so i've read) The next bad thing is I wanted to shoot these with lacquer. well, spraying lacquer over contact cement is bad thing. there are ways to seal it i guess but i'm not sure. I ended up using my old stand by of Varnish. I use marine spar varnish so its pretty impervious to anything like coffee cups, cereal bowls, etc. I use it exclusively on windows and sills. if it will hold up for a boat sitting in the water, a little rain wont bother it.

all in all, not being commercially set up for veneer work. This was a hard project for me and unless using a very exotic veneer. I will stick to hardwoods and pre made veneer ply for oak, cherry, maple.

next project I will be trying hot hide glue.

Bill

Re: 2Pi Picture, finally finished [message #36161 is a reply to message #36157] Mon, 29 April 2002 18:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Garland is currently offline  Garland
Messages: 269
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
Beautiful! These should go on Wayne's new brochure! I have a friend who is just starting his pair of 2's and I'll show him these to get him really excited!!!

G.

Stunning! [message #36162 is a reply to message #36157] Mon, 29 April 2002 20:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18791
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Re: 2Pi Picture, finally finished [message #36169 is a reply to message #36157] Tue, 30 April 2002 03:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trancemitr is currently offline  trancemitr
Messages: 74
Registered: May 2009
Viscount
Very nice job. Those things sure are pretty. I thought about building a pair of those for my dad. He may really appreciate them if they end up looking half as good as those.

Kevin

is there a good reference for first time veneerers [message #36171 is a reply to message #36160] Tue, 30 April 2002 05:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam P. is currently offline  Sam P.
Messages: 307
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
so a person has a decent chance of figuring out how to go about it? The 2 Pi's look incredible. There must be some kind of cyberinfection present here...we are now being programed back to enjoying smaller speakers...say it ain't so, Wayne. Adam, quick, post some 10 Pi pics as a "vacine" before we all go back to our single driver, 1cu.ft. systems...too scary to contemplate:)

AWESOME VENEER. yeah, just kidding about the "small speaker" virus. I've been thinking some 2 or 3 Pi's might be easier to build, then ship to lala land for the daughter and her dot.com buddies to hear...Sam


Re: is there a good reference for first time veneerers [message #36183 is a reply to message #36171] Tue, 30 April 2002 11:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
bmar is currently offline  bmar
Messages: 346
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
Ive been to the doctor and got some cure. I'll be building some 12Pi in the future!

I can recommend a very good book. excellent as a matter of fact
Veneering-A Foundation Course
Mike Burton

www.woodcraft.com has it if other book sources fail you

www.woodweb.com has links to a lot of info on everything related.

maybe Garland has some info. if memory serves, his speakers turned out pretty damn spanky.
Till is the forum knowledge base and does veneer too!

Bill

Who wants to go to Veneering school? [message #36187 is a reply to message #36183] Tue, 30 April 2002 12:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
BillEpstein is currently offline  BillEpstein
Messages: 886
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
I suck at veneering but have a great idea for us mid-Westerners.
There's a woodworking school in Parkman, Ohio run by Ernie Conover, pretty well-known turner and woodworking author. Parkman's about mid-way between Cleveland and Youngstown in the heart of Amish Country. Several good Bed&breakfasts to bring along the ball and chain.

Express interest and I'll do a MikeBake, although not as well and arrange a 2 or 3 day class for a group.
I'm sure he'd be interested in teaching speaker building and veneering.
Prolly cost about $300 a head based on his other class costs.School is open from May to October.
Let me know.

Re: Who wants to go to Veneering school? [message #36210 is a reply to message #36187] Wed, 01 May 2002 16:54 Go to previous message
JLM is currently offline  JLM
Messages: 69
Registered: May 2009
Viscount
Sounds like fun, even if I never build speaker cabinets again. I biggest obstacle is not having all those super neat tools that the professionals all use.

Would our ears be up to some late night listening too? Maybe that would be a stretch, but I missed the gathering in March.

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