Dayton Aluminum tower/center pics

[Brian Bunge]

I thought I'd share some pics of the towers and center channel that I built for my dad. We built a set of these for a customer last year and my dad liked them so much that he decided he wanted a set for himself as well. These are finished in ribbon mahogany veneer with a high gloss poly.

Special thanks to Curt Campbell from the PE message boards for his XO work!

[JonMarsh]

Look very nice, Brian- I bet your Dad is pleased to have these to listen to! I like the color.

~Jon

[Paul H]

Nice job finishing those speakers Brian :T

Paul

[Rudy Jakubin]

It's like Vince's VHT's;

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/vht/index.htm

Different tweet. The Vifa Aluminum.
Could you post the crossover schematic please?
I'd like to see how Curt managed to tame all that Aluminum.

You sure do a great job on finishing speaker boxes.

[Brian Bunge]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it! We built a couple of cabinets for Tumults with ribbon mahogany and my dad really fell in love with the look. Three coats of linseed oil before the poly really helped bring out the contrast in the ribbon mahogany's colors (a little hard to see in the pics). We were both very happy with the outcome.

Yes, they are basically the VHT's with the Vifa tweeter. I also ported the towers for better bass extension. I'll have to see if I can find the XO schematic again.

[capslock]

You oiled the wood and then applied some sort of polymer lacquer? What exactly is poly coat? Acrylic dispersed in water? Alkyde dissolved in gasolin or iso-paraffine? Polyurethane? CN?

[Curt C]

Very nice looking, Brian!

As epitomized by the great Col. John "Hannibal" Smith: "I love it when a plan comes together."

I've probably still have the schematic on my computer if you don't find it.

C

[Brian Bunge]

I applied boiled linseed oil mixed 50/50 with naphtha to help with drying time. I applied one coat with 0000 steel wool, let it sit for 30 minutes, then wiped off the excess. After 10 more minutes I made sure it wasn't still seaping out of the veneer. If so, then wipe off again. If not wait until a full hour is up from the initial coat and apply a second coat, repeating the above steps unitl I have 3-4 coats applied and wiped off. You want to make sure that you have the excess oil wiped off so that you don't see any shiny spots due to the veneer is obviously still wet after the final coat. Once this is done, I let it dry overnight and then start applying wipe on polyurethane until I get the sheen I want.

Quick tip: I use blue shop paper towels to wipe off the excess oil. They work a lot better than standard household paper towels.

Curt, if possible, could you post the schematics for me?

[dyazdani]

Quick tip: I use blue shop paper towels to wipe off the excess oil. They work a lot better than standard household paper towels.

Linting?

Just wondering as I have more standard paper towels than WalMart. I'm planning to do a similar finish when I finally get time to build some speakers.

[Brian Bunge]

Yeah, you end up with a lot of lint on the veneer. On my big 3-way towers it didn't seem to stick and would wipe of easily with a tack cloth the next day. But on the next cabinets I oiled, it stuck like crazy and I had to sand it off. So from then on, I only used the blue paper towels without any issues.

[dyazdani]

Thought so...thanks. I'll have to go buy some shop towels, too bad as I get the others for free. I'll just have to start spilling stuff so I can use them up.

[Curt C]

Curt, if possible, could you post the schematics for me?

Sorry for the late reply Brian. I don't get over here too much...
The link is below:

C

http://www.geocities.com/cc00541/PE_295335_330_D25_TOWER.html