1/4'' roundover with veneer ?

[scyan]

Is that possible ? Make a 1/4'' roundover on all sides except bottom. On a tower speaker thats getting 40mil paper backed veneer ? Including the top corners ?

I know its my first post but ive been reading ALOT !

[orbifold]

First, how are you going to manage where three corners come together?
Hopefully, that is not part of the plan.
1/4" is awfully tight. I have read that a mix of glycerin (or, say Cornhusker's Lotion,) with water and, I think alcohol, is good to soften veneer. You would have to be very careful to not use much. That would interfere with the glue procedure. I used a sponge and just water on maple plain slice paper-backed, wrapped around a curved side with a small radius corner, but it wasn't a full 90 degree turn. I also was using contact cement.
As in all cases, try it as a test. Maybe a scrap of mdf with your round over on a couple sides. forty mil is heavy. I used 22mil, I think.
Look at the avatar. Where the baffle is, i wrapped right around less than 1/4" in to the baffle notch. It did split, but doesn't show because the stain was conditioned with a shellac wash coat, and was quite light.

[BeerParty]

Is that possible ? Make a 1/4'' roundover on all sides except bottom. On a tower speaker thats getting 40mil paper backed veneer ? Including the top corners ?

1/4" will probably be too small, veneer is flexible but not THAT flexible. I have seen other threads where they used 1/2" roundovers, but they had to use a wood softener to get it to bend over the 1/2" roundover without breaking.

Also, you need to realize you don't want to do the top edges if you are wrapping around the sides of the speakers. Someone with years of experience might be able to get veneer to wrap around with roundovers on 3 edges, but I have yet to see a picture of it anywhere.

[scyan]

Flexible veneer for the win (and plywood) !

But you're right, the 3 edge joint was my question.. initially !

Heres a link to the flexible veneer, available in different thicknesses. Yes its real wood.

http://www.perfectaplywood.com/pages/menuEN/products/range/placage.html?gamme=flexible

I'm thinking that the corner edges could edged out with a square router bit, maybe 1/4''. Then replaced with a 1/4'' real wood piece, glued in place then the sides laminated, then everything sanded down to make them equal.. Then all that would remain is to tint and varnish...

?

Ohh, btw.. that veneer in cherry is about 1.5$ a square foot if you were wondering. Thats canadian, no delivery. But the sheet are available up to 5 by 12 foot.


You can make a 9 inche diameter circle with their 3/8'' flexible plywood !

Can you say curved cabinet sides ? lol

Im hesitating in using jed's basic 4t dynamic series designs or redoing the drawing of Dougie's rounded interpretation...

If I go the square way, a 1/4'' inch roundover like the monitor audio RS silver series is what im after.. but if I do the curved sides, then its the 3/8'' flexible plywood for the sides.

[BeerParty]

I'm thinking that the corner edges could edged out with a square router bit, maybe 1/4''. Then replaced with a 1/4'' real wood piece, glued in place then the sides laminated, then everything sanded down to make them equal.. Then all that would remain is to tint and varnish...

If by "square" you mean a rabbiting router bit - then this should work. I don't know if 1/4" would be enough (that's pretty thin to glue in and then route) but the idea is sound.

If you plan to do this, here is what I would suggest:

1. Build the box.
2. Apply the veneer using a separate piece per side. The corners don't have to be perfect, but if you overlap a side you should trim it down so the following steps don't get messed up.
3. Use the rabbiting bit to cut out one edge.
4. Install a slightly over-sized piece of solid wood.
5. Use a flush trim bit to get it flush with the laminate.
6. Continue with the next edge until all the edges you want are done.
7. Then use the 1/4" round-over on the corners.

Getting the edges of the veneer to line up after installing the solid wood edges would almost certainly leave gaps. Installing the veneer and then rabbiting the corner will work better since it will give you a straight line to butt up against. A flush trim bit will clean up the corners faster than sandpaper and pose less risk to the veneer.

[scyan]

Yep, thats exactly what i meant !!

I wanted to keep it at 1/4 because with a quarter roundover, the transition between real wood and veneer doesnt really show. So whats the smallest you think I can do without damaging or literally tearing the real wood from the box ?

5/16'' ?

I'm still hesitating between the square boxes (Jed's design) or the rounded side ones.. hmm

I'm going to audition the square ones tomorrow night, I guess we'll see then.

[BeerParty]

I wanted to keep it at 1/4 because with a quarter roundover, the transition between real wood and veneer doesnt really show. So whats the smallest you think I can do without damaging or literally tearing the real wood from the box ?

Like I said, I don't know. I have only tried it once with 1/4" MDF (filling a gap in my current build) and had problems with tearing when I used my flush trim router bit to even it up. Solid wood might be OK, or might not.

I would suggest getting a rabbit bit with multiple bearings and trying the 1/4" first. If it works, great! If not, you can re-route with a smaller bearing and use a larger piece of wood.

[orbifold]

Hey, sycan, did you see XmaxBR's speaker?



Flat on one side (top in this case,) bend on one axis only. His had a big easy radius, but could be a small radius with 3 flat sides. I've done a lot of lurkng too. Still know not much of the acoustics or electronics, but I'm used to wood and finish work, FWIW. For my money, you can go like XmaxBR did, or you can do what I did:

Images not available

On top, there is a slot to separate the roundover. For the back, veneer was done on the side first, some finish added to it to seal, and it was taped off and the back sprayed. (The tape was exactoed off at the joint edge before spray.) The veneer actually wrapped into the notch into which the baffle fits. That was a very tight , like less than 1/4". You can just see the veneer splitting if you zoom in on the pic. Even in "real life" you have to get your eyeball down on it to notice.
In other words, veneer will bend well, but there are ways you can imagine, that aren't going to work. As for the solid wood quarter round idea, again, it would work on one axis. Too many corners and then you get either end grain (it will show when you stain) or ridiculously difficult three-way 45 degree angles to match on more that just one corner.
My $0.02. Get a piece of veneer and scrap stuff and try some things to get a feel. That's best. Work with trial pieces, and you will find something you like. :B:B:B