My Nat.P's Build Project (Finished 4/14)

[yousuredo2]

I started these over a year ago.
I have been swamped with tons of other projects.
Now I that I have had some time to start on them again,
I figured I would start my own build thread

~ So, here it goes ~
Initial design was inspired by the curved box by Brain Walters(Dayton rs tmww towers) Seen below:


~ ~ ~ Here is My Finished Cabinets ~ ~ ~\/



I didn't want the same internal dimensions.
So, I modified it quite a bit for Nat.P's.
I used google scetchup for my initial planning (I Love this Program)






I Made My Skeleton from 3/4" MDF or 2 laminated pieces of 1/2 MDF and Attached the (Inner)Front, Back, Top & Bottom to it.




There is a sand filled chamber at the bottom approximately 4" tall
Hopefully it helps with them being top heavy & sound deadening from the floor.
There is also another small area at the bottom to house the crossover components approximately 3" tall


Then I placed the port in and skinned one side




Cut My Baffles and began to cut out the speaker holes.


Installed some oc703 on the back & bottom of the enclosure
and 3/4" 3 layer sound deadening immediately around the speakers.






Skinned the Other side
(Can also see my TV Stand in the background that I am Building)...






Finally Built my crossovers.








Please check these out and see if you see any issues that need to be addressed
I have been over them so many times...
I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.

[augerpro]

Those are beautiful cabinets! What kind of board did you use for the sides? What kind of veneer? Those really look tops ;x(

[kevinp.]

seeing stuff like this makes me wonder why I should even bother DIY; I'll never be able to do something as cool as that.
Nice work!

[yousuredo2]

The 'First' Pictured finished cabinets aren't mine
They are the INSPIRATION for mine,
Mine are The Second Pic.

I am using 3/8 inch Bending Ply(3 layers)
Veneer is 'Cherry', Paper Backed veneer

[Raptor550]

These are going to be gorgeous! I remember back when you started and wondering when I was going to see something finished. I am excited to see them finished.

I have an idea, take it or leave it...
Might I suggest a Light wavy maple baffle or something to compliment the cherry, it would make you're speakers look like a fine musical instrument Leave black trim and use brass screws to tie the drivers in with everything :-D I never liked black baffles because the fronts are what you look at all the time and black is boring IMO.

[yousuredo2]

Defiantly interesting,
I am a little uneasy with veneer at the moment though...

I ain't all that happy with the Dupli Color bed liner stuff I used on the baffles, considering alternates at the moment...
Its Ok, Not as good of a match to the speaker as I Had Hoped...

[---k---]

If you want to stick with black baffles, I just did my center channel with Sherwin Williams All-Surface Enamel with a small foam roller. It comes premixed in a deep Black color that is perfect. The paint is thick as sludge! and covers well. It took a bit of practice to avoid roller marks; but after I got the hang of it, it worked really well. The final result looks exactly like my Ascend speakers - A dark, deep black finish with a smooth finish but appearance of texture due to the paint getting lifted up by the foam roller. 3 thick coats of it should be hard as a rock. Only downside is a gallon is like $33. But, I got enough now to do my mains and a few future projects.

I'm so happy with the paint, I planned on posting about it latter when the speaker is back to being fully assembled.

[Troy R]

Looks Great! I started a curved Modula MT set of cabinets but never finished them... I ended up building the Modula MTM's instead, but I need to build better cabinets for those as my first set did not come out very well. I was thinking about going the curved sided encosure approach but it's so much work!

Just out of curiousity (if you don't mind me asking) what does the bendable plywood cost?

[yousuredo2]

Not really sure, I acquired most of my supplies from my work(Lumber Yard/Mill work/doors/window company), when they clean house for inventory

what does the bendable plywood cost?

Ok So as Promised Here are some pic's of the cabinets as they are now...
Please advise me how to resolve the bubbling

[augerpro]

Oh man those would look great if that veneer wasn't bubbling :M What kind of veneer is it and how did you apply it? The little veneer work I've done I used Titebond and iron and it worked really well-and you can reapply the iron if it starts to bubble.

[kevinp.]

I use peel and stick from Rockler, never had a bubble. Although I've only built three speakers, it was my first time veneering. Hardest part I found was trimming the driver recesses. I don't know why peel and stick isn't more popular... couldn't be easier.

[yousuredo2]

cherry Paper backed Veneer, applied with their house brand of contact cement, and I used a roller

[Dennis H]

Wow, too bad about the bubbles. I'm not sure how contact cement would do that. Maybe you didn't let it dry enough so it was still gassing when you stuck the veneer down? Heat will soften contact cement. Maybe try a small spot to fix and see if it will work. Poke the bubbles with the point of a razor knife to let the air out and then try ironing down the bubbles. No idea if it will work but it's worth a try.

[JonP]

Please check these out and see if you see any issues that need to be addressed
I have been over them so many times...
I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Very Cool... I love curved sides, want to try that soon... Found some nylon strap clamps (not meant for that, but they'll do) at Harbor Freight for something like $6 for 3 in a package... time to stock up! :T

On the issues note, your crossovers look great, things are spaced out pretty well, especially the inductors... nicely spaced and properly oriented. (I'm not trying to check to schematic, though...)

Looks like you have a back chamfer to let the woofers breath... another point checked off...

The damping and fiberglass look good... might be a possibility of excess, but probably not. Having a lot of good absorbing stuff behind the woofers will help minimize backwave reflecting back to the woofers. It's also going to soak up the midrange that might have make its way out the port.

Last thought... the sand is a nice idea... till you have to move them! :W
If you have some sunny, warm and dry weather going on, it would be an idea to spread the amount you will use out on a tarp or something, to dry. I've noticed that "dry" sand can carry quite a bit of moisture, and you wouldn't want to have dampness sealed inside the MDF box...

Keep it coming... they're looking good!

[Rolex]

You could always cook the sand to get the moisture out. That's what we did when I worked at the DOT. Put in a pan over a flame. Something similar to a bunson burner works great.

As far as the bubbling, it looks pretty excessive. My first thought is that the contact cement was not completely dry. I'm not sure you would be able to lay that down by re-heating with an iron. cutting slits in the bubbles may end in a disaster. Have you thought about removing and reapplying new veneer? Not ideal, but you have put so mch effort in already, I'd hate to see you not happy with the finish.

[yousuredo2]

Some good news and bad...

the good news:
Ironing is working.
So, far(thanks Dennis H), not sure if it will continue to hold to not...
(waiting patiently before applying any finish)
I Haven't decided on a finish either.

the Not so bad news:
these feet are worthless, I have already broke three or eight
(2 rubber Feet/1 plastic part)

EDIT
Oh the sand was already dried for well over a year, so no worries their.
(usually used for my sandblaster)

[cacophonix]

Very very nice!
I'd love to do something like this for my arrays....hopefully i'll find a local seller of bendable ply.

[yousuredo2]

Try lumber yards(wheeler/william Bro./84/Hope/etc), Not just home improvement centers Like (HD/Lowes/Ace)
they should have it in both vertical & horizontal bending.

[yousuredo2]

Well, I am finished
(Sort Of, I haven't put a wax finish on them yet.)...
I used a Danish Oil Rubbed Finish.

They sound Great.
I ran them with my BOOM Box Radio while they baked in the sun,
and put them inside Sunday evening...

So here are the pic's

[Gir]

Wow, that veneer ended up coming out great! Good well done!

[bonehead848]

congrats on the beautiful build! I love curved cabinets

[JonP]

Yes... those are gorgeous! You've got me jonesing about curved cabs again...

Something I like, and didn't seem to notice earlier, is how your chamfer on the front baffle matches the curve of the box.. How did you do that?

[Gir]

How did you do that?

Very carefully 8O

[yousuredo2]

Something I like, and didn't seem to notice earlier, is how your chamfer on the front baffle matches the curve of the box.. How did you do that?

level to draw a straight line from the top to the bottom, Belt Sander to shape it, and it still aint all that straight, in fact one side is wider than the other(center is now off a little)...
But close enough for me.

[Rolex]

They look great. The nice thing about cherry is how it darkens over time. Nice choice of finish..

If you haven't seen this:

https://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29739

my speakers use the same finish. I chose Trewax brand paste wax to put over the watco danish oil.

[jmik26]

I started these over a year ago.
I have been swamped with tons of other projects.
Now I that I have had some time to start on them again,
I figured I would start my own build thread

~ So, here it goes ~
Initial design was inspired by the curved box by Brain Walters(Dayton rs tmww towers) Seen below:

These speakers look AWESOME! Does anybody have this cabinet design handy or links to the pictures? I have seen the design for the TMWW but from my research the front is too wide for the Nat P? Thanks... Jeff

[yousuredo2]

I just fixed the broken picture links and revived from the dead!

[---k---]

Thanks.

[gimpy]

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions as I do plan on building a set based on your work (very nice looking, indeed). My questions would be: 1: what is the approximate volume and height of the speakers? Evil Twin mentioned a 50 liter cab, is that what yours are? 2: what is your port diameter and length (3 inch diameter port?)? And 3: what is your outside front baffle width? Yours seem to be 10+ inches?

Hope you don't mind the questions. Yours are some beautiful speakers. These aren't for me, but for my daughter.

thx.