My shortcut to glossy black

[FroDaddy]

I wanted to post a few words about how I am accomplishing glossy black on my speakers now. When trying to achieve this by hand, I had a really tough time finishing my Statements. Before starting that project, I scoured the Internet looking for a glossy black shortcut but came up dry. So after all the headaches I was going through on the tower cabinets, my father took it upon himself to try to find something.

He found a solid laminate surface from http://www.decotonesurfaces.com internal part number FL121GPC070BU, web part number is Formplac L121. You can order samples from them for free as well! They have different levels of gloss and texture, and I ordered two glossy black untextured 4ft x 10ft sheets for about $150! (Hopefully this is okay to post. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just happy I can share this resource now.)

In this post I'll discuss how I used this stuff. I'm a novice, so its likely my methods are too! But hopefully this information will be useful to those who are curious about the product.

Since I ordered 4ft x 10ft sheets, it has to be cut down to manageable sizes first. The plan is to oversize each piece and trim it to fit with a router. The material has a thin panel-board like backing to it, so it is thicker than you'd expect and it is not flexible beyond what you see in the below picture. A paper cutter was used for the oversize cuts:



I tried using both contact cement and Titebond III on a test piece, and I preferred Titebond III for less mess and easy cleanup. However, the drawback to this was the edges aren't attached as firmly as I expected. I'm sure contact cement would have been a better choice in regards to the application.

My goal was to put this finish on my 2rCC in one full working day, and I was able to do just that. That's right, glossy black in ONE day!

I started on the sides of the speaker, applying one at a time. I used a cheap 99c brush to spread the glue on the bare MDF surface, pictures of that are in later posts. Then I'd use a block of wood to apply my full weight to the side for about 5 minutes. Then I flipped the speaker over so the weight of the cabinet would continue to apply pressure, and repeated the application step on the other side:



Titebond III recommends a dry time of 30 minutes, so I used this time to prep the router and the surface. Even though this material comes with a protective plastic, it is a MUST to further protect the surface with painters tape and paper:

[FroDaddy]

Even after the surface is protected, keep a watchful eye while routing and be conscious in changes in resistance as well. This could mean that routing debris has accumulated enough to pull up your protective surfaces and it will damage the laminate! I used a regular laminate trim bit similar to this one, but with a 7deg angled cut:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The trim bits' bearings will leave a permanent scar on the surface they are riding on if you don't prep for this! In the next picture, look at the lines on the MDF near the top. This is the router bearings marring the MDF. I discuss how I worked around this later in the thread, but since the raw MDF will be covered I didn't worry about it during this step.

Here is what a side looked like after the trim:


The pictures are a little bit out of order at this point, but the idea is contiguous. Here is a picture of a bare MDF side; yes this means no prep work at all! Just wipe with a damp cloth to remove MDF dust. Notice the perpendicular edges have the painters protection peeled back some. This is because the edges are feathered from the trimming, and they will get glued to the perpendicular edge.



Now for some glue:



The surface is evenly spread with glue using a cheap 99c brush. Excess glue was wiped from the brush with a paper towel, and some added where necessary:

[FroDaddy]

Using the same method as said above, I applied pressure to the sides by hand and once the set time was exceeded weight was added to the side during the dry time. I let it set for 45 minutes instead of the recommended 30 minutes. You could use clamps and pieces of wood if so inclined, but I just grabbed heavy items around the workshop instead:



Now that all of the sides were laminated and dried, it was time to trim all of the edges. The bulk of the work for me was in the detail trimming. Since I don't have a trim router, I was using a big 2.5HP router for the process. I'm not sure if a trim router would have made this easier, but I got the job done with a bigger router anyway.

As said in an earlier post, the bearings on my flush trim bits will eat right through the protective finish; even with 3 layers of painters tape on top of it. I don't have a picture of the trimming process, but here is a description:

• I used a scrap piece of laminate and held it in place with painters tape. This way the edge of the trim bit rides on a surface that can be marred.
• Again, the surface that the router rode on was protected with painters tape and paper.
• I would do an initial pass to trim the excess laminate off
• I then used a 45deg chamfer bit and very VERY carefully put a 45deg edge where the laminate meets. The bearing for this bit also rode on a scrap piece of laminate.

After all of the edges were trimmed and chamfered, I began working on the holes. I absolutely 1000% recommend applying the laminate first, and THEN routing the speaker holes! (This is the normal way to do this.) But since the 2rCC was designed with bare MDF, I didn't have that luxury. Using the same bit as pictured above, I took the advice from Jed and tried to grind down the bottom of the bit using a grinder. This was so the cutting edge would be low enough in the driver recesses to cut the laminate flush.

I doubled up the protective painters paper/tape since the router would be cutting circles, and this was absolutely necessary. I avoided a disaster by doubling it up! Here is how it looked after all trimming was done:



I mounted the speakers and then peeled away the plastic protective coating. Since all of the edges were trimmed, you will have the laminate bare edges exposed as in this picture below. I got to this point in ONE day!



I went to an arts and crafts store, and found a Testors brand enamel paint pen in their model cars section. I used this pen to make one pass on the edges to put the finishing touch on the 45deg laminate edges. I also used this to paint pen to paint the bare MDF / laminate in the driver cutouts. Here is the finished result:

[FroDaddy]

Another use for the laminate

I actually first used the laminate as an inlay for my Statement bases. I tested what depth I needed route, and once that was set I routed off a layer on the top of the bases. (Of course the stain was done after the routing was completed.) The sides of the bases are iron-on veneer edge trim from Woodcraft:



It was tough to cut the laminate inlay to fit, but after trial and error I was able to cut to 1/32in so that each side had 1/64in margin of error.

After the glue was spread, I applied weight:

[FroDaddy]

Now the edges need to be trimmed using the methods described earlier:



Here the edges are trimmed with the router as well as the port hole, the protective plastic was removed, and the edges were ready for the paint pen. (I don't have a good close-up after the edge had the paint pen applied, but it looks like the center channel edges now.)

[---k---]

Great posts.
Eventually, this should probably get moved to the FAQ / Reference Threads section.

:T

[FroDaddy]

Great posts.
Eventually, this should probably get moved to the FAQ / Reference Threads section.

:T

Thanks ---k---! I'd be interested to learn how an experienced wood worker would improve on my methods, or how other people would integrate this into their projects.

But even if I'm the only one who will use the material, I'm thrilled it exists and will finish my Mini Statement surrounds with it as well. I still can't believe how inexpensive this material is!

[ThomasW]

Appears to be a high-pressure laminate like Formica, Wilsonart, Nevamar, etc....

[wackii]

Frodaddy,

Wow. Excellent. Thanks for the details write-up. I might give this method a try if I can gather some funds for the Statements. My arms/hands will thank you for this

Al,

[Operandi]

When I saw the speaker prior to touch up with the MDF peaking out I said "meh"...



Then I saw the final result; "wow!" That looks really seamless, very nice work .

[bbcmp1979]

Wow.. amazing finish.

[JonMarsh]

Nice work- thanks for shaing in your post! May save some folks a lot of effort and time! :T

[xyrium]

OMG, brilliant! Now I know what my crossover boxes will be covered in!

[DoubleTap]

How does this compare to the FX Sheeting?

[FroDaddy]

How does this compare to the FX Sheeting?

I'm not familiar with that product?

-------------------

I'm going to use this method as a finish to 4 Mini Statement surrounds in April, too. Thanks for the kind words

[schnottus]

The 150 dollars for two sheets, was that with or without shipping? I can't imagine 4 by 10 sheets were cheap to move.

[dlneubec]

It looks like most of their stuff is about 1/32" thick, so I'm guessing it can probably be rolled into a reasonable size box just like wood veneer, which should keep the shipping cost reasonable.

[dawaro]

Nice write up. If I may offer a little advice try using one of these router bits. They have a square teflon bearing that rides on the surface rather than spinning so you dont get the marring on the surface associated with other bits.

[FroDaddy]

dawaro I'm liking that bit Thanks for the lead I'm going to buy one

schnottus, dlneubec was correct in that they roll the sheets to keep everything reasonable.

[Hank]

Nice work! Yes, Thomas, WilsonArt has it and for a unique touch, I'm interested their Metalaminates also: http://samples.wilsonart.com/c-8-decorative-metals.aspx
Dawaro: thanks for the bit tip - I like the idea of the non-spinning teflon bearing.

[dumaresq]

what exactly was the pen you used to "touch up"?

If you were doing normal veneering how does one avoid the having to do the touch up step?

[FroDaddy]

what exactly was the pen you used to "touch up"?

If you were doing normal veneering how does one avoid the having to do the touch up step?

It's a Testors enamel paint pen that is used for model cars. It has a felt tip that soaks up the paint.

With veneer you wouldn't have to since veneer is wood throughout. When you stain the veneer it takes care of the edges.

[dumaresq]

I guess question I have about the paint is how did you match the color?

[FroDaddy]

I guess question I have about the paint is how did you match the color?

It's not matched perfectly, the pen will apply a matte black finish on the edges. I used several test pieces with different paint pens to get the most correct shade of black, and then a few more to learn the application method of the Testors. Definitely use a test piece to learn how to apply it, and if you're not using the same formica material I'd suggest trying different paint pens for color matching.

What this is doing is essentially tricking the eye. Our vision is based off of contrasts, and there isn't enough thickness in the material nor color variation for the eye to detect anything. In fact, I think the paint pen edging looks better blended than my stained edges do. Pictures tend to reveal everything, so in person the blend is even less detectable. A lighter edge than the surface material is what you're after, but dark enough to cover up the wood color.

Thanks, HTH