Meadowlark Kite Build Thread - Prime Minister Gets A New Pair of Speakers

Are you set on a wood finish? I really want my next pair of speakers to have an automotive grade paint job! Maybe I’m alone on this one......
 
Are you set on a wood finish? I really want my next pair of speakers to have an automotive grade paint job! Maybe I’m alone on this one......

Buy a can of Rustoleum paint and use a roller for a smooth finish.

I found that textured spray paint becomes a dust magnet.
At first it looks nice then I found that it's almost impossible to remove the dust between the textured particles.
 
I say whatever the fanciest, end of the line, my-speakers-for-a-long-time finish you can dream up. This is very exciting, and a welcome change into a whole different world.
 
I say whatever the fanciest, end of the line, my-speakers-for-a-long-time finish you can dream up. This is very exciting, and a welcome change into a whole different world.

We are certainly dreaming stuff. At least my part of we. Pat has the patience of a saint.
 
Burl is pretty fragile. It doesn't follow curves very well. Does Pat's crew prefer paper-backed veneer? Are they set up for plain-sawn (live edge) veneer, or do they need sheet-stock?
 
Burl is pretty fragile. It doesn't follow curves very well. Does Pat's crew prefer paper-backed veneer? Are they set up for plain-sawn (live edge) veneer, or do they need sheet-stock?

I learned the first from Pat. It's scary fragile to use.

I'll let Pat speak to the rest.
 
Well, plain-sawn is usually more figured than rotary, but widths can vary. There's a pretty broad range of Rosewood, or Walnut. If you poke around the site, knowing what type of veneer Pat uses, paper-backed, 2-ply, full-width sheets, or plain-sawn 'boards', you might narrow down your preference.
 
One of the things to choosing a veneer is to think not only about what appeals to us, but also the size of the pattern related to that of what it will be applied to. I love rosewood and would use it in a heartbeat in many situations (old English pianos, yum), but the pattern might be a bit large for smaller speakers? Curly walnut, though....
 
DSCN1117.jpg

Exterior panels ready for glue-up. Notice that the tweeter rebate is way too deep. That's to facilitate trimming the veneer. So the little round insert is needed to bring the tweeter faceplate up to the right level. Happily, this also lets us use that structure as an additional layer of elastic decoupling. The tweeter also has an extra tricky elastic decoupling scheme built into its faceplate. So it all works out nicely.

Note the back flare on the woofer thru hole. Also, I've always preferred to angle whatever panel faces the woofer from the rear, rather than have it be parallel. Since the amps are much deeper at the top than at the bottom, we can easily grab this advantage by angling the divider between the amp compartment and the pressure vessel.

tweeter decoupler.jpg
 
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