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DO NOT DO THIS!!! I was paying so much attention to lining up
the grain lines from the top to the sides, that I didn't notice that
there wasn't enough veneer to overhang one corner. Of course,
I didn't notice until I had the first few passes with the iron already
done. About 2/3 of the veneer came off, but right where I
started with the iron wouldn't budge. I hadn't even really
seriously gone over it with the iron, nor had I set it down by rubbing
with the wood block. It shows how well the glue bonds.
So if you're reading in the article where it says you can use the iron
to loosen the veneer to reposition it, don't believe it!
It doesn't work!
Off the top of my head materials and tool list, this may not be complete.
Veneer, order extra
Veneer tape
Titebond II weatherproof wood glue
Small roller and cover, consider using a sponge roller
Iron, not mother's
Metal straight edge
Utility knife and lots of blades
Square
Paper towels
Block of wood
Random orbit sander and 80,120,180,and 240 discs
Veneer saw
Belt sander?
Table saw?
Sanding block, rolled up sanding disc? For detailed sanding.
Veneer trimmer
Newspaper
Blanket or soft pad
Spray bottle of water
Resin filler
Sandable and stainable wood filler
Putty knives
Finishing materials
Little things like this will happen. Easy to repair
though, just put a little glue on it, let it set for a few minutes, and
then put the iron on it and press it into place. I even had
good luck with wet glue behind a couple of loose spots and using the
iron right on it. The glue bubbles as it heats up and then
sets up.
I'm not exactly shure how this happened. It's hard to tell
if I've sanded through the veneer, or if it's IN the veneer.
This photo makes it look much worse than it is, thank goodness.
My guess is that there was a very thin bubble there and I sanded through
it. I don't think it will really show once they're all
finished, it's one of
those things you only see if you're looking for it.
I decided it was easier to make new bases instead of re-veneering
the old bases. I also decided to turn the grain vertical
instead of how the factory did it, horizontal. I started by
glueing some veneer to a piece of 3/4" birch plywood. Then,
I cut it into strips on the table saw.
Here are the cabinets, all newly veneered, finish sanded, and
ready for polyurethane. I have 15.5 hours into the project
at this point (not including shopping time at Home Depot!)
Assembling the bases was easy with one of these rigs.
Titebond and 1-1/4" brad nails should hold them secure. This
clamp holds the base frame perfectly square, but I've always found that
I have to overcut all the miters slightly, probably 45.5 degrees, in order
to get tight corners.
I'm at 16.5 hours now, it only took an hour or so to cut and assemble
the bases.
Here I partially installed 4 screws into the back of the speaker.
This will elevate the speaker off the table so I can finish it.
This is where the PWK emblems were when the speakers had grill
cloth. But I just couldn't put them back there over the new
veneer. Gary will have to do that himself if he really wants
them there. O.k. Gary, hold your breath for the next photo,
are you sitting down?
I had to make an executive decision. This photo shows the
speaker on the right with no finish, the piece of veneer in the middle
with one coat of clear poly, and the speaker on the left with
a coat of linseed oil. I was a little nervous about doing this,
but the clear poly just didn't look like it was adding any color at all,
and I remember Gary's other speakers having a golden tone to them.
So I hope this is o.k. Gary, I went ahead and put a coat of linseed oil
on the speakers to bring out a little more golden color. By my
eye, it's more of a golden color than your Cornwalls though, at least
from what I remember. But the oil certainly makes the grain
POP right out. It adds a lot of depth and I'm very happy with
the way they look already, even without any polyurethane.
If you really hate them Gary, I can tone it down some. In person
they look awesome.
Here's the oiled bases next to the speaker without any finish.
I found these great brackets made by Stanley to hold the bases
onto the speakers.
Something I learned on this project is to try and have different
color wood fillers to work with. After I was already done
with these speakers, I found some nice colored, sandable, and
stainable wood filler made by Elmer's. I had to use the light
colored filler on the brad nail holes on the bases, so I used some
paint and an artists brush to hide them. This is a before and
after shot of the same corner.
I mounted the PWK emblems on the back.
Here they are with one coat of linseed oil, bases done (but not
on for finishing), and the black paint has been put on the cutouts
for the woofer and horns.
As the Heresy project nears its end, the next project makes its
way into the shop!
I now have 20.5 hours into this project with only a few coats of polyurethane left to go. I have moved these speakers to my other shop to apply the finish. Then I'll pack em up and send em home!
Here they are, all finished and ready to go. Overall, the
finish came out pretty good. I was disappointed to see some
very small scratches from sanding between coats. Hard to believe,
but 400 grit sandpaper can still leave scratches if the corner of the
paper is hitting the finish just right.
Here's the bases with the grain going vertical. This looks
much nicer than the way the factory bases were done with the grain
going horizontal, especially with the zebrawood grain.
I also built a pair of angled bases.
I'm very pleased with the way this project turned out. I learned a lot about veneering with a whole new process. Using unbacked, raw veneer is the only way I'll go from now on. There's just no comparison to the NBL backed or paperbacked veneers. This is woodworking, and the end result has a quality and feel that is just like solid wood.
Here's the article that CertainlyWood sent to me.