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woodworkers in the crowd, finish ?


joessportster

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I know there are people here that have built / finished BEAUTIFUL speakers........................I am in the middle of assembling a pair of fostex blh16. I plan to round over the edges the cabinets are baltic birch. birch is notoriously hard to get an even finish

 

I want to keep them natural in color, but rub an oil or ? finish on them that will repel dirt and with enough coats even develop a shine. I would like to do a hand rubbed finish and stay away from anything harsh I will likely be finishing them in the house (NC summer is just hot and humid as hell, not the best weather for finishing wood in my experience)

 

Help me out ?  

 

I am considering painting the mouth of the horn with a heavy black coating as well, so any suggestions for that would be great as well.  

 

Also wheres a good place to get veneer, I might try that also, price will likely be a big factor in the finish, fixed income does not allow to much splurge.

 

Thanks Guys  Joe

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1 hour ago, joessportster said:

I know there are people here that have built / finished BEAUTIFUL speakers........................I am in the middle of assembling a pair of fostex blh16. I plan to round over the edges the cabinets are baltic birch. birch is notoriously hard to get an even finish

 

I want to keep them natural in color, but rub an oil or ? finish on them that will repel dirt and with enough coats even develop a shine. I would like to do a hand rubbed finish and stay away from anything harsh I will likely be finishing them in the house (NC summer is just hot and humid as hell, not the best weather for finishing wood in my experience)

 

Help me out ?  

 

I am considering painting the mouth of the horn with a heavy black coating as well, so any suggestions for that would be great as well.  

 

Also wheres a good place to get veneer, I might try that also, price will likely be a big factor in the finish, fixed income does not allow to much splurge.

 

Thanks Guys  Joe

http://www.oakwoodveneer.com/wood-veneer/

 

http://www.collinite.com

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1 hour ago, joessportster said:

Also wheres a good place to get veneer,

Joe,

Not much help. but veneered a 15" Parts-Express sub.  Looked everywhere for veneer ... some decent places, but often way to much for shipping :( Finally remembered I had gotten mahogany plywood from a local specialty shop. Emailed them about walnut veneer and YES they had some! Very nice; was able to check it out AND get it locally.  So ... suggest you look at local specialty wood shops.Even some "local" places like (overpriced) Woodcraft my be good.

Cheers, Emile

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I really like Formby's Tung oil finish. It is heavily cut with solvents so it wipes on as a liquid and has a nice natural look. It soaks into the wood instead of building up like a thicker poly will.

 

image.png.f7ecad0c342d708040eb4531daff5db6.png

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[EDIT: lacquer continues to be among my favorite finishes for Baltic Birch, in particular--but NEVER use it indoors; my initial post completely missed this part of the original post. My apologies. ]

 

Two things jumped out at me in your question: 1. Natural finish; and 2. Baltic Birch... Yes, agree completely about particular difficulties presented in staining baltic birch (splotchy, uneven). Clear, water-based urethane can help; and waxes, too, can be good. By far the best thing I have found for natural finish on Baltic-birch ply: Lacquer. Brush it on--or spray it  (but, it brushes on very nicely).

 

No need to prep with a "stain conditioner" first: Just sand to 150, or better, and apply. Another benefit I have found is that it typically self-levels so quickly--that the brush marks almost disappear completely--I find brushing on lacquer often looks like it was sprayed... very nice.

 

Also, the stuff dries quickly and is easy-peasy to work with. Will not substantially alter the color of the birch (won't yellow like oil-based products; --similar in this respect to water based urethane). The cans says no sanding between coats... ? you decide.

lacquer.jpg

lacquer1.jpg

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One big issue with lacquer is that the fumes are potentially explosive.

 

The solvent is acetone and toluene (airplane glue).  

 

Spray lacquer is used by commercial furniture manufacturers because it dries so quickly.  There is usually a spray booth and respirators involved.

 

Lacquer like this and ladies' nail polish is a solvent release mechanism.  When the solvent evaporates the remaining substance is hard.  But when you apply the solvent, it softens.  This is why ladies can go to Walgreens, buy and apply nail polish, sometimes is several coats, and then remove it with nail polish remover, which (read the label) is acetone.

 

No sanding is needed because a second coat, having the same solvent, melts into the first.

 

The other solvent release finish is shellac.  It really is the shell of the lac bug dissolved in alcohol.

 

Varnishes OTOH solidify when exposed to air.  The reaction is not reversible with ordinary solvents.

 

Linseed oils like Watco have the problem of starting fires if the rags are kept in a non-air container like a trash can.  When I used it I put the rags on a clothes line.  In free air, the rags just harden like the finish on a piece of wood. 

 

Overall, I say a wipe on is your best bet.

 

Like I always say: You are not going to do your best work on the first project.  The second will be better.  The third, even more better.  Therefore, practice on scrap wood several times.

 

This follows industry practice:  first a proof of concept, then a prototype, then production model.  Smile.

 

WMcD

 

 

 

OTOH, varnishes including polys, linseed oil, and tung oil solidify when exposed to air.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

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^^ Good points. Bear in mind that Baltic birch ply will not respond to finishes like a typical hardwood--hence the OP. Its good to know your options.

As an aside: The grain on birch ply will "pop" (raise) after wetting of the first coat: If/when you sand--you're sanding due to the raised grain beneath the finish, not the finish itself.

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^^ Beautiful. Very, nice. Can't tell if the first image is Forte or Chorus, but... plane-sliced birch, yes?  This raises an interesting point: The fact that Baltic Birch is rotary cut veneer may be part of the reason behind its finishing characteristics. [For those unfamiliar, plane-sliced veneer is removed from the log like taking pages from a book; while rotary-cut (faster/cheaper) is like removing paper towels from a roll]. I have always found Baltic Birch to come from the factory with more of a fuzzy/softer face than cabinet grade, North American veneers--I suspect this has something to do with the way it finishes out. I do love working with Baltic Birch, good stuff; but, its not plane-sliced.

 

EDIT: I just went back and read the original post... Ah'hem... yeah, don't do that. Big no-no. Do NOT try using lacquer inside the house. Do not even use it outside the house near an open door or window. Well-ventilated shop, or possibly outdoors, in the right circumstance.

 

Lacquer has its downsides--but, it its benefits might be a good option for some. Before the piano industry started "dipping" everything in polyester--the standard finish was lacquer: whether it was a Hamburg Steinway or a Japanese Yamaha, they lacquered 'em--and it worked well. The Japanese, especially so; they've been lacquering to good effect for a thousand years. Its a proven finish capable of durability.

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There are more variable methods and finishes in wood finishing than waves in the ocean. Find one by experimenting and use that method that you prefer. It basically comes down to that. I use many methods in my artwork depending on the wood. The avatar at left is Manzanita wood which doesn't like paint but is OK with sealer so I seal it then sand most of it off (A couple times)  and use several coats of wax. Just one of many methods found by experimenting.

JJK

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Thanks for all the info guys. I built the cabinets and rounded the front and top corners and of course one of the top corners splintered pretty bad. Wood putty made it presentable and I applied 2 coats of the Formbys I also painted the inside of the horn mouth black looks pretty good I thought about wrapping the sides and top with leather for a custom look. But time was catching up with me right now. Going in for surgery and they needed to be at least operational for my 6+ weeks of down time. They sound very good now I want to add a pair of subs that will also act as stands. will have to wait on that though, for now the power pressure cooker boxes we had will do the job. I will try and add a pic tomorrow when it is light out

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I did some finishing of some birch veneer not too long ago. My goal was to apply a stain that approached the finish of the classic Klipsch walnut oil finish.  I experimented with many different stain brands and colors and settled on one that was close in color, but getting the same darkness was going to be the challenge.  With birch, make sure you use a pre-conditioner if you plan on staining in order to get an even stain.  I used Minwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner.  Once I started applying the stain, it took several coats to get to the darkness I was looking for.  After a while, it appeared that I had reached the peak darkness as it wasn't getting any darker.  At that point I stopped applying stain.  My original plan was to apply a satin poly finish as that last step.  However, after all the coats of stain applied (I was at either 7 or 8 ) I was getting a really nice finish just from applying a stain.  I did this by hand rubbing the stain in with a cloth, and I presume the nice finish I ended up with was what is referred to as a "hand-rubbed" finish.  It was very smooth (almost glass-like) and had a nice sheen to it.  I wasn't actually looking for a shiny finish, but it looked so good I decided to forego the satin poly finish.  I ended up applying a couple coats of Watco Danish oil as the finishing touch and left it as that.  I didn't get quite the level of darkness I was looking for, but the color tone was good and I was quite pleased with how it all came out, with the only disappointment being it wasn't as dark as I had  hoped (dark enough to match my other Klipsch Walnut Oiled speakers).  I was aware going in that birch would be difficult (if not impossible) to get a good dark stain finish.

 

If you are not interested in changing the color, then I would suggest starting with the Minwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner and follow that with as many hand rubbed in coats of Watco Danish oil you need to get the finish you are looking for.  You will still get a slight color change, but it will still resemble a natural finish.  Heck, just applying the pre-stain conditioner provided a very nice natural look (similar to maple) that I would've been quite satisfied with if I hadn't been trying to match the walnut oil finish.

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