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Fiberglass coating or another durable coating


Dave A

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Sometimes a search fails because you don't know what to type in. Today I am trying to find out how Klipsch put the fiberglass coating of the Pro line speakers on and not having any luck. Anyone have a link to point me to?

 Now I would also be interested in an alternative to Duratex which I like but is not as resistant to damage as I would like. I have thought of epoxy coatings but once again like Duratex they are subject to chipping and scraping damage much more so than fibrglass.

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11 minutes ago, Dave A said:

Sometimes a search fails because you don't know what to type in. Today I am trying to find out how Klipsch put the fiberglass coating of the Pro line speakers and not having any luck. Anyone have a link to point me to?

 

that's interesting... I dont think that has been discussed before.

In for answer.

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My intent is to perhaps do this on a set of 1" Baltic Birch Super MWM bins I will build later this year. I want to be able to haul these around  and it seems the fiberglass is best at resisting problems.

 

  OK that MDO and HDO sounds interesting and I might try that for a 1" thick Chorus speaker build I am contemplating. I only see 4' widths though so for the Super MWM it might be a problem to use. That Chorus particle board crap drives me wild and I have a pair here right now with water problems from a potted plant would be my guess. Once that junk starts swelling even humidity becomes a problem. And of course the screw hole problems. As far as I am concerned there is nothing good about particle board in speaker land unless you are a penny pinching corporation cost cutter who does not care about customers.

 

  When I was in St Louis at Tim's to pick up speakers a while back he had a gutted MDF cabinet to be thrown into the dumpster. While his two helpers were picking it up and complaining about weight Tim was explaining how they were from a rare set of past JBL things  and BOOM this bin hits the bottom of the dumpster. Silence for a second and then words of astonishment over the complete disintegration of the cabinet. This thing looked like a tank until it didn't and that's the whole story of MDF. Looks good and fails in every important metric except stiffness which had it's worth proven when stiff and brittle collapsed into a pile of rubble in the dumpster. Or turns into sawdust because of one potted plant.

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I have strongly considered building BB and SW enclosures using thick polymer sheeting. Although wood may be the perfect material from nature, it is also susceptible to nature taking it back. The right plastic could be bomb resistant, waterproof, high tensile strength, high compressive strength, as thick as you want, any color you want including clear, fire resistant, and UV resistant. I live in a region along the Ohio River where chemical plants who manufacture plastics are ubiquitous. In fact, as a 3PL, I actually store and handle 1,000 lb gaylord's full of it. 

 

I wonder why this isn't used more in loudspeaker production. Do you suppose it is more costly, fastening is not durable enough, or what?

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8 hours ago, Dave A said:

I am trying to find out how Klipsch put the fiberglass coating of the Pro line speakers on

 

I don't know how Klipsch did their Pro speakers, but spreading the mixed resin on a cabinet, laying glass mat and pressing it with a roller, then rolling more coats of resin is something you should be able to do in your garage or workspace. Use drop cloths, wear disposable gloves and ventilate the fumes. 

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6 hours ago, mustang guy said:

I have strongly considered building BB and SW enclosures using thick polymer sheeting. Although wood may be the perfect material from nature, it is also susceptible to nature taking it back. The right plastic could be bomb resistant, waterproof, high tensile strength, high compressive strength, as thick as you want, any color you want including clear, fire resistant, and UV resistant. I live in a region along the Ohio River where chemical plants who manufacture plastics are ubiquitous. In fact, as a 3PL, I actually store and handle 1,000 lb gaylord's full of it. 

 

I wonder why this isn't used more in loudspeaker production. Do you suppose it is more costly, fastening is not durable enough, or what?

Which plastic were you thinking of? I know the Delrin and UHMW plastic I have been buying for some time would be cost prohibitive.

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I've used TotalBoat Penetrating Epoxy to achieve a 100% waterproof seal on new and old plywood. It has a very low viscosity so it soaks in and therefore makes plywood extremely strong as well as sealing it. After it sets up you could apply a single cloth layer or just an application of paint or Duratex.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=97636

UDznIhV.jpg

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1 hour ago, Dave A said:

Which plastic were you thinking of? I know the Delrin and UHMW plastic I have been buying for some time would be cost prohibitive.

No specific plastic. ABS pellets and Delrin, for instance, are not too expensive at about $1.89 per lb plus freight. If your bass box weight 50#, then the raw material costs would be $95. The injection extrusion of sheets wouldn't be too expensive once you paid for the die and tooled up for it. A raw 3/4" sheet of one of these polymers would be idea for making outdoor and marine enclosures.

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On 7/15/2018 at 7:28 PM, DavidH said:

I've used TotalBoat Penetrating Epoxy to achieve a 100% waterproof seal on new and old plywood. It has a very low viscosity so it soaks in and therefore makes plywood extremely strong as well as sealing it. After it sets up you could apply a single cloth layer or just an application of paint or Duratex.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=97636

 

I've loved the West Systems epoxy... have you ever used that?  Wondering about comparisons.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=3842

 

 

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