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Walnut tweeter lenses


Dave A

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I have been dragging my feet on cutting wood tweeter lenses and also learning how to do it. Unfortunately the wood I had on hand was small so I have to get more. I can say though that I have no doubt these Walnut lenses will be cutable and should be strong enough to be screwed into the old tweeter holes and not split. The surprising this is the 1/4 20 threaded holes look like they are going to be OK strength wise. Finish is very good and will require minimal finishing and while I was concerned with the pore size in this batch of Walnut I think that will not be a problem either and no chunks picked out while cutting. This one finished today has all the features in it and cut OK so all systems go.  Apologies to you know who you are for taking so long on this and your wait will soon be over.

 

  Stopped last week at a local hardwood supplier last week and there are some very colorful woods out there. There was a purple wood from Brazil I think that was super dense and should cut well. I might cut some free standing horns too with a large body  (maybe 8" x 8" or so) and a cavity cut out on the back side for the clamp plate and driver.

 

  Whether or not I will end up cutting these as limited offerings I don't know. The mess it makes in my mill takes some time to clean up.

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Probably. You see those two spots? The spindle assembly moves up and down and you have tool changes and somehow there is always a drop or two of coolant that spills out and that is what those are. Dirty wet hands, water drops everything seems to cause blotches so to even it all out something has to seal it. Whether it is me or the recipient it has to be done before people play with it. I am a fan of Satin Spar Polyurethane myself.

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6 hours ago, carlthess40 said:

Dave
I thought you were not going to mill wood?
Very messy to work with that’s for sure
Looks like some of your best work and I’m sure people will be wanting them by the box full. Great job

I am considering doing wood because I think their are sales to be had doing this. My retirement but not retiring hobby to keep me in speaker land.

16 hours ago, carlthess40 said:

That’s beautiful work
how long did it take you to write the code for the C&C to mill those out ?
Are you going to be selling these?

All told with revisions to the part as time went on and figuring out best ways and tooling for smooth finishes probably 40 hours or more. Code will mostly stay the same for the wood as it is for metal except there will be another revision and new machining program to accommodate additional depth for the wood lens. + a couple more hours when it is all said and done.

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14 hours ago, No.4 said:

Those look perfect! Any plans to do any midrange horns? Is it even possible with your tooling?

 

 

please say yes.

 I am thinking about it but not seriously until sometime next year. Tweeters are one thing but mid range horns are much larger and I have to determine if I can cut things like that and charge for my time and material accordingly and still have something people will want to buy..

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12 hours ago, jason str said:

Baltic Birch plywood would be a great looking lens, each graduated ply showing through would be a great look for the older Birch cabinets.

 

Great look, keep up the good work.

I agree and the end view of Baltic Birch with some Satin Spar Polyurethane on it just glows.

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… o O (..roasted Hickory... or birds eye maple ) like diamonds in the rough smoothed with that spar satin.... and routered carbon fiber aliment nut inserts... should approach the ballpark of a $3000 tweeter lens, similar to a custom shop Fender guitar neck.... or kreg wood screws and titebond wood glue... omg, don't paint your tweets blue...

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23 hours ago, windashine said:

… o O (..roasted Hickory... or birds eye maple ) like diamonds in the rough smoothed with that spar satin.... and routered carbon fiber aliment nut inserts... should approach the ballpark of a $3000 tweeter lens, similar to a custom shop Fender guitar neck.... or kreg wood screws and titebond wood glue... omg, don't paint your tweets blue...

I have some Black Locust stumps on my land I have been collecting thinking of what to do with besides feeding the wood furnace. Very tough and an interesting wood grain pattern with nice colors. There are some Hickory burls also which I might have a look at. I had been thinking of clocks for my wife to sell at craft shows but maybe tweeter lenses are a better idea. The Amish have sawmills nearby and there is interesting spalted wood there at times. My friend owns a sawmill and has the Amish run it so I have access to these things. The wood would have to sit for some time though and air dry unless I can find someone to kiln dry and that assumes I am going to do wood tweeters to begin with. I am getting more interested. I put some stain on that prototype lens I posted about and it looked really good.

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