My build of a pair of HawthorneAudio Sterling Duets

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well....I suppose it's time to pull back the curtain, just a bit......
This is the back of the first baffle. Step one of many in the veneering process. The chamfers take quite a bit of time to do, a lot of steps involved for each angle. 
We've done the back, and first 45 degree angles on the sides. The "ends" and "tops" did not receive glue.

On this particular baffle, I've done the trimming, rough sanding, and quick wipe down to remove the dust and shine things up a bit.
This weekend (and probably next) will consist of veneering each and every individual angle, one at a time, with trimming and sanding in between.

So ..... here are my teaser photos, until (most likely) next weekend.
I gave the Pelin Burl a quick, moist wipe down for the pictures.

[tmazz]

Nice! 

[richidoo]

The best way to keep the posts tight would be to use banana connectors. haha

Thanks, I never thought of that  

The looseness is not from the nuts backing off, it's from the softness of the copper wire, especially stranded. It isn't stiff enough to resist the squeezing twss so it flows away. Tinning doesn't help cuz it's soft too. Spades need to resist the squeezing so they are either alloy or very thin copper like JHLabs, harder to squeeze cuz there's less material to flow, I think...

[tmazz]

The best way to keep the posts tight would be to use banana connectors. haha

Thanks, I never thought of that 

Or even better the Monster Cable X-Terminators, which are banana like connectors that have a small threaded rod that goes down the center and expands the blades and locks them on place for a more solid fit that does not loosen up over time.

[richidoo]

Or even better the Monster Cable X-Terminators, which are banana like connectors that have a small threaded rod that goes down the center and expands the blades and locks them on place for a more solid fit that does not loosen up over time.

WBT bananas do that too, works great! Soldering is the best thing for inside the box, but that deflowers the driver for resale value. But I guess organ music at 95dB deflowers them pretty well too.  Used is used.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the complement tmazz! 

I know what you mean about the stranded wires "smashing" and thereby loosening the grip. I use 12guage Romex for my subs sometimes. The solid wire makes it damn hard to unscrew very same fitting that wouldn't hold stranded wire. There has been a couple times I had to use pliers to unscrew the connector because it "bit" too well. 

How the hell that happens is beyond me. 

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

Just for grins, I checked how tight my binding posts were. It's been many months since I've touched them, maybe as long as over a year ago. So suffice it to say they've had a good long while to work themselves loose.
Much to my surprise, I got a full 360 degree turn out of all four of them. 

No improvement in SQ after tightening them though.

I think some bananas are in my future. 

Bob

[BobM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtD4mn9CeH4

[Bob in St. Louis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtD4mn9CeH4

Just the mere fact that it has 3,084 likes, proves society is doomed.
Only 187 sane people voted.

Just....wow.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Got a bit more accomplished this weekend and thought I post a few more pictures.

First up....
The thin sheets of veneer (that are almost five feet long and 22" wide) need to be soaked with a wood softening chemical and pressed. These have been pressed for several days ....granted, longer than needed, but that will do nothing but make our lives easier later down the road. It's hard to press something that large, but the sheets are wrapped in wax paper (so the moisture doesn't get sucked out), then every piece of large plywood I have is placed on top, then all the heavy boxes of speaker parts are placed on them, and finally, a few 2"x4"'s and clamps to squeeze them into submission. 
You can see a bit of the veneer peeking out, in the lower left of the photo.



I don't have any photo's of the actual veneering process (yet....since it's being done at another fellows house), but after the veneer/vacuum press, here's what comes out.
The darker areas are where I've soaked the driver cutouts so I can run a razor blade through it without as much 'chipping' of the wood.
The baffles are three layers of plywood thick. It is necessary to place the driver cutouts back in the holes so the vacuum press doesn't shatter the veneer.
Note to self: Next time, veneer first, then do the router work. Ugh...

That's about enough typing for tonight, the rest of the pictures should speak for themselves.















Tony requested the side braces be taller, and with a radius inside the 'crotch' area.
Here's the second prototype, on the left. He didn't care much for the first generation on the right.





That's enough for this weekend..... "Bob out"..... 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Here's a couple rare, mid-week, photo's.

First picture is doing double duty. I had to locate the t-nuts and clean out the residual glue from the veneering process (note the bolts).
And second...in order to ensure a perfect 90 degree sanding surface of the thin side bevel for the next layer of veneer, I made a (as perfect as I can) sanding block.
I lined the bottom horizontal surface of the block with slick packing tape to act as a "sled" to ease the sliding across the wood work surface.
Next, I attached sandpaper to the vertical face. Instead of regular sand paper that wears out quickly, I used the belt from a belt sander.
It lasts much longer, and requires an occasional quick blast of air to clean and unclog the abrasive surface.




And just to tease Tony, a shot of the back with the base attached.
I didn't notice until just now, the camera focused on the background instead of the speaker.
Sorry about that.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wow, it's been a month....Well, sanding isn't much fun, very glamorous, nor is it worth taking pictures of. But to prove I've actually been doing something, here's what they look like after final sand, and after one coat of Linseed Oil.

I'll admit to touching them more than I should, if you catch my drift.

Bob

[richidoo]

Gorgeous! The grain matching from facet to facet is incredible. I was trying to figure out how you did it with one piece, then I reread previous post above about one facet at a time. Incredible!   Do you have a system to keep track of where the cuttings are supposed to go?

[bpape]

Nice job Bob!  Those look great.  Guess I know how I'm going to be tapping for my summer project (if you're interested....)

Bryan

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks guys! 

Rich, no real system, just careful placement and forethought. Nice and slow. haha

Bryan, sure buddy. Whatcha got in mind?

Bob