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Would the inspector be pleased?


owlsplace

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Here is some progress on the previously rumoured "silk-purse" AR-4x's.

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These were sailboat speakers and ready for the dumpster -- cabs delaminating, etc. I decided to put some of my sailboat experience to work after a friend gave me some black walnut and do a small tribute to the New England craftsmen of old.

Serial numbers are 41K+ and crossovers were the early two cap type.

You need lot's of free time to do this kind of work, especially with a limited tool set. Sanding is no where near complete but I was testing finishes this morning and got carried away.

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Roger

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Yeah, didn't really plan on doing the baffle so it may change the end result. There is a 3/4" oak bridge inside between the tweeter and the woofer, front to back and side to side. It will probably get a full complement of fillets also -- overkill but hey, these are sailboat speakers :)

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Looks great! I notice the grain runs front to back. Was this for aesthetic reasons? To best use the walnut without waste? Just to be different?

How thick is the walnut? Will be interested to hear more about construction details.

Looking forward to the finished products!

-Kent

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Well, a couple coats of Watco Danish French-style I believe -- wet sanded and more to come.

Due to my limited skill/tool set it is already acquiring an antiqued look. There are two laminations -- the first was mostly mahogany with some oak on the back. The second lamination is black walnut with all oak on the back. They were originally about 3/16" however I got carried away with a belt sander on the walnut due to my lack of patience. Walnut isn't the easiest wood to hand sand and I didn't want to make it my life's work! I'd have to do a couple of these to get any good at it. I can hear my uncle chuckling. He was a pattern maker with all the right tools and skill set.

The laminations are perpendicular to each other so that is why it goes front to back. I originally only planned on one lamination but after looking at the profile I decided to fill it out -- as Roy noticed -- it has a baby AR-3 look.

Don't currently have access to a joiner so I was happy it came out as well as it did. I finally gave up trying to square everything up. They will look good hanging on a wall anyway. Some of the grain patterns are entertaining.

Roger

Here's progress:

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Are they still going to be sailboat speakers after they're done?

Possible, but that would be another project ;) I have a MacGregor waiting rebuild

One down, one to go ... This one should be a bit easier ... one could only hope.

I ordered some more HK pots and will go with Madisound surplus and Carli caps.

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Well the wet-sanded Watco Danish oil finish came out smooth as a baby's a__.

I'm reminded of Eubie Blake's comment on the occasion of his 100th birthday, "if I knew I was going live this long i would have taken better care of myself."http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200038834/default.html

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Roger

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Phenomenal.

I can feel the smoothness in my mind's finger.

Thank you.

I was undecided about a finish for my AR3a's that I'm currently restoring.

Watco oil.

Well, it was new wood and I didn't have to worry about sanding through the veneer.

I have been working on some veneered cabs the last few days and I'm leaning towards not sanding at all since the veneer is so thin. Just carding off the old finish with a blade, applying beeswax with a hot knife to problem areas or on entire surfaces, and a light wet sand with Watco staying away from the edges if using any pressure. The old boys didn't have sandpaper anyway, besides after getting wood into the shape they wanted after long hours of labor they wouldn't want to change the shape by sandpapering. I'll let you know how it works out.

Roger

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Well, this is what a beeswax finish looks like on AR-5's. Old finish was carded off with utility knife blades, no sanding except to clean up some of the edges and wax was applied with a putty knife and heat gun. Wax was then rubbed out with cheesecloth.

If the shine is too much you can knock it down with some Watco Rejuvenating oil which will remove some of the wax and give more of a satin sheen. I used this around the face to remove excess wax because I didn't want to put a lot of heat on the edges.

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Roger

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WAUW!!!

Stunning!

The cloth, is that original?

Yeah, RoyC says it is original and it looks like the cloth on my original Euro 5's if memory serves me correctly.

I went on the cheap with the wax, This wax came from an old wax cap, waste not, want not, they used to say :)

Roger

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