Backyard Box Building - The Build

[macaroonie]

With TWO coats of adhesive on both surfaces the first panel can be laid on to the box. Start at the center line and carefully line up one edge of the panel as shown. Like this the glue will not grab a hold and you can manoeuvre the veneer piece into the correct position. Once the piece is lined up run a finger along thefirst edge to make the glue grip and then progessively work the rest into position rubbing along the grain.
Do not just drop the piece down flat and then apply pressure as this will encourage the formation of air pockets
The idea is to roll the piece of veneer into contact and then apply pressure as you go.

[macaroonie]

Using an implement as shown go over the whole area starting in the middle and make sure that the veneer is well stuck down. Be careful at the edges as they have yet to be trimmed.
Do not use an iron or steel implement on oak as it can stain the wood.
Yo may hear little crackling noises, those are little air pockets bursting . Keep going until there are no more noises and the panel feels solid.

[macaroonie]

To trim the veneer I used a brand new blade and scored lightly along a straight edge. After a few passes the veneer is sufficiently cut that it will snap off easily downwards first and then up to snap clean off.
I left a tiny excess hanging over the edge which I then sanded to flush.
For a long grain edge ie where the grain is parallel to the edge I would not use this method. I would pre cut the panel to within 1/8 and the use the roller guided trimming cutter in the router or by hand using a small block plane.

[macaroonie]

The mirror image of the first piece is then attatched and trimmed in the same way. Remember to have all the joining edges cut and straightened before you stick them down.
The next few pics show the next piece being offered up to the existing work.
At this stage it is worth just aligning the grain details to make it seem as if the details run from one piece to the other. As it happens with this piece I dont have much to play with but there is one detail about 1/3 from the right that kinda joins up.
At this stage the new piece does not have any adhesive on it !!
In the second picture you can see that the joint is slightly open at the left and the right so it is off to the planing jig for a little tidy up.
If you think about it the middle section of the new edge is high with respect to either side and I would expect the plane to remove material from this area.
After a few gentle passes with the plane, checking each time , a good fit is achieved.

[JBL 4645]

macaroonie

Breathtakingly beautiful you’ve really taken you’re time on this look forward to seeing the last stages of you’re home DIY JBL project.

[macaroonie]

Ok here is the top leaf glued up and ready to go , I already tidied the edge so it now gets laid down as before and pushed on by hand up to but not over the rounded edge. Then the flat surface is pushed firmly with the pusher tool.
Only once that is firmly in place do I then start progressively working around the corner by using the pusher tool in a series of moves that gradually and evenly makes firm adhesion. Eventually the veneer will come around to the next flat plane/ surface and it is quite important that at this stage that the adhesion is progressive as before

[macaroonie]

Once over the top the flat area can be pushed firmly into place and then trimmed. The veneer on the corner is a little tricky to score but I just took my line for the edges and joined them up over the rounded bit leaving a little excess just in case. It sands off really easily ( 120 grit ) but be careful to sand towards the body of the cabinet.
Roughly trim off the excess and stand the cabinet up

[macaroonie]

Gently plane down to flush with the trim.
Look how fine the shavings are in that plane.
Sand off as required .

[macaroonie]

Well ladies and gents that is about it as far as woodwork is concerned. I need to go and give everything a right good sanding to get the surface smooth.
Raw veneer has a slightly rough texture as it is literally off the log.
I will end up with 320 grit and will be doing some staining to make the wood look old. I will need to do some testers for this to get the desired result. There are many ways to get a pleasing finish on wood with oil , many types of lacquer stain etc and the choice is up to you. In my experience there are very few if any one shot finishes so patience is usually needed here. This is the bit that will really make the end product a thing of lasting beauty
Anyway after that I have a few braces to put in ( common sense ) , fit the port on the back and make a base ( easy if you have got this far ). Oh yeah an input panel.
After that it will be wadding and then load up the drivers.
I will post pictures of the finished cabinets as soon as they are done with any other relevant details that pop up.
I will also post a detail of the total system and how it is running because remember it is completely active.
The end is near.

[macaroonie]

The tools used were as follows

1/2" shank router
Rip saw
Combi drill
Jig saw
Workmate /table
Hammer
Ratchet straps
Craft knife

I probably missed something

If you have any responses as usual can you put them in the other thread. Ta

[macaroonie]

Well it seems like I dug myself a hole again . It seems that to get the finish I seek I will have to ' FUME ' my cabinets. If you want to know more google 'Oak fuming ' It involves small tents, dangerous chemicals and duct tape. No kidding.!!!!!!!

[macaroonie]

Well it turns out that a girl that drinks in the Clachan is a furniture restorer etcso I took delivery today( at no cost I might add ) of 1 pint of Ammonium Hydroxide. So now I have to build a little tent out of plastc , duct tape and some 2x2. The process is as follows - speaker goes into tent with glass tray of said liquid and spends the night there. In the morning if all goes well the veneer will have taken on a pronounced OLD look mid to dark brown. The longer you leave it the darker it gets. After that you just finish in the usual way oil / lacquer / varnish / wax or whatever you fancy.
The big deal with this is that the rays in the veneer I have used do not react in the same way as the background wood and remain quite pale .
We shall see -- better living through chemistry as they say.

[macaroonie]

Think of this with some classy Zilchcloth.

[macaroonie]

....?

[macaroonie]

Yup I got the strong stuff -- 25% and my expert says not a prob just watch what is going on. May have to re orientate speaker in the tent. Thanks for your input, its all welcome.