Does woodwork count as fabrication?

[stoval]

^Thank you... I can't take credit for the subwoofer design. Here's a (marketing) pic of the original Euro design - it's $4,500!!! But I liked the looks, and performance is remarkable. So I thought I'd attemt a copy. Theirs is a 15" driver with a remote controlled 1K watt plate amp. Mine is a 12" driver/300w Dayton components.

 

[wineslob]

How do you get the urethane to look so smooth?? I can't put down a good layer of urethane to save my life. I've tried regular brushes, foam brushes, and rags. I even went and bought a special "For oil based paints and urethane" brush. I've tried thinning the urethane with mineral spirits. I sand between coats using anything from 220 to 600. I sand before hand. I stain, sometimes I don't. One thing I read said to soak the brush in mineral spirits up to the ferrel to "force out" the air bubbles. Didn't work.

I get bubbles, bubbles, bubbles.

The only thing that seems to work at all is using a rag. But the layers put on by a rag are so THIN. It takes about 5-6 coats to get a good coating. To hide the grain like in Wineslob's picture... man that'd take a dozen coats.

What's the secret to laying down a good layer of polyurethane?

On the table I used Minwax Wipe on Poly, gloss. There's roughly 6-7 coats applied with the tee shirt cloths you can buy at Lowes, Depot, ect. It's damn close in quality to a sprayed on finish.

The "secret" is doing 2 coats, letting it dry for a day, light sanding, 2 more sand again( I used 400 grit), and on the last coat wipe it on as evenly as possible, making sure that the entire surface looks "wet". The stuff dries fast enough that it wont get "dust bunnies". The lower sections only have 2-3 coats, just enough to look good and seal it.


My next project is a pair of floor standing speakers, since one of my Apogee Duetta II's died, and they are $2500+ to repair. (bass panels have to be done in pairs)

 

[porphyre]

On the table I used Minwax Wipe on Poly, gloss. There's roughly 6-7 coats applied with the tee shirt cloths you can buy at Lowes, Depot, ect. It's damn close in quality to a sprayed on finish.

The "secret" is doing 2 coats, letting it dry for a day, light sanding, 2 more sand again( I used 400 grit), and on the last coat wipe it on as evenly as possible, making sure that the entire surface looks "wet". The stuff dries fast enough that it wont get "dust bunnies". The lower sections only have 2-3 coats, just enough to look good and seal it.


My next project is a pair of floor standing speakers, since one of my Apogee Duetta II's died, and they are $2500+ to repair. (bass panels have to be done in pairs)

Thanks for the secrets. Like I mentioned, I was using a rag also, but it was going on horribly thin. I was also sanding with 400, but doing it between each coat. I was taking the heads off the air bubbles. I didn't realize a "wipe" urethane existed. I was using Minwax's standard "fast dry".

I'll pick up some of that stuff, and here's hoping my next project goes better!

 

[wineslob]

Thanks for the secrets. Like I mentioned, I was using a rag also, but it was going on horribly thin. I was also sanding with 400, but doing it between each coat. I was taking the heads off the air bubbles. I didn't realize a "wipe" urethane existed. I was using Minwax's standard "fast dry".

I'll pick up some of that stuff, and here's hoping my next project goes better!

You can make a wipe on poly using the Minwax you have. It's a roughly 40% cut with naptha, 40% naptha, 60% Minwax. It should work the same way. The only reason I mention this is they want $10 a quart for the "premix". I dident need alot and one quart worked out for me.
The idea is for it to go on on thin/lots of coats. Trust me, when it is done it looks great! You can still detect the grain in the wood, and the finish won't look "plasticy". My wife was shocked that I wiped it on. It looks that good.

 

[jeffhay]

I just made this drill press cart

 

[Flathead Youngin']

that's looks VERY high end!

i typically like all black but that dark stain (red mahogany??) looks great against the black.....

when we build our house, i wanted a home theater room on the cheap, i may just build my own enclosures too......

thanks for sharing

edit: what brand of components did you use?

This is a scratch built/design satelite speaker system I've recently completed. This took a few months - still tweaking the sound, but very satisfying thus far.