Backyard Box Building - The Build

[macaroonie]

But the mounting flange has to be screwed down in position. The mounting holes that are required to mount the HF unit are the same as the small screws that are used to secure the plate for the routing. Once the hole is cut then drill through the screw holes and countersink for the mounting screws.
The next pics are of the rounding over cutter with a temporary extension baseplate on the router. I had to fit this to allow the cutter to sit in the correct position and also to give some extra stability.
It all went very well considering the diameter of the cutter. Two passes did it and almost no break out at the end of the cut.

[macaroonie]

[Krunchy]

Looking Real Good Mac!

Between this thread, Rich's 4333a thread and Mr. Riessen's various (including the Zilch Cloth Installation) threads you guys have really given us a lot to think about. Invaluable.

Thank you!

Fred

[macaroonie]

Better pics of the box and I have ordered my veneer.
I.m going to do it the hard way with raw leaves ie. unbacked .
Thanks to all who pitched in to my enquiry, but the veneer I want to use is not available in backed sheets anyway.
I will try out some samples on some 'dummy' rounded corners as that is the area that concerns me most.
I plan to try out Ricks method with PVA and also test some adhesive film.
We'll see what happens........

[macaroonie]

Here is the hole for the slot tweeter cut as I described earlier using the mounting flange as a template.
You have to roughly cut away the material ie without the benefit of the roller guide. This is only of any use when the roller can run on the inside of the flange. A little care will get you there and the end result is perfect

[macaroonie]

well I got started on the veneering.
Having studied the advice on this forum and having had a word with Rich in London I thought I would give things a go.
I got some adhesive film with my veneer and so with an old iron up at full whack I tried a few test pieces. Total crap. I dont know what the problem was but I just could not get that stuff to behave like a glue.
According to Rich it should melt up and almost behave like a liquid. Not for me no sir E bob. So on the phone to the supplier who tried his best but really got nowhere.
At the same time I had considered the PVA method as advocated by Rick but I was concerned since my veneer is unbacked. The moisture in the glue will cause the veneer to contort / distort. In any case I didn't have any to hand.
However in the meantime I had already done a test with Evostik 528 trade contact adhesive and was stuck solid.
So I thought in for a penny in for a pound and started mapping out my lay.
As you know I am cribbing the L 300 style and hence the veneers run front to back. Because the veneer is raw ie. unbacked it comes as it is cut from the log in my case about 11" wide by 12ft long.
This means that I need 4 pieces on each side. So I cut and paired leaves to sit in bookmatch order from the horizontal centre. You can read up about this on the Oakwood Veneers site.
Anyway a few hours later I have one finished and I must say I'm well pleased.
I will do a blow by blow on the second one but in the meantime here are some pics. The flash subdues the effect of the rays that you get in quarter cut oak, but in sunlight they really shine.

[macaroonie]

[macaroonie]

[saeman]

Looks wonderful and the rolled over edges look great too. I have thought about making something with the grain running laterally but just can't put my thoughts together.

Both wood glue and contact adhesive are useable with raw veneer. Without a paper or phenolic backing you just need to be careful not to apply too much glue and have it bleed thru to the face of the veneer. You may have found your receipe.

To clarify an earlier comment I made about my dislike in using contact adhesive where there are exposed veneer edges - if I can lift an edge loose with my finger nail then the bond is no good. That's my guideline and at exposed edges when I have used contact cement I can frequently get a finger nail between the veneer and base wood with very little effort and pry it loose. With a good wood glue bond this is not possible. Try this finger nail test along your long exposed edges and especially at every corner.

Rick

[macaroonie]

First point Mods could you please move the recent comments on this thread over to the comments thread.
Sorry Rick that was not aimed at you but my plan was to keep this one as a linear progression without interruption. With a bit of luck the high mucky mucks may feel this is worth keeping up as a sticky or as an archive resource that the nervous might refer to.

Anyway my only reservation about PVA other than that it has many iterations with different charcteristics is that if there is any spillage on to the front surface then future staining can be seriously compromised.
I was going to give it a whirl but was so frustrated by the film that I was keen to move on and get some kind of result.
I use that type of contact adhesive frequently and am comfortable with its behaviour.
My leaves of veneer were really flat and I felt that the warpage factor could get me in to all sorts of bother hence having done a nice wee test that really stuck down with minimal pressure I felt that I could proceed.
I primed both the box and the veneer with a thin smeared coat using a straight metal spreader and allowed both to dry. I then repeated the process the same way but just allowing a slightly heavier coating, just enough to look 'wet' and then allowed to dry.
Great care was taken not to have any globs of rubbery dubbery anywhere especially at the edges.
I did not use a notched spreader as I would have done for laminates or bonding sheet materials.
I have a very sharp hand plane that got my edges nice and straight .
That particular formulation ( Evode 528 Thixotropic ) will allow you to make contact ONCE !! and make an adjustment so set down was not a problem and the once the edge was in place i used nothing more complicated than a 3" wide piece of birch ply as a pusher down implement.
The rounded over corners were worked over the curve progressively until the veneer came on to the next flat surface.
The only niggle I had was at the bit where the glass sits where one of the veneers was wanting to be splitty as i trimmed it off with my sharp plane (Stanley No78 ) Anyway It all seems to have worked out.
Thanks nonetheless Rick, you do outstanding works and I have admired your results.


The veneer sections were cut and then edged

[macaroonie]

Ok here we go lots of pics
Nice clean sanded and filled cabinet and in pic 2 we use a primitive straight edge to mark up a center line shown in pic3

[macaroonie]

I bought 4 matching leaves of veneer so I can get 4 more or less identical segments. This allows me to do bookmatched lay up , that is to say that there is a central line with a mirror image of matching veneer pattern on either side of that line.
My veneer has quite a pronounced pattern to it and there are as I said 4 of each bit.
Before you use any glue it is worth laying pieces on the face in position and look to see that you grain matches up if that is what you desire.
It is worth at this stage having a good idea approx where each piece is going to go. If need be mark them with white chalk.
My New glue

[macaroonie]

My leaves have a good machine edge on one side and a ratty edge on the other, plus the grain seems to become very straight in nature at that edge. I can afford to loose about an inch.
Measure mark and cut. Nice straight edge , the back of a saw is good for this.
Nice gentle cuts with a brand new blade until the piece comes away.
To true the edge I have a rebate plane. The series of pics should show the routine. Leave about 1/8 protruding and VERY gently run the plane along the edge. You will hear when it is cutting and when you hear the cut all the way along the edge it is then straight. ( this is with a whisker cut on the plane. no more ) Alternatively Rich has a method more or the less the same but sanding down to a straight metal edge

[macaroonie]

In the last pic it is wort mentioning that the planing does not continue down to the plywood clamps they are only a convenient way of holding the veneer.
The plane is mega sharp and really only taking half a hair at a time

[macaroonie]

The next step is to glue the box and the panels that are ready.
In the first picture you acn see that the box has been coated and I am applying glue to the first panel. I am using a flat spreader in order to achieve a flat film of adhesive rather than using a notched spreader which can tend to give slightly lumpy results. Two coats are applied to each surface allowing to dry in between coats. Try to keep any foreign matter out of here and any lumps that do remain need removed either by cutting off or by using solvent.
Good ventilation is advised during this process and also aids the drying.
You want a nice flat even coating.