Those cabs are literally going to be works of art.....Originally Posted by westend9
Sleds are drying on the first coat of finish, the Maple is very nice against the birch plywood.
I'm sure using a liquid like Windex is a more precise test than the candle test--just like trying to find a leak in an inner tube with a liquid. Since the bottoms of the Model 19's (and 14's) are finished, I could spray some Windex there (that would be an inconspicuous test area) and leave it on there for 20-30 minutes, wipe if off and check to make sure it didn't have any adverse effect on the walnut finish before performing air leak tests on the visible portion of the cabs......
Being of "Sound" Mind
Those cabs are literally going to be works of art.....
Sleds are drying on the first coat of finish, the Maple is very nice against the birch plywood.
Being of "Sound" Mind
Agreed I can see how that could be mistaken.As a carpenter/contractor though I thought Lance would pick up on it(Understood what I meant), which he did. :2thumbsup:
Great Job ! Lance they have really come together really quickly.BTW Are you retired or are you not working at the moment.I never seem to have enough time to work on mine after working Full time all week.But with the days getting longer(daylight) this should improve.
I understood the original intent, AB, no worries.Agreed I can see how that could be mistaken.As a carpenter/contractor though I thought Lance would pick up on it(Understood what I meant), which he did. :2thumbsup:
Great Job ! Lance they have really came together really quickly.BTW Are you retired or are you not working at the moment.I never seem to have enough time to work on mine after working Full time all week.
Currently, I'm waiting for the phone to start ringing with a host of projects that folks are needing done. It happens every Spring. I haven't built homes for a good number of years, there is too much competition and the profit margins force one into a lifestyle that I don't enjoy (constant push and dealing with more employees). About 15 yrs. ago I decided that remodeling and maintenance was a better niche to fill. I also have a few commercial customers that need occasional building maintenance services. My wife and I also operate a cleaning business but we have weened that to only a few long-held customers.
My new title, as of April 8, is "Semi-retarded", lol. I plan to start getting some of that money back that my Uncle has been holding for the past 45 years.Barring physical impairment, I don't think I'll ever stop building and repairing things. The Good Lord put a few "fixers" on the Planet to take care of the needs of the less skilled and I happen to be one. I like my role.
One of my newest views on aging is that it puts one's time on a razor's edge. I need to spend time on what I enjoy doing since I only have so much left and the other side is that I still have a lot of things to "fix" before I get to that Big Job Site in the sky.
Here's some construction related humor I heard a little while back:
There was a problem that developed between the Devil and St. Peter, there was a lot of mix up and waiting either at the Pearly Gates or the Pit of Damnation. Folks were either at the wrong entrance and the amount of newly departed caused a major snafu. The crisis brought St. Peter and Beelzebub to the table. "What are we going to do?", asked St. Peter. Satan thought a moment and then said,"Why not build a couple of really fast express elevators to bring the deceased to the proper destinations, I need those fire-tenders". To this, St. Peter was in agreement but knew the craft of the Hot One and asked,"Yeah, but who's going to foot the bill for all of this?" The Devil replied, "Let's split it up. We'll do it like the old days of the railroads, you start at your end and build down and I'll have my minions get building upwards". The deal was consummated and they parted.
A few weeks went by and since the Devil knew how to work his crews with zeal, he made good progress. St. Peter and the Chosen were off to a good start, too. The upward bound crews pushed harder yet and could soon see the agreed half-way meeting point but there was no sign of St. Peter and the downward building crew. "I'll have to see what's going on", said Lucifer. He gave St. Peter a call and was told, "No worries, I'll get back to you in just a bit". The devil and his crews kept moving along and had now reached the "Promontory Point" of the endeavor. "Where the home is he?" ranted the Devil. He called back to the Pearly Gates and after getting through a long pass around on the heavenly phone system, finally reached St. Peter. "Pete, what's going on? We're past the middle, here and you're nowhere in sight!". "Well,...", St. Peter replied, "I have to confess, we've run into a bit of a problem, we can't seem to find any Contractors"
Enjoy your day!
Why so long? If it's going to blow bubbles it will happen just as fast as whatever frequency the woofer's being driven at and if you're worried about any liquid damage, just sprinkle some baby powder or similar to soak it up quick and brush it off with an old paintbrush.
GM
Loud is Beautiful if it's Clean! As always though, the usual disclaimers apply to this post's contents.
Yeah, way more time than I'm willing to devote on a speaker. I'd rather just hide mine behind screens. Now back when I did custom paint jobs on various vehicles, I didn't think twice about investing a month or more in it. If a fly landed on it and it didn't bust its a$$ sliding off, it wasn't done. Different strokes/priorities.........
GM
Loud is Beautiful if it's Clean! As always though, the usual disclaimers apply to this post's contents.
You're right--It's not like I'm going to be testing all 6 cabs at the same time--the most the Windex needs to be on any individual surface is couple of minutes or so--long enough to watch for bubbles, wipe it off, and move on to another area..... :doh:
Being of "Sound" Mind
I believe Altec used an oil based finish on the veneer, correct? If so, the cabs should be oblivious to water and alcohol, IIRC. GM's idea about baby shampoo and alcohol would then be the quintisenntial mix. I know Windex doesn't bubble all that well, maybe introducing a teaspoon of dishsoap or shampoo to the bottle would bring more suds. The only thing I've ever leak tested is pipes and ducts so this is all new to me.
I spent the better part of yesterday sanding the cabinets, filling, and finishing. Nothing remarkable for this, sand with three grits, remove dust, and apply oil finish.
I had an unsightly fissure in one of the panels, the front of one cabinet, and wanted to fill this crack.I tried mixing 5 minute epoxy and sawdust reclaimed from the sanding but results were terrible. The epoxy mix was very dark, basically unsandable, and wouldn't absorb any finish. Other glues and sawdust combined for a better color but, again, sanding and finish absorbtion was not good. I was thinking of what kind of binder I could use to attain color and functionality when I remembered that flour set up quite well when mixed with water (paper mache) so I combined some dust and a little flour and hit upon a recipe of 2 parts sawdust to 1 part of flour. It worked quite well and the Tung oil is able to penetrate the mix. The filler should attain a durability identical to the rest of the wood once I have multiple coats of finish on top of it. From a couple of feet away, the crack is unnoticable.
The sleds now have four coats of finish and the cabinets will soon have two coats. We are getting close. I will spend some time, today, making up a new testing "clicker". I found an older toggle that should work well for this.
It's not the veneer to worry about, but water blistering any exposed MDF, though if there's a leaky joint it might seal it up. Hmm, a new way to seal MDF cabs by spraying/'floating' a little water along all inside seams, he asks half seriously.
Really? I admit I haven't used genuine Windex since the store brands became available decades ago, but these bubble up good enough for me, though I guess the best would be the kid's bubble blowing solution if it's not been banned by the govt.. Google returned a DIY solution when searching for it though: http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/bubble/form.html
Got to try this on a so far bubble free, yet slow leaking, tire that even the local car repair/tire emporium has repeatedly failed to find, but refuse to replace as defective. Guess who won't get any more of my vehicle related sales...............
GM
Loud is Beautiful if it's Clean! As always though, the usual disclaimers apply to this post's contents.
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