LSK M4 - How Should I Finish Them?

[Benno1988]

First coat of primer is drying now. The end grains soak it up pretty good, post a pic later when they are dry. Pretty trendy matte grey at the moment!

[Benno1988]

Finally gave the first coat a light sand. These things are very smooth. Pretty impressed.

Second coat of primer is drying now, then a very light 1200 grit sand and we're in business. Will laminate the back first, get my technique down pat. Front and top will be the most noticeable followed by the sides. Unlikely to do the bottom, i think i'll run out of material.

Should grab some feet of some sort for them too, hmm.

[TERRA Operative]

Wait, paint then laminate? Um, usually laminates are put onto bare wood.

You only need to prime if you are going to paint.....

[Mickatroid]

Originally Posted by TERRA Operative

Wait, paint then laminate? Um, usually laminates are put onto bare wood.

You only need to prime if you are going to paint.....

Agreed, if you have prepped them that well why not hit them with a few cans of acrylic?

As for feet, I recommend grabbing some hemispherical feet from your hardware store, they have a pin like a nail sticking out of them. Drill a hole just a bit too small and push them in firmly (or use a rubber mallet perhaps). Unless it is too unstable, try two in the front and one in the back (if the boxes are perfectly flat go with 4 I suppose but mine usually wobble a little on 4 feet.

Some of the feet are designed to be slippery (almost as a replacement for casters) so choose carefully! You don't want your speakers speeding off onto the floor.

[Benno1988]

If i was to paint them they'd need more prep. The original glue job wasn't crash hot, so I'd need more initial sanding/shaping then a few coats of primer to get it perfect.

Just put the laminate on the bases (ended up having enough), already made a few adjustments to the way I do it, the second one was heaps easier, quicker and looks better. So far pretty happy I guess!

[Benno1988]

Originally Posted by TERRA Operative

Wait, paint then laminate? Um, usually laminates are put onto bare wood.

You only need to prime if you are going to paint.....

I wasn't going to put a cheap laminate on bare MDF. The primer was used to firstly seal the MDF so moisture won't ruin it, and secondly to fill out and smooth the joins. Its given the laminate an aweosmely smooth flat surface to stick to, especially given its a laminate typically used on cars.

[TERRA Operative]

Fair enough, just something I haven't seen done too often. If it works, then all good.

[Benno1988]

Originally Posted by TERRA Operative

Fair enough, just something I haven't seen done too often. If it works, then all good.

Yeah guess its not common. I have read people saying to give MDF a prime first.

I have 3 sides done on one at the moment. Fiddly part is trimming the edges where two bits of laminate meet. Fine line between perfect trim and slighly trimming the existing laminate. So far pretty good, might touch up any small bits with a black pen.

Starting to look cool though! .....as cool as carbon fibre laminate can look that is...

[Mickatroid]

Nice Routers are a great way to trim if you can get your hands on one.

[Benno1988]

Pretty light on the tools here unfortunately. For this project so far I've used a sanding block I bought, sand paper, a ruler, pen and my hand and arm!

Will have one speaker done in about 30 minutes. Will try grab some pics to show how it looks.

[Benno1988]

Just chucked the drivers in quickly to show what itll look like.

[Forgiven]

Originally Posted by Benno1988

Just chucked the drivers in quickly to show what itll look like.

image
image

Wow very nice.. Good Job there

By the way is LSK still in business?

[HUMMER]

Originally Posted by Forgiven

By the way is LSK still in business?

goners i am afraid.

[TERRA Operative]

They don't look too bad at all.

[Renza]

I have a set of F6/C5/M5 that I still need to finish properly... currently using black vinyl at the moment but it's starting to peel, and I want to finish it in veneer, something dark like jarrah.

anyone know where I can get large enough sheets for the F6 (floorstanding) and how much it costs?

cheers