[panny300]

Just waiting for the parts to finish a 8ft^3 ported sub.
Has anybody out there had a sudden eurika moment on a cost effective and fairly simple way to put the finishing touch to the box?.
I am not skilled enough to veneer,is fablon any good? is it hard wearing and how do i get neat edges, and a good finish around the ports and speaker.
Anybody used carpet/material, how does it look?
Will paints [and what kind] hide the joins and edges of mdf.
Our American cousins use "truckbed liner" a lot anybody know what it is called here.
Also is there a good alternative to eggbox foam to line the inside of my ported box,is all the inside lined and how thick should it be?

[fomoria]

Fablon looks pretty good for the outlay and time taken. The major work is in finishing the box, take the time to get the surface perfect, even minor blemishes will be noticable on inspection. Though you will probably be only person who notices them

Corners are a problem, the Fablon is soft, and any nudges into hard surfaces cause dents and marks - take especial care to have very clean hands when applying it otherwise the edges can look like they have dark outlines. The picture (hopefully) shows the general effect, and how the corners have aged over about 6 months of knocking around - without alot of care!!

Hope it does't put you off as the overall look is very complementary to the veneered furniture.

[panny300]

thanks fomoria.why can i not see any joins where the edges meet?
how have you hidden the joins of the mdf sheets?lastly how do you finish round the speaker and ports

The best thing to line it with is the fibre type of carpet underlay (not the rubber stuff). Its about 12mm thick and very dense. Ask at your local carpet shop.

[panny300]

thanks dave

[fomoria]

The MDF sheets are all glued and screwed together, all edges/surfaces planed flush then sanded, before filling all gaps with polyfilla. After sanding, smooth finishing using polyfilla and final sanding the surface is smooth, and the butted edges of MDF are all flush. Then after hoovering off any dust ( i didn't want to risk a damp cloth and raise up the surface), cut out the fablon about 30mm oversized and carefully apply.

To get the clean corners I used a brand new Stanley blade to cut the fablon, gently running the ground edge along the adjoining face of the sub at about a 60° angle. I only managed to nick the previous pieces a couple of times overall and if you take it slow these can be stuck back down before coming fully detached- start at the back to get confident with it.

Around the recess for the speaker i did exactly the same, running a thin strip of fablon along the inside face. This came away in places so i used some superglue to re-attach it. Looked spot on so far. So then I ruined it by catching the fablon on the chuck of my drill as I did the pilot holes for the speaker screws!! Not even just the once but three out of the eight holes

Still looks the part mind, though next time I think veneer will be the way to go.

[avanzato]

I found Fablon a pain to use always creasing and coming unstuck. Veneering wasn't that difficult as I wasn't too bothered about the grain lining up on adjacent panels. Trimming the edges was the only worrying bit, a very sharp knife worked, with a new blade for each side. I think you can buy special trimming saws for veneer if you're doing it a lot.

[GJC]

What about flekked paint that you spray on?

just a thought!