DIY and Veneer Radius Corners

[Porkloin]

I have a set of Monitor Audio Silver series for the recroom. I love the rosewood veneer with the rounded corners. I'd like to duplicate the look for a pair of speakers that I'm building for the living room.
Upon close examination of the MA's, the best I can figure is that the radius corners are achieved by veneering a square cornered box to the edges and routing the corners to the desired radius (too small to bend the veneer around). The exposed mdf is stained the same color (there's no grain on the corners) and the whole thing is clear coated.
Does anyone know how they do this?

 

[halo71]

Sure those squared radius corners are not real wood? Not familiar with those speakers you got though. What is the actual model? Your pic(s) are not working.

 

[Porkloin]

Real Wood

I would figure that there'd be grain in the corners. There's about 1/8th an inch on each corner that's grainless.

 

[halo71]

I would figure that there'd be grain in the corners. There's about 1/8th an inch on each corner that's grainless.

ohhh....thought you meant how some speakers are veneered but have real wood that is routed on the edges or corners. Can you post a pic that works or a link to what you are talking about?

 

[Jim Shearer]

What you want to do may be possible--depending on the radius of the corner, orientation of the grain, and type of wood.

I use peel & stick paper backed veneer from:
http://www.tapeease.com/venershts.htm

If the grain is running parallel to the edge, then some veneers (such as red oak) may be gently bent over the edge for a 3/8" radius. For more brittle veneers, try wetting the veneer with water, then gently bending over the edge.

Always experiment with small test pieces first.

If you want to bend across the grain, then it might work if you steamed it. But it sounds pretty iffy.

Cheers, Jim

 

[Porkloin]

Radius too small

Unfortunately, the radius is just enough to give it a "refined" look - too tight to bend around and 4 of the 8 edges would not have veneer bent around them. The woodwork on the Monitor Audio Silver 6s give the illusion of being carved out of a solid block of wood. It could be that they're covered with a thick enough veneer to cover the entire radius, but I would imagine that too expensive to sell on any sort of production basis.

 

[AudioSoul]

A 1/8" radius is pretty small to bend veneer around. If you are using MDF for the cabinet material you can rout a 3/4" edge. I think the veneer will bend around that radius. You will have to maintain a vertical orientation of the grain of the veneer though. I do this you need a steamer, like the ones they use to remove wall paper. You can rent them from Home Depot and other rental places,. You have to steam the veneer and then wrap it around the edge dry with no glue and attach the veneer with masking tape and let it dry overnight. BTW you cant use pre-glued veneer as the steam will melt it. After the veneer has dried you can glue the veneer on with contact cement. This is a time consuming job and will take some practice on some scrap material. Still want to do it?

 

[michiganpat]

rabbit the corner of your MDF box out say, 1/4"x1/4", and glue in matching solid wood to your veneer. veneer over the whole thing, and then route with your 1/8" radius roundover bit....or veneer first, then rabbit, then glue in the solid wood, sand flush with the veneer, and then round over.