diy speaker box finishing

tjohnusa

tjohnusa

Active Member
I am wanting to build a couple .5cuft boxes with either osb or particle board. Trying to keep cost down because the drivers are good but not super high quality. I would like to know if anyone has used stone chip paint or truck bed liner paint on cabinets. Lowes has a 3m bedliner paint for $8 a can and has mixed reviews but I think I can get it to work. If you have used a finish like this did you use primer?
 
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Google duratex speaker cabinet coating paint. You can get a small can at parts express or amazon. No priming needed.
 
The issue with particle board or OSB are the surface imperfections. If you want to c fill/cover them, you need something thick and textured. I would suggest, a few coats of primer sanding in between coats, then a fianl coat of texture. Stone texture paint works OK - stay way from the sandstone type and hammered finish, doesn't cover that good. Never used it but the Duratex should work well. I've thought of bedliner but again, haven't tried it. Good thing is particle board and OSB are pretty cheap so you can experiment without much cost.
 
Particle board is not good for speaker and not that much cheaper than MDF which is great for speakers. OBS=bad.

Many pro PA systems are painted with that stuff. You can finish your speakers with anything you want.

Last year I finished a pair of speakers for a friend of mine who lives in Arizona by coating them with wood glue and covering them with sand! They are his TV speakers he has on his covered outside pourch.
 
I disagree about particle board not being good for speakers - If it is of sufficient thickness, it works quite well. I made a pair using PB and they came out fine(I was able to get it for free or very low cost so I wasn't out much if they turned out bad). The main issue you have is that it can chip rather easily. Most manufacturers that use PB apply some type of veneer. That being said, if I had a choice of using PB or MDF, I would use MDF, Definitely wouldn't use OSB.
 
Until MDF almost all speaker enclosures were particleboard. Neither MDF, OSB, or particleboard are not stable for anything containing water,too much end grain exposed.
 
Djnagle.....1/2 in. pb is $8 a sheet 3/4 in. mdf is $30 a sheet. MDF is the ideal product but as I said in op I want to keep the costs down. These speakers will probably end up on my work bench as monitors so they don't need to be criticle but I don't want crap sound either. I currently have them in cardboard boxes of around 0.3 cu ft....hooked up to a sub they are not bad but I don't want to use the sub for my bench. The components are the phonelic tweeter used in old Altecs and a Klipsch 6 1/2 in woofer with a polk crossover. I could probably leave them unfinished but as someone said pb tends to chip easily
 
I've done quite a few with spray on truck bed liner. It's worked well for me with one minor glitch. It leaves a textured finish, kind of a non-skid type, and it's a bear to clean, especially in a dusty environment (we live on a dirt road). The only way I've been able to really clean mine up is using something like a lint roller. It's plenty durable and would be a good match for a workshop/bench set of speakers.

Duratex is a little more work to apply and seems to be just as tough as far as I can tell. I used the Duratex roller and it has a smoother finish than the bed liner I used.
 
If you brace your cabinets, then cheaper materials can work. After all, at .5 cubic feet, none of the surfaces are very large. OSB is smoother on one side, so put that on the outside and spray on something textured.
 
Right! A half a cu.ft. isn't much and cutting small particle board can get messy fast and inaccurate easy for hand cuts.. chips easy, too. Just saying that cu.inch small you might get some good scrap from a cabinet shop bin. They can cut and rout out for speakers, too and you assemble. Bring donuts and a basic diagram and a little cash.. if cheap enough make 2 pairs as you might go that route with another set of drivers but leave the face uncut for the 2nd pair if not sure. Might wind up with some nice cabinet material for looks and dense enough, too.

A little cash goes a long way especially at coffee hour.
 
You can use just about any finish that looks good to you. As for material, use MDF or Baltic Birch plywood. OSB is not suitable for cabinets. Too many voids in the material. Use adequate bracing. A window pane type brace works very well bracing the sides, front, and back at once. Just don't position the brace in the middle of the panels but at roughly a 1/3-2/3 ratio from the top and bottom of the cabinet.
 
I've used the stone and fleck type rattle can finishes from Krylon I believe. Always had trouble with the end cuts bleeding through. Wasn't until I found these products and can't live without them now. Zinnser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer and B.I.N primer from the same company. Proper sanding then finishing makes a much better final finish for me.
 
I have used Rustoleum American Accents Stone spray paint on a gun stock before and it turned out very nice and durable. Textured but smooth. The key with this paint is to use a base coat, over the primer, of your preference... because it will show through some.

However, I did use almost two spray cans on just a gun stock. And at almost $7 a can at walmart here in Iowa, I think I would go with another option for large speaker boxes. Smaller speaker boxes would be on the cheap though.

For rough particle board or whatnot, an idea is to use Liqiud Nails adhesive and just smear it over the wood in a random smooth textured pattern with a wide putty knife, maybe some rough sanding in spots, then use a small roller and paint with some trusty Rustoleum oil based paint. No primer needed. I think that would work terrific. The liquid nails would prevent the wood from soaking up the paint, and it would hide the flaws of the wood.

One thing about Rustoleum spray enamels and their oil base paints (never tried their latex for use on plastics) is that they take weeks to gas out and totally harden. But when they do finally cure out, it is some awesome paint. I painted a Thermos bright yellow for work, so I could easily find it. I just used a small can of yellow oil based Rustoleum with a roller after some light sanding and alcohol for it to stick to, I think 3 coats, maybe 2. This thermos has been through hell and on the places that are chipped (bottom corners) its impossible to peel away more paint with my finger nail. I can't believe how much this oil base stuff sticks, and it's durability. I did this to some basic hand tools also (yellow). If I was to paint trim work in the house, there's no other choice than Rustoleum oil based.

I agree not to use bed liner or anything with a "sand" texture. The dust would be a pain to clean off.
 
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Just chiming in on the conversation about MDF... used it.... HATED it!

No really,... MDF requires above standard handling and its particulate matter is hazardous. I have built a prototype speaker using the material and it turned out well. However, I spent weeks detoxing afterward. In fact, I still find bits of the stuff settled on surfaces through out my garage.... even today! This was done a year ago?

However the "acoustic character" of the speaker cabinet is outstanding! MDF is a rather dense material so it really supported the performance of my bass ported design. Another bonus is the finish when using a spray enamel. Given the lack of surface imperfection, the paint job looks very uniform. I used neon-like colors and this really gave it a good looking finish.

Agreeing with another poster, I'd go with a wood material next. I rather like the "vintage" appearance of a grained cabinet with oiled finish.

Sooooo.... I think I have seen the last of my MDF construction :no:.
 
homebrew said:
You can use just about any finish that looks good to you. As for material, use MDF or Baltic Birch plywood. OSB is not suitable for cabinets. Too many voids in the material. Use adequate bracing. A window pane type brace works very well bracing the sides, front, and back at once. Just don't position the brace in the middle of the panels but at roughly a 1/3-2/3 ratio from the top and bottom of the cabinet.
Click to expand...

Birch plywood is a great choice for a small speaker. And it is not all that expensive, e.g. at Home Depot. I don't know if it is Baltic or not, but how much difference can that make?
 
Rob-F said:
Birch plywood is a great choice for a small speaker. And it is not all that expensive, e.g. at Home Depot. I don't know if it is Baltic or not, but how much difference can that make?
Click to expand...

"Baltic birch", true Baltic birch, is more about the nature/construction of the plywood than specifically about being birch. It is more dense and more void free than typical plywood.
 
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