Poplar is all over the place. Doesn't stain well is blochy. Try a dark stain. The mahogany from Menard's gets a nice rich brown shine with just clear finish. The ash will stay pretty much the way it is. Tried all these woods. Poplar is string and cheap, but not a great finish taker.... Usually use then on the side for super structure.... Not speakers but other assorted stuff
Ani,
All the wood trim and doors in our house are poplar. It was all stained to mimic cherry which we used in all the cabinetry. Some of the grain is quite interesting and raw poplar with green highlights will have a large contrast between the green highlights which get much darker and the normal poplar when stained.
I'll have to ask my wife what stain was used on the house trim. It may have been something we had mixed up at the paint store. A lot of cherry in furniture and cabinets gets stained and Ani is right it will darken some with time. These speakers are both quarter sawn natural cherry.
The sides will be edge glued pine stained golden pecan (similar to Ron's cherry but a lot lighter), the inner front and top will be poplar, but I haven't decided on a stain yet. The pine/pecan lightens up considerably with a little time but leaves the highlights of the pine grain. I like it. So, I'm wanting something for the poplar that will play nice with the light pecan but provide enough contrast to set things apart. I've got a dozen different stains and not a one of them pleases me so far. Doubt if I'll find it around here, but considering a 'greenish' stain to set off the green poplar accents and the red'ish pecan of the pine.
Wood needs to be sealed. Stain doesn't do anything other than color the wood fibers.
But once you seal it, it won't have that strong of a glue bond, hence use naturally color contrasted wood, glue and then seal/clear coat. Else use less glue, spread it and wait for it to be a bit tacky and then join, no or less squeeze out.
The media center i built i used poplar for the tabketop and the trim. I really love it. It can dent easily so i would use tougher top coat next time. I used a few heavy coats danish oil (saturating the top and then wiping it off smoothly on whatever didnt absorb). Let it cure for a week. Sealed with shellac, let dry 2 more days then did 3 coats of salad bowl finish. It looked really nice. I polished it out. But as i said id use a varnish, lacquer or poly finish next time my cats claws have left scratch marks over the 4 years i lve had it. Its supported a few hundred pounds of gear but is stable.
Stained a small piece of poplar with the same stain as the pine. It never occurred to me to use the same stain on both woods. It lets the green/light/dark/ and some blueish stuff from somewhere in the poplar show through and it's totally a different color on the pine.
Temperature outside is right to spray lacquer, but the wind is another story. Oh well.
45*f is going to be a while. Guess I'll finish inside with brush on lacquer.
To late now, but isn't there a clear product that fills in irregularities in the wood? So if you have a fairly wavy edge glued board you can spread it on with a straight edge to fill in the valleys. Then you have a much flatter surface to spray the lacquer on and don't have to spray/brush layer after layer to fill them in?
I sanded the edge glued board major, but there was more wave left, I gave up.
Is there an easy way to repair small areas (not much wider or longer than a toothpick) sanded through the lacquer without doing the whole panel? I was thinking maybe dab a bit of stain on the spot, wait, then dab a little lacquer on the spot?
Not perfect, far, far, from it, too many blemishes in the clear, but the grain of the Poplar did turn out good.
Sooner or later my acdc will kick in, and I'll have to redo the entire thing. Even the dogs were unimpressed.
There are varying amounts of denim insulation glued on the side walls, and one side wall has cement board glued to it. Other than that, no bracing or mass added.
I had a Jeep like that one time. Looked pretty darn good from about 30yrds, The spots are already bugging me.
Mitchell, those aren't really dogs, they're cats, (with some Jackass thrown in) disguised as dogs. No really. Shiba Inus are cat-like in they are quiet and very independent, you pet them when they allow it and when they've had enough, they'll just walk away leaving you empty handed. They usually come if their name is called, at their own pace of course, unless food is involved. Ever trained cats? We've had at least one in the house for 15 or so years. They're beautiful as pups, and adults, but they definitely do not have the 'normal dog' Labrador attitude.
Finally got some time to work with these a little more.
Used a standard minidsp 2x4 and tried to replicate the xsim 3rd order crossover on both the tweeter and woofer. No other filters, or eq, didn't try to tilt the woofer response down, no notch, nuttin, just crossed both of them 3rd order @1700/2300 and left it that way. Oh ... did drop the tweeter by .5db.
It sounds pretty good. The woofer needs tilted down a bit, it needs a little more on the bottom and a bit less towards the top of its passband (it does in the passive version) but other than that, I think it'll work.
Since all the electronics are the same, and the tweeters are the same, I guess it's mainly the difference in woofers; the FaitalPro 5fe120 seems a lot smoother than the rs150p's in the 'not a khanspire ...' build. The rs's seem to expose a lot of the stuff hiding in the mix, whether you want to hear it or not. The FaitalPros seem to smooth it over. Easier to listen to.
Don't know what's going on with the huge drop starting ~7k. I'll have to measure a known speaker to verify, but I think it has something to do with recently inserting the behringer uca222 and arta box to take some impedance measurements. Some setting or calibration got changed in the process. I don't hear it.
Comments
Ani,
All the wood trim and doors in our house are poplar. It was all stained to mimic cherry which we used in all the cabinetry. Some of the grain is quite interesting and raw poplar with green highlights will have a large contrast between the green highlights which get much darker and the normal poplar when stained.
Ron
Man in brown came through. Should be able to make some progress this holiday.
,,, and everyone have a safe and happy holiday!
Cherry turns brown over time....
Ron
??? ideas ???
Here's what the golden pecan/pine looks like on pine after it's had a little time to lighten in color.
Ron
Lesson learned, do not use a damp cloth to wipe off excess glue, it will raise the grain even if the wood's already stained.
But once you seal it, it won't have that strong of a glue bond, hence use naturally color contrasted wood, glue and then seal/clear coat. Else use less glue, spread it and wait for it to be a bit tacky and then join, no or less squeeze out.
Temperature outside is right to spray lacquer, but the wind is another story. Oh well.
I suk.
To late now, but isn't there a clear product that fills in irregularities in the wood? So if you have a fairly wavy edge glued board you can spread it on with a straight edge to fill in the valleys. Then you have a much flatter surface to spray the lacquer on and don't have to spray/brush layer after layer to fill them in?
I sanded the edge glued board major, but there was more wave left, I gave up.
Did I ever mention i REALLY suk at finishing!!!
Sooner or later my acdc will kick in, and I'll have to redo the entire thing. Even the dogs were unimpressed.
There are varying amounts of denim insulation glued on the side walls, and one side wall has cement board glued to it. Other than that, no bracing or mass added.
I had a Jeep like that one time. Looked pretty darn good from about 30yrds, The spots are already bugging me.
Mitchell, those aren't really dogs, they're cats, (with some Jackass thrown in) disguised as dogs. No really. Shiba Inus are cat-like in they are quiet and very independent, you pet them when they allow it and when they've had enough, they'll just walk away leaving you empty handed. They usually come if their name is called, at their own pace of course, unless food is involved. Ever trained cats? We've had at least one in the house for 15 or so years. They're beautiful as pups, and adults, but they definitely do not have the 'normal dog' Labrador attitude.
Used a standard minidsp 2x4 and tried to replicate the xsim 3rd order crossover on both the tweeter and woofer. No other filters, or eq, didn't try to tilt the woofer response down, no notch, nuttin, just crossed both of them 3rd order @1700/2300 and left it that way. Oh ... did drop the tweeter by .5db.
It sounds pretty good. The woofer needs tilted down a bit, it needs a little more on the bottom and a bit less towards the top of its passband (it does in the passive version) but other than that, I think it'll work.
Since all the electronics are the same, and the tweeters are the same, I guess it's mainly the difference in woofers; the FaitalPro 5fe120 seems a lot smoother than the rs150p's in the 'not a khanspire ...' build. The rs's seem to expose a lot of the stuff hiding in the mix, whether you want to hear it or not. The FaitalPros seem to smooth it over. Easier to listen to.
Don't know what's going on with the huge drop starting ~7k. I'll have to measure a known speaker to verify, but I think it has something to do with recently inserting the behringer uca222 and arta box to take some impedance measurements. Some setting or calibration got changed in the process. I don't hear it.