Fun with Duratex
 

Just finished my second duratex job, I really enjoy working with it and highly recommend using it if you don't want to go the tolex route I have a friend at home depot who does the custom dyes

I don't recommend doing the 8x10 unless you have a good amount of time to really sand down your cabinet

What's duratex?

It's sort of like truck liner

Truck bed liner... Texture coating you can basically paint on your unfinished cab.

I've been using it on all my builds and enjoy it also! www.acrytech.com I don't see the need to offer tolex anymore, and there are no PIA seams to hassle with the Duratex. The stuff very durable, but if you do get a blemish, you can just get out the brush and touch it up!

Oh dear...hands up who else was just skimming the front page and read this as "Fun with Durex"? Maybe I just need to get my brain checked...

right here :D

Same ballpark if we're talking protective coatings.

Carry on.

Riis

Yep, me too. :eek:

Back on subject: Do you spray or roll your coating jobs? What shade do you use as base for custom tints?

Tinting Duratex
 

How does he tint the Duratex? Does the dye weaken the Duratex? I'd be very interested to learn the process and results...

Nice! I like colored duratex cabs.
I think youd have to know someone at Home Labyrinth to custom mix it. I dont think they will do it for any Joe Schmoe.
Check out some of the cabs Mark at BNA Audio has done with colored duratex too.

Those will be in the next post ;]

I roll because I don't have the tools to spray and as a base layer I just used the colored Duratex. I'm not sure if that's right but from what I've read you can just paint on the Duratex once you've sanded all the muck off the cabs.

He dyes it just like any other kind of paint (except we go quarts at a time) When I asked random employees no one would even touch my tub so I think you would have to know someone there to get it done. I haven't seen any sign of it weakening the Duratex

Those are some awesome cabs Ncognito!

Thanks icke

I'm at Home Depot alot, so they didn't mind mixing my cobalt blue color. I get "Deep Base" from Acrytech which pretty much is just clear. The paint guy said he just mixed it as he would any regular deep base color.

I hope the price of Duratex stays where it is beacase it really is a terrific product!!

In the past I had this Trace Elliot 4x10 combo amp and the only wrong with it was the tolex was basically missing and the last bits of it was hanging on by a thread on the cab. So I peeled it all off, sanded it and went the Duratex route too (mainly because I did not have the patience to re-tolex it) and it turned out awesome. It also adds a little more stability and protection to the cab.

I think that all duratex might not be created equal(ly). I have an Acme Low B2 in duratex. Man, I just look at it sideways and it chips. What makes it really bad is that it's white underneath the duratex, so chips just stick out like a sore thumb. I never considered that I needed a tuki cover for a cab covered in duratex, but I guess I should have popped for one.

I touch up the chips with a black sharpie. It looks acceptable I suppose. But still, I never would have guessed that I would have to baby a duratex cab much more than my tolex cabs.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

I roll on my durex.

In all seriousness, The biggest issue I have dealt with using Duretex, is cabinet preparation. Often pulling off the old vinyl will also pull up splinters of the plywood. You will need to sand the cabinet smooth.
iTunes videos of Duratex how toos, reccomend filling the voids with sparkling or drywall compound. Although this will give great initial results, the spots using the drywall will chip rather easily, leaving a white spot on the cabinet. I would reccomend using Bondo, available at any auto supply house.

...I have to suspect you didn't properly prep the base. Particularly given the "it's white underneath..." comment. No paint product can do well over a poor (or poorly prepared) substrate.