Thank you very much. Most of what you see on our products are due to a lot of costly learning in a hot shop without air conditioning. We were DIY also once, and no matter what your skill level, everyone wants to do a good job and have their project turn out great. A lot of people have helped us over the years, happy to pay a little back.
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Cab coatings explained - sort of
- Thread starter redstaraudio
- Start date
Thank you very much. Most of what you see on our products are due to a lot of costly learning in a hot shop without air conditioning. We were DIY also once, and no matter what your skill level, everyone wants to do a good job and have their project turn out great. A lot of people have helped us over the years, happy to pay a little back.
Great, great thread! I just dropped off 2 mon cabs at the Line-x shop today for coating. This is my first try at the Line-x stuff. I used carpet in the past and used some stuff called TextureLac for a while. It looked good but was not durable at all. The only concern I have after reading this thread is I primed my cabs with BINS shellac based primer in stead of oil based. The guy at the shop suggested it so I hope it turns out good. Thanks to everybody for all the info.
If they suggested it, that's the best recommendation. Every operator knows their chemistry the best. How big were the cabs and what are they charging you, if you don't mind posting?
Have you taken a look at the pics in the LoPhat cab thread? That looks just like a Mesa-Boogie Tolex to me - pretty cool! But he says it is a urea product. So that might be Duratex applied in the manner you describe?
I have the seen the pictures, but I do not know what they use. Sometimes, polyurea and polyurethane are used interchangeably.
They are nice looking cabs though, they seem care alot about their quality and design. I imagine if you asked them they'd tell you more.
They are nice looking cabs though, they seem care alot about their quality and design. I imagine if you asked them they'd tell you more.
I got my cabs back yesterday and they look awesome. The BINS shellac primer covered in 2 coats and I bondoed the staple and screw holes. A light sanding before shooting the Line-X stuff was all it took. I did 2- 1-12" and 1" horn monitor wedges for $50 each. They were about the same size as most 2-10" cabs, which are next on my list. I'll try to get some pics up soon.
Sounds like a lot of steps! One reason we passed on the Duratex. Also our area can get very cold, damp days during the winters and the Duratex takes forever to cure in the cold. It takes up a ton of shop space having cabinets sitting around for days curing.
I really like the Line-X and consider it the best looking finish of the truck bed type products. Some of the others get a finish that looks a lot like the wall texture in my house.
These 2 part urethanes are incredibly tough products. I have used them for years in the film industry to make foam sculptures as tough as concrete. The Pentagon actually has rooms sprayed with Line-X that they call "bomb proof". They have also started spraying it on the bottoms of military vehicles in Iraq. Indeed, very tough stuff! The main issue with this stuff is the cost. It adds considerably to the cost of a cabinet.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
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- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
I do mine with a $29 hopper gun from Harbor Freight. This cab took 1-1/2 hours start to finish, with 1 hour of that drying time between coats.
Great thread!
I have a question abut the weight added to the cabs by the various linings? I ask because I've got two cabs which are identical except that one is coated with rhino lining and the other in carpet. The Rhino cab weighs 3kg (6.6 lbs more) than the carpet cab. They both weighed the same when they were bare wood.
Do products like Duratex and propriety linings add weight in a similar way? What are the weight characteristics of the linings mentioned so far?
I have a question abut the weight added to the cabs by the various linings? I ask because I've got two cabs which are identical except that one is coated with rhino lining and the other in carpet. The Rhino cab weighs 3kg (6.6 lbs more) than the carpet cab. They both weighed the same when they were bare wood.
Do products like Duratex and propriety linings add weight in a similar way? What are the weight characteristics of the linings mentioned so far?
Yeah this is a great point. The Duratex is by far the lightest, because a good portion of it's original weight evaporates off. The other coatings will loose almost no weight. So if 3.5lbs of plural (parts A and B) get sprayed, your cab is going to weigh approximately 3.5lbs more. That's the nature of cured coatings. Proprietary linings have the same effect, assuming they are two-part (plural) cured coatings, which most of them are.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
I've read all kinds of unsupported speculation about the sounds of various cabinet coatings, but haven't read about any verifiable tests.
Has anyone built otherwise identical cabinets, covered them with different materials, and measured their respective sounds?
Has anyone built otherwise identical cabinets, covered them with different materials, and measured their respective sounds?
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
If you did measure any difference it would indicate that the cab was significantly stiffened by the finish, a sure sign of a poorly made cab.
Yep as I mentioned, my DIY 212's are identical except for the cab coating (Carpet Vs Rhino). Have I measured the freq response? Yes but not in anything that would pass scrutiny under AES standards. They measured identical. These cabs have done hundreds of gigs....if there is a difference, it's isn't audible.
We have not, but we've never had any reason to believe it has an affect, at least not as we've used them. Admittedly, unscientific, but that's our opinion.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
Thanks, Petebass - I love putting idle speculation to rest, and your post is definitely a step in that direction.
ptidwell
Commercial User
I looked into Duratex, and since I live in L.A., I looked around for someone who could shoot Rhino bedliner, The first cab I had done wasn't primed, and after a day it had pinholes and puffed up in some areas. And its true you can not fix it. I found a company three miles away who uses a pure polyurea, not a hybrid (mixture) I struck a pretty fair deal for multiple cabs, still not cheap though (a bit over a 100 per) but I think it hard as nails.
I pickup four cabs thirty minutes after they were shot, twenty minutes later my SUV was totaled out in an accident, the cabs in the back got knocked around, and filled with glass, and though they were dry to touch the hadn't fully cured. However you need to look with a magnifying glass to find any scuffing. Look through the rear window in the picture and you'll see the cabs. We will be in production and in the coming months and although I like the Duratex, I would rather pay for the faster turnaround, and yea, some of that cost gets absorbed by the consumer, but we are aiming at a quality product, and you do get what you pay for, at least in my experience.
Ouch! Glad (hopefully) you weren't hurt in that! Yeah it's tough stuff. You're right, you definitely get what you pay for in that regard. When you find a good formulation, with a good applicator, you're hooked over anything else.
