My head cab in progress, opinions? (Finally finished!)

[drhulsey]

Youre right black wood seems off...

I'm not sure it's "off" because it's dark. It just needs a hint of the red-orange seen in the rest of the cab, which , BTW, looks GREAT

[jjman]

The sides look great. With that many colors, I would want the top-front to be pretty close to one of the side colors. I'd target the reddish stripes on the sides for the top-front, but that's just me.

Maybe get a piece of exotic wood or laminate some. Burl, birds eye, etc. Spare no expense I say! (Also easy to say when it's not mine.)

0.03

[korngold]

Very cool looking cab! I was thinking about getting a dado blade or dovetail jig for my router, but I may just do that instead.

[kec]

Looks great Joey!

[davent]

The top-front looks pretty dark and out of sync to me. (So much easier to say when it's not my project! ) Is the inside of the front panel still unstained? Wipe it with mineral spirits to see what it would look like clear coated.

The sides I would consider amber shellac to bring it towards the bottom front and an unstained top-front panel. Then clear. If it needs more color, light maple-colored stain before the clear.

0.02

Youre right black wood seems off, I will use light color wood and now i need it cut to 7.5 - 9 degrees angle which is no way i will cut by hand.
Anyone in Modesto, CA have powertools help a tooless guy? LOL

After repeatedly convincing my better half the importance of macho power tools i got a finishing sander and wow what a difference, it is soo smooth and seamless gluejoints in just a few mins. Looks so much better now than the picture above.

That's coming along really well! You could cut the angle by hand with a nice sharp smoothing handplane. Much cheaper and safer then big macho power tools plus saves a trip to the gym.

dave

[JoeyE]

Thanks everyone. I thought that my effort will not get results in terms of aesthetics or i was the only one who will like it.

I am now making the front that will be the same as the lightest wood in the cab but with a greenish tint like the single thin stripe in the cab because i already have it around. I made this cab to have a changable front plate so i can chose from dark or light or something diferent in the future.

I will post the pictures soon hopefully within the week.

[JoeyE]

Finally Done!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/297 ... 97d200.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/297 ... 6d8c3b.jpg

[Colossal]

Finally Done!

Dude, that looks great!! Nice work!! You did a great job of the amp too!

Regards,
Dave

[rawnster]

Finally Done!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/297 ... 97d200.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/297 ... 6d8c3b.jpg

Very nice looking! What did you use to put the finish on?

I'm getting ready to stain and finish my head cab, but am not sure what to use. Thinking about Tung Oil.

[JoeyE]

Thanks.

What i did was:
1. sand everything upto 220grit sand paper until my arms feels like falling off!
2. I then wiped everything with wood conditioner with a clean cloth (but i had my wife grab some expired hospital bandage where she works and it works great).
3. Then I wiped one coat of minwax natural stain and set aside for 24hrs. 4. Sprayed 8 or more coats of poly the following day I got a few minwax semi-gloss spraycans on sale and used 2 cans total for the cab. 2 hours between coats (i did not sand between coats as per spray instructions). Set the cab aside for 2 days to dry completely.
5. I rubbed everything with fine mesh until smooth being careful on corners and edges not to do it too much afraid of hitting bare wood.
6. Lastly, I rubbed automotive rubbing compound to desired shine.

[JoeyE]

Heres a video of the cab. Using video mode on a still camera makes the colors dull and washed out than it actually is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2sBYwEjkJ0&fmt=6

[Structo]

Looks good!

[Ron Worley]

Hey Joey, the cab looks great.. but I would consider a better matching faceplate, it looks like a cherry plate and (IMHO) clashes with the rest of the amp...

I have some questions on your test points in the back, will PM so as to not hijack the thread....


Ron

[JoeyE]

It was the only 1/8" thin wood i could find locally and i dont have any means to cut oak or poplar that thin. Im still figuring out how i can do it.

[Macshaft]

I purchased a cheap Black & Decker Plainer and it worked pretty well for me , just take your time and cut the piece to final size after plaining . I did this for the chassis front plate with a piece of 1/4" maple.