Tip for applying carpet to your cab

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

To comply with OSH in our factiry ANY paint in a tin/quantity over 10litres must be stored in a special enclosure - that goes for acrylics as well.

Only a dyed in the wool bureaucrat would be too stupid to know that water doesn't burn. Perhaps a President...

[Harley]

Only a dyed in the wool bureaucrat would be too stupid to know that water doesn't burn. Perhaps a President...

I know, I know, I know....you have to remember our country is run by "The Sisterhood" and letsbefriends know stuff-all about paint. The MIC of OSH is of course...a (one of those rumoured to be) woman. I rest my case.

Harley

[AdamZuf]

What's the official Duratex site? I want to see the international distributors.

[Sydney]

Acry-Tech Coatings Inc
3601 NE 5th Ave
Ft Lauderdale FL 33334
1-800-771-6001
http://www.acrytech.com

Certainly there must be other manufacturers of elastomerics and acrylic urethanes somewhere on this planet??

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Certainly there must be other manufacturers of elastomerics and acrylic urethanes somewhere on this planet??

http://www.aldcroftadhesives.com/produc ... oductID=92

[bgavin]

Does anybody have a good set of tips or tutorial for applying carpet, particularly folding in rack corners?

I'm getting ready to carpet a mini rack today, and am stumbling along. I'd like to take advantage of lessons-learned, rather than reinventing the wheel.

[Tim A]

Here's a link to a tolex tutorial, it's about the same.

This guy used to have some good pics too, but I can't find them.

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/casey4s/l ... %26.view=l

[bgavin]

I practiced a bunch of times using newspaper, and figured out a technique to carpet racks. Meaning the carpet is folded to the inside of all four panels.

I took a few digital photos and will make them available in my library when I get the card developed.



I figured out how to make very precise 45-degree miter corners with an easy technique. I read the Tolex tutorial, and can readily agree that spray-on 3M-77 is a messy pain in the ass to use. I was wondering about brush applied contact cement, and the author mentions using DAP. I have two cans of 77 left over, so when I carpet the Magnum subwoofer, I'll use it up.

The test subject was a micro rack I built for Spike, my Peavey Minx 110 practice amp. I took him out of the Peavey combo cab and gave him a new home in this micro rack. That way I can use him to drive anything with a Speakon or TS jack into 8 ohms. I figure Spike will look bad-ass sitting on top of a T48/DR280. 35 watts will probably make some noise.

The next thing I need to find is a decent chassis punch or drill, that will make nice round holes for Neutrik D-series barrels.

[DJPhatman]

You could also use the same technique thats in the OTop instructions. Will work just as good. I used a similar technique to rat-fur my T39s and O10s.

[sddj]

I just completed a whole bunch of new racks, so this answer is fresh in my head...

Cut the carpet to outside dimensions plus about 2 inches. Put the seam on the bottom of the cab and wrap "around" the outside.

Make sure when you cut the carpet width/depth, it is enough to wrap inside of the cabinet at least 4 inches front and back. So that is about and extra 8 inches added to the depth of the cabinet.

Face the cabinet backside down on floor. Looking into the open face. At each of the 4 corners with an extremely sharp knife... cut straight down the carpet to the corner of the case. Do all 4 corners that way.

Fold a flap over the edge of the cabinet and inward. While folded, cut with the sharp knife the inside edge of both adjoining pieces of the cab... (i.e. top and bottom, or side and side). Cut along the inside edge and to the corner.... on both pieces. When you arrive at the corner edge, cut over and outward to the corner edge, forming a 45 degree angle cut on the face of the corner seam. Repeat for ALL four sides of cloth.

When you do this right, the cloth will fold easily over the outer edges. I usually spray Super 77 after ALL cutting is done. I tape off what I don't want sprayed with blue painter's tape, then spray.

I also usually put the carpet UNDER the rails before I place them in position. Then I use the backside of the rails to cut cleanly the carpet excess.

After completed, I usually Duratex the entire inside of the cabinet one more time to clean it up and put a tough film on it.

If you need pics of completed cabs, let me know.... good luck.

[bgavin]

I can see why one would want to spray 77 in one shot, after all the cutting is done. Is there a problem with stretching, where you wind up with the the 2nd and subsequent corners out of alignment?

I think a few pictures are worth several thousand words in this case.

[Michael Lemke]

Just curious to hear from some people who have been using the duratex in service for a while now. How does it hold up to the rigors of road abuse compared to tolex or other carpet-type stuffs..

[bgavin]

How does it hold up to the rigors of road abuse compared to tolex or other carpet-type stuffs..

I'd like to know that also.

I spent all day yesterday applying a very professional carpet job to a 6.3 cubic foot box with a recessed baffle and slot port, ala Eden D410XLT. The experience taught me to charge a WHOLE lot more labor for carpet.

Precisely fitting all the miter corners, slot ports, and the back piece takes a considerable amount of time. The Super 77 adhesive really works well, but is messy as hell. Mineral spirits removes it easily, but overspray is a problem even using the narrow nozzle. A wall paper roller works well at forcing a good contact.

I used 3 yards from a 72" wide carpet roll. I may or may not be able to use the remnant for something else, so the client has to buy the entire 3 yards.

Duratex no doubt has its own set of problems with over spray and mess. However, it looks a whole lot faster to apply, even with cleanup. I hope it is less than an all-day job. If it wears well, that would make it an attractive replacement for carpet.

[Tim A]

I spent all day yesterday applying a very professional carpet job to a 6.3 cubic foot box with a recessed baffle and slot port, ala Eden D410XLT. The experience taught me to charge a WHOLE lot more labor for carpet.

Yeah, it's a pain.

Precisely fitting all the miter corners, slot ports, and the back piece takes a considerable amount of time.

On the other hand, you'll get faster at it. A lot faster. Once you have a couple of cabs under your belt it'll be much easier to get good seams.


From what I've seen the Duratex wears well, but it scuffs easily. A little rub against a hard surface and it's visible. Not awful, mind you, but visible. Carpet wears better, but I'm going to keep spraying the Duratex for my own cabs. They're a lot easier to get dog hair off of too.

Signed:
Two Huskey Owner.

[LelandCrooks]

They're a lot easier to get dog hair off of too.

Signed:
Two Huskey Owner.

+1

Chow mix.