T48 Build Thread

[Bruce Weldy]

but you can't have dust blowing around when you're painting.

Sure you can....this ain't furniture. You are going to cover it with duratex anyway. My fans fun non-stop through painting.

Creature comforts come first.....a little dust in the paint is waaaaaay down the list.

[miked]

There's so much crap in my garage that the dust gets into, that even though I hit it pretty good with a LEAF BLOWER before I began painting, there's still a very fine film of dust on everything when I first go out there in the morning. And that's without the box fan running. I have to suffer for my craft, but that's the way it is. That said, I've not hit the gym in almost a week and I've actually LOST 2 pounds of water weight from sweating out there. Works for me!

Got the first coat of DTex on all 4 cabs. I am very glad I opted to DTex the whole mouth area, all the way up into the back panel area. It really makes a difference, visually. And I'm sure, protection wise, should they get wet. So, thanks for that urging.







I want a very coarse, heavy finish on these. This is the texture I was going for, and I got in on about 75% of the total area of the cabs. So, they'll be getting another layer of DTex tomorrow.


I have not DTexed the bottoms yet. I will give the cabs a 2nd coat and let them dry well. Then I'll flip all the cabs over (on top of cardboard! line'em up and give the bottoms two heavy coats in quick succession. This is my third time using DTex, but the first time I've primed the cabs first. IMO it makes a big difference. If you prime the cabs very well and don't miss any spots, you could get away with one coat of DTex, no problem. Paint is a lot cheaper than DTex. These cabs got two heavy primer coats and will have two heavy DTex coats. They will be solidly finished for sure.

After the bottoms dry, the cabs will literally be in the perfect position to put the feet and wheels on. I'm always thinking ahead. Well...most times anyway. And YES: I know to test fit the corner protectors first before installing the feet. Ask me how I learned that lesson. LOL!!

Thanks for looking. More pics tomorrow.

[miked]

Forgot to add that I covered all 4 cabs with a thick coat of DTex from 1/3rd of the old gallon can and about 1/4 of the new gallon can. So roughly, about 1/2 a can total, I guess? I fully expect to have a third of a can left after the 2nd coat/2 coats on the bottoms. DTex + prime first = big time win.

[Bruce Weldy]

DTex + prime first = big time win.

Ahhhh.....grasshopper....you have learned much here.

[miked]

Absolutely, Bruce. While I first learned that you don't NEED to prime the cabs first, I also learned that the wood soaks up that first coat of DTex like a sponge. Maybe it's different if you spray? I don't know, since I've never sprayed DTex. But priming first made all the difference. I will give a nice medium-ish 2nd coat to the cabs (the bottoms will get two heavy coats) and be done with it.

After some thinking, I've decided that the bottoms will be done next, not the 2nd coat on the rest of the cab. The logic is simple. After the bottoms are done, I can put the WHEELS on them, and that will make it so much easier to roll them around. I only have two dollies; the two cabs sitting on them are cake to paint. The other two are sitting on 2x4's to keep them off the floor. They don't move and it's a PITA to have to rotate myself around them, slamming my elbow into things as I attempt to paint.

Tomorrow morning, the bottoms. Tomorrow evening, wheels and feet. Monday, 2nd coat of the other 90% of the cabs. Tuesday, corners and terminal cups.

Still need to setup the Driverack; high/low passes, limiter, etc. At least I've got my two sources dialed in, gain-wise, in relation to the mixer.

[Tom Smit]

My fans fun non-stop through painting.

??

[Bruce Weldy]

My fans fun non-stop through painting.

??

Dadgummit! I try to always proofread my posts, but you got me.

[miked]

Bottoms up! Literally.

Cabs on their tops' and two coats of DTex on the bottoms. In a few hours I'll throw the wheels and feet on there and we're off to the second coat on the rest of the cabs. I have half a gallon of DTex left....should just about make it.

[miked]

After the two coats of DTex on the bottoms dried (love that DTex...dries in a couple of hours) I put the bottom corners, feet and wheels on. I figured why leave the corners for later? Better to just do it while the cabs were upside down. Keep in mind these pics were taken BEFORE I put the second DTex coat on the rest of the cabs.

Bottom.


Wheels of Steel! (and cheap thermoplastic)




The wheel-height-to-foot-height equation worked out OK. I'd prefer a little more clearance b/t the wheels and the ground, but I can always buy taller feet. Currently, not a problem on a flat floor at all. There's about 1/4" of clearance...maybe 3/8"s...didn't measure. Shadow in the pic sort of hides the space underneath. The cabs roll beautifully though.


Corner. I went a different route with the screws. I very much like the finish on these square-drive screws. Bonus: They don't have wax on them, but some kind of slippery coating...they go in like buttah.


Cabs will be buttoned up tomorrow! I really want to test the whole rig out...but dragging everything into my backyard is a task and a half. Very uneven terrain to get from the garage to the backyard. I could roll it all through the house. If I want my wife to get one of the guns and start blasting, that is.

Thanks for looking! More pics tomorrow when they are buttoned up! You know I'll at least drag them down my 45-degree incline driveway to get a group shot.

[David Raehn]

Why use the backyard? The driveway is smooth....

[miked]

You've never seen my driveway. Think "ski jump" and you'd be close. My driveway is about 12 feet long and roughly at a 45-degree angle to the street. Not even dirt stays put on it.

I guess I could set up in the street in front of my house...within my driveway-area. But I'd get some horrible slap back off my house and the houses across the street. My backyard is roughly 25x50' and since we're on the corner, the long end of the yard opens up to a wide street. Still get some slap back but it's not too bad. I'll figure something out, don't worry! I didn't come all this way to not hear them.

I got the corner protectors on the top, but I'll hold off on more pics until tomorrow when they are buttoned up. Only things left:

1. Crank down driver bolts another 1/4 turn each
2. Install access cover gasket tape and access cover
3. Install terminal cup
4. Get cops called on me within 5 minutes of firing them up

[biggerrigger]

Sounds like a good plan!

[LelandCrooks]

Nice build. One thing I've started doing is quick sand after priming. The cheapo black paint I use was raising the grain so much I was getting a rougher finish than I like nn

[Charles Jenkinson]

Great job Mike!

Would a pneumatic tyred trolley cart get your cabs into the back garden? The casters look great but they cannot function as a catch all solution....

[miked]

I do indeed have an air-tired hand cart (trolley). There is a basically a u-shaped ditch that runs to my backyard. Not really a problem when walking but wheeling a hand cart with 100 pounds on it can be unwieldy.

Thanks for the kind words, Leland. I hope to be half as good as you are, someday. All this "practice" is tiring and expensive though! LOL!

As for priming/grain raising, I have had that happen to me before with other projects, but the Glidden flat black latex paint I rolled on these cabs did a really good job of just "laying there." Of course, some of MY finish work on the actually wood of the cabs could've been better in spots, but I've learned that "perfect is the enemy of good", so I just painted over a couple of small tearouts deep in the mouth that you can only see in direct light if you're staring right at it.

The cabs certainly feel and look solid. If they sound as good as I think they look, I'll be a very happy camper.

I'm off to finish these things up. TTYL.