Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

LOL!

I know Dane... it goes good with mine too!

Must be why I forgot my solos last night...

My friend gave me a couple more locations for a good selection of Tolex®. Unfortunately I have not found any contact info on one of them. Here is what I have so far, stay tuned for the other.

Michigan Textile & Fabrics
1882 E Michigan Ave
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
(734) 483-1800

I couldn't find a web site but found them on this textile site that has a e-mail contact window.

http://www.textilefiberspace.com/trade/aa860927.html

Thanks. I'm going to do the first amp head boxes in walnut and maple, but I really do want to do some future ones in COY-ish tolexes.

I finished up my cabinet today. I decided to try "PL" brand, water-based contact cement from the home improvement store ($10 per quart) for the tolex, rather than spring $20 and order a bottle of genuine tolex glue off of the web. I did it in two pieces - one small one for the back panel and one about nine feet long by 2 feet wide to wrap the top, sides and bottom with one continuous piece, having only one butt joint where the ends meet on the bottom of the box. The glue has virtually no fumes (unlike the solvent-based glues) and I applied it with a short-napped 4" roller and used a cheap brush in tight spaces. It's thinner than most latex paint and rolled out nicely. High-end water-based products often tend to shrink down to a nice, thin, smooth layer as they dry and this one is no exception. After the first coat dried (about 45 minutes) I rolled on a second, thin coat and then waited another 1/2 hour or so before joining the surfaces.

Basically, I set the cabinet down and rolled it on the glue-covered tolex. I did it in two sections, each covering two sides of the box. Initial tack is somewhat less with this glue than with solvent-based contact cements, but I think it worked in my favor as it allowed me to adjust the tolex a bit and roll out any bubbles. I have a skateboard wheel on a handle that I use for rolling out seams when I build sails and I used it to smooth out the tolex. I found a guy in Michigan who sells a lot of nice cabinet hardware on eBay at reasonable prices and I bought corner protectors, handles, the jack plate and grill cloth from him. It's not my favorite kind of work - long periods of waiting for glue to dry, followed by short bursts of tedious action, and it took a whole day to cover it and install the hardware, but it came out pretty nice.

Dang Dude, looks really nice - a pro job! When you taking orders?!

All I need is another career that involves so much labor that you're afraid to figure out how little you actually make on an hourly basis...

That is gorgeous, Todd!

It does get quicker, so you get to the point where eventually you're making minimum wage...so I guess love of the work enters the equation at this point. But admittedly it's a lot harder to love a box than a beautifully-crafted guitar.

I had that same feeling about 75% of the way through the process when I just wanted it to be finished. It was interesting to build, but nowhere near as enjoyable or exciting as my instrument projects have been. I must admit that it was nice to work with Baltic Birch plywood, which is really nice stuff (until you try to staple grill cloth to it and see the staples bend, rather than penetrate) and it was fun to watch the tolex flatten out to a nice, smooth surface, but I don't think I'd want to build very many speaker boxes.

As to wages, I've been building fancy little sails for antique canoes and small boats for almost 25 years, I wrote and illustrated a book on them that's available all over the planet and I still sometimes wonder if instead, I should have just learned to smile and ask "Would you like fries with that?"

Todd; I always make grills from the birch ply with the end grain/ laminates out, and then you only have seat the staples with a hammer...I've built way to many speaker boxes with baltic birch, but it is the nicest ply.....R

My wife is from the Baltics. In fact, she's over there right now and yesterday walked along the shore of the Baltic Sea. I'll have to ask her if she saw any bigs stacks of plywood sitting around....

Looks nice Todd. I am happy to hear positive remarks on the water base contact cement. The last box I built I used solvent based contact cement and it gets strong if you can't work outside.

"I'll have to ask her if she saw any bigs stacks of plywood sitting around...."

Hopefully she finds a bunch of amber (Dzintars) lying on the shore! It would pay for her trip over.

Nice work, Todd!