Veneering Our DIY Fullrange Speakers, Con't

The veneering turns out to be a couple-of-panel-at-a-time process.  I did opposing sides (e.g. the top and bottom) at once, then trimmed them.  I didn't wait for the glue to totally dry - once a panel was pressed down, I could trim them.

I bought this edge trimmer when I got the veneer.   I did read some sites online wherein the instructions said "use a hobby knife" to trim the excess.  That might work for some, but you need to get a nice square edge, and the edge trimmer worked perfectly, as it has a lip that holds the blade in alignment with the veneer.  Plus, it's only like five bucks.

One thing I alluded to earlier is that overhang distance.  The Band-It veneer instructions say to leave a 1/2 inch (12 or 13mm) overhang.  I left that or a bit more, and it's too much - it wastes veneer and makes it hard to cut with the trimmer.  I actually had to use scissors to trim the excess down on a couple panels to where I could cut it with the trimmer.  This is still a learning process.

The panel on the right is an example - I probably had more like an inch...er...25mm...of overhang.  You don't need that much.

After all the sides were veneered, I needed to open the holes for the speaker and the ports back up.  It was easy to figure out where they were - I just tapped the front and back panels and could hear the "hollow" sound where the holes are.

I cut a couple slits with an X-Acto knife and then went at it with the router.

On the left is my amazing new Rigid 1 hp trim router.  This thing proved to be almost indispensible on this project.  I'm already thinking ahead to what other trouble I can get into with it!

I used a trim bit for the port and speaker holes, and used the 1/2 inch roundover for the port hole.  (Porthole?)

The veneer is so thin, I had a very shallow cut...it just tore through it.