Art Deco Speaker Enclosures

I am building a bookshelf and want to incorporate into it the speakers that I use for my television. This is the design using Sketchup for enclosing the subwoofer speaker. I need a porous material to allow the sound to radiate so in this project I decided to use metal. This is my first venture into using this material.

My usual construction style is Arts & Crafts. I've decided to depart from that style for this project and try Art Deco using sapele veneer. I'm no expert, but this style uses metal, contrasting pigments, and curved profiles. The curves are especially challenging because I solely use veneer. The previous posts show my construction techniques for the veneered shelves. I have two enclosures that are a mirror of each other. The left enclosure holds the woofer and the right is empty. Since the woofer emits sound from the front and right side, the porous metal needs to be on these sides.

The left side of the enclosure is a slightly curved surface using sepele veneer. It has been bonded to a piece of 1/8" MDF. The curve is created by forcing the MDF into routed curved slots in the top and bottom pieces.

For the porous metal, I've used sheet aluminum that is 1/32" thick. Creases are very noticeable, so cutting it was a concern. I've quite successfully used my tablesaw with an old crosscut blade. I've painted and used a water finish before inserting the metal. The blue tape protects the wood from scratches when I install the metal sheet.

The curve in the metal sheet is formed by bending it around an aerosol paint can. The cutouts in the back accommodate the speaker wires and power connection.

Curving the surface of the sheet creates a fair amount of vertical strength, but the rest of the enclosure is intended for vertical support and the ¼" plywood inserts resist racking in the front-to-back and side-to-side directions.

This enclosure is on a shelf which is the bottom of the bookshelf. A square hole in this shelf will allow the woofer to sit on the floor. I'm hoping this will allow the bass sound to still radiate into the floor and prevent unwanted vibration into the bookshelf.

Finishing the Semi-Circle Table

After finishing the top, I wanted to carry the same design elements into the apron and legs. For the apron, I added a strip painted birch. I've been pleased with using Valspar in the past and the quantity of paint provided in a  sample size is more than enough for a small furniture project. I wanted to see whether I could spray it with my touch-up gun without diluting it with water and I successfully applied with using a 1.5mm nozzle.








Below the painted birch is another semi-circle of cherry which is was shaped with a bead profile. To conserve cherry, I glued a thin strip of it to plywood from a reclaimed cupboard door. Using 10 wedges, I calculated that my narrow ½" cherry scrap piece would be sufficient width to accommodate the curve and show the profile.

Similar to my previous table project, I've used reclaimed oak flooring to make the legs. After removing any nails from the wood, I glue several pieces together and use my router to cut the bead profile in the sides. I've sprayed a light brown dye stain on them, followed with shellac as a barrier coat. Finally, several coats of Polycrylic water-based finish was applied.

In order to use as much reclaimed wood as possible, I only have a thin strip of cherry on the profiled edge. Notice that the figured cherry veneer overlaps this and extends to the edge of the table.






Here is a close up picture of the ash center, cherry edging, and the oak legs.