Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

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jhaas
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by jhaas »

Hey amplified nation - interesting timing.

You recommended the Wilsonart stuff a year or so ago on this forum, so I picked some up at the time, at the local home center. A whole gallon of it. Tried it, and it just didn't stick very well for me. at all. I chalked it up to the fact that I use marine vinyl, not actual tolex. That was many months ago.

Fast forward to last night when I was all ready to cover a cab and I realized I was almost out of my usual contact cement, Dap Weldwood (the red, solvet based stuff).

I had that gallon of Wilsonart stuff sitting there and decided to give it another try. I let it dry for about 25 minutes, and it wasn't sticking, as before. So I took the heat gun to it, and that was all it took. It works real well for me if I give both surfaces the heat gun treatment for about a minute or so after letting it dry for about 30 minutes.

I tried a double coat today, and think it might have even worked better, although I'll need to experiment a little more to be sure.

So exactly how long are you letting this stuff dry? Are you using single coats?

The instructions specify 20-30 minutes dry time with "~60 minutes open time", but I'm not sure exactly what that means.

I'm glad I got it to work with my marine vinyl, because the Wilsonart stuff is way more economical than the DAP.
telentubes
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by telentubes »

I use the Weldwood water based, and found that you really have to let it dry, like for an hour or more. Then it sticks like crazy. Some times I double coat the Tolex if it seems the glue has soaked in to the backing too much.

Thanks Taylor!!! 10 friggin' minutes to cover a head cab? That's crazy. It has taken me hours. Watching you fly through the process is an excellent lesson and something to work towards. Reminds me of going to the Pike Place Market in Seattle and watching them fillet a salmon in under 20 seconds.
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alvarezh
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by alvarezh »

Taylor, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, very helpful indeed!

As far as I am concerned, your cabinets are a work of art!

All the best.
Horacio

Play in tune and B#!
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by amplifiednation »

Home Depot stopped carrying the H20 about six months ago, I cleared out a few stores...one of them actually gave me all their stock! They still sell the flammable stuff, but I would not recommend it.

I now get it right from Wilsonart, who has a warehouse nearby. The water based cements are challenging to store in quantity-if it freezes, it gets lumpy, and will ruin. In another forum I read that Mojo was re-branding the H20 as 'tolex glue' but I have no idea if that is true. Maybe they got a bad batch or it froze?

jhaas, if you had a bad experience with H20, I bet you didn't let it dry long enough. I use marine vinyl frequently, and it absorbs more glue because of the thicker backing and drying times increase. I like to dry the pieces in the sun, but usually am stuck to putting an oscillating fans on them inside. I have some old clothes drying racks that work great. I get bonds that are stronger than the plywood!

Make sure to put a medium coat on the cabinet and the vinyl/tolex and let both completely dry. I usually get everything painted and then go do something else for awhile. Sometimes I come back an hour or two later!

Waiting is the worst part, but it makes wrapping cabs as easy as that video shows, no staples, no super glue, and no heat gun needed!!

Of course heat will speed up the drying times if you gotta be somewhere though, which is why I like drying in the sun. Man, I should be selling this stuff...
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by amplifiednation »

Thanks for all the kind words guys....I have learned a lot from all of you as well!! Glad you guys enjoy the cabs

Also, I forgot to mention humid days increase H20 drying times too!
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alvarezh
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by alvarezh »

"Man, I should be selling this stuff..."

Do it, I will be your first customer! No warehouses here and I can't find a place on the net were I can buy it. Wilsonart does not have a webstore. Good product, bad distributing.

90% of my supplies for amp/cabinet building have to be bought through the net and shipped to my forwarder in Miami. From Miami to here is billed @US$5.00 a pound!

Thank God I found a place to buy the Birch plywood locally.

Cheers!
Horacio

Play in tune and B#!
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by amplifiednation »

alvarezh wrote:"Man, I should be selling this stuff..."

Do it, I will be your first customer! No warehouses here and I can't find a place on the net were I can buy it. Wilsonart does not have a webstore. Good product, bad distributing.

90% of my supplies for amp/cabinet building have to be bought through the net and shipped to my forwarder in Miami. From Miami to here is billed @US$5.00 a pound!

Thank God I found a place to buy the Birch plywood locally.

Cheers!
My buddy in AZ gets it shipped to Tucson, I'll ask him who the distributor is.
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Reeltarded
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by Reeltarded »

amplifiednation wrote:
[IMG:1023:602]http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz97 ... CF2662.jpg[/img]

I used to have spandex with that print.

Thanks for the lesson. I am going to tolex my car. :)
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
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M Fowler
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by M Fowler »

It looks like I have a distributor in Fargo so I'm going to check tomorrow otherwise Monday.
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alvarezh
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by alvarezh »

"My buddy in AZ gets it shipped to Tucson, I'll ask him who the distributor is."

Thanks in advance Taylor.

Have a good weekend!
Horacio

Play in tune and B#!
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statorvane
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by statorvane »

I did add some low heat to areas to get it to stick quicker. It seemed the "contact reaction" wasn't as quick. A little heat helped with this.
I used that green Weldwood stuff on one cab. Never again. The time window from too wet to too dry is pretty narrow; never seemed tacky enough for me. The stuff in the red can is superior IMHO, if you have good ventilation.

I found with the green can stuff, that if you wait too long and the stuff will not adhere, you can brush on a little lacquer thinner. It'll soften it up the dry adhesive for a few minutes, then you can reapply - which kind of brings you back to the the red can variety anyway.
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by amplifiednation »

alvarezh wrote:"My buddy in AZ gets it shipped to Tucson, I'll ask him who the distributor is."

Thanks in advance Taylor.

Have a good weekend!
He said he just plugged his zip code in their site...give it a try.

http://www.wilsonartadhesives.com/
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billyz
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by billyz »

I prefer to use hide glue. None of the problems of contact glues. Drys hard and does not slip. Non toxic, cleans up with water and heat will let you rework it or remove it. It is what all the vintage amps were covered with too.
I find much better than any contact adhesive. Also it sounds better on speaker cabs because it drys hard, the reason instrument makers prefer it too.
kevster
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by kevster »

Thanks very much for posting that. I see I did it right when I did mine 6 months ago, but it took me 3 hours!!!!! Boy, what a difference when a pro does it!!!!!

Next time, I'll be doing the matching speaker cab. Hopefully, I'll benefit from seeing your video.
Gibsonman63
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Re: Amplified Nation Tolex Tutorial

Post by Gibsonman63 »

Holy crap, you make that look easy. It takes me a couple of hours to cover a cabinet. Somehow, I lucked into buying the exact same contact cement that you use.
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