I have been meaning to address the issue of my boats stereo for a while and figured while doing the re-wire was as good a time as any.
The old stereo box bugged me as the PO had stained mahogany to match the teak, Yuk! Most would have never noticed, but of course I did. Secondly the PO did not allow any room for air circulation in the old stereo enclosure. The stereo sat directly on the wood and scraped the edges as it slid in. There was not even room for the face plate adapter that the stereo slides into.
To make a long story shorter the steeo would heat up and distort after a while.
The old stereo enclosure:
I decided on the height I wanted the enclosure and ripped some 1/2" marine grade plywood. Because teak faced marine ply is soooo expensive, about $225.00-$275.00 per sheet for 1/2", I decided on a veneer. Tim R., another forum member, was kind enough to give me some scraps he had left over from restoring his Ericson!
For the rip I cut them a little long then stacked them and cut them together to be sure both sides were the exact same length. I could have used my saw stop, for repeatability, but it took less time to just stack them.
When using a veneer you'll want sharp blades and clean cuts. I used a 40 tooth thin kerf Freud blade in my table saw, for expensive plywood though I rip with an 80 tooth, and I used an 80 tooth Freud blade in my chop saw for cross cutting.
The next step was to dado the edges where the sides and bottom met. I also used the dado blade to cut the front face so it to sat into the front not just on top of it. Once these cuts were made I glued and brad nailed the sides on.
I used what I had left of my stash of 18ga stainless steel brad nails. I've had them for years, and think I got them from McFeeley's, but I do remember them being quite pricey. If you fill the nail head holes with wood flour or glue & sawdust you should be fine with any brad nail, especially under veneer. I like the stainless brads so they never rust & bleed through in the moist marine environment.
This is the face that the stereo will sit into. I did not nail & glue it into the box until I had cut the opening for the stereo and confirmed the fit. Measure twice cut once!
I then marked the center of the face plate and the center of the stereo case insert and traced the outline of it onto the face plate.
To cut the opening in the face I used my Dremel Multi-Tool. Sadly my Fein was on the boat, but having back up tools is never a bad thing.
In some instances I really prefer an oscillating tool for precision work, over a jig saw. In a situation like this my Bosch jig saws base plate would not have even fit on the face plate without wobbling. I also find I can do more accurate straight line cuts with an oscillating tool than I can with a jig saw.
Next I test fit the stereo case. From the original cut it did take a little bit of fine sanding with the oscillating tool before it slid in. There is not much room for error as the flange on these is quite slim, so they need to fit nearly perfectly.
Once the stereo case fit the face I glued and brad nailed it to the rest of the enclosure. I then went to town with a long board and sand paper making all the surfaces perfectly flat for the veneer. The edge on the right is still a little proud in this photo, but I took it down flush with the rest of the box.
Tim had a really neat glue product I had never used nor heard of called "Heat Lock" (LINK). It is a water based veneer glue that is heat activated. I rolled two coats onto both the veneer and the enclosure letting it dry about 20 minutes in-between coats.
Here's the veneer and the enclosure after the first coat of Heat Lock.
Once the second coat is dry you position the veneer, and orient the grain to your liking, then use an iron on high steam to seal the veneer to the plywood. It could not be simpler. After one use I am a convert and I will never use contact cement or wood glue for veneer again! I used to really dislike veneer work but this stuff makes it EASY!
Once the veneer and wood cooled I used my router and a bearing guided flush cut laminate bit to trim the edges. You'll want to orient the veneers edges best for your situation. I had the sides over hang the bottom as no-one will be looking at the bottom and they will be seeing the sides. Oh and don't tell my wife what I do with her iron..
This is the finished product. I still need to do a final sanding, acetone wipe then varnish it to match the interior of the boat. The veneer Tim gave me is BEAUTIFUL, quarter sawn, and quite thick. It came from Boulter Plywood (LINK) in MA.
Over all the whole thing took me about two hours to complete but certainly looks a lot better, IMHO, than the plastic stereo housings sold at West Marine etc..
The old stereo box bugged me as the PO had stained mahogany to match the teak, Yuk! Most would have never noticed, but of course I did. Secondly the PO did not allow any room for air circulation in the old stereo enclosure. The stereo sat directly on the wood and scraped the edges as it slid in. There was not even room for the face plate adapter that the stereo slides into.
To make a long story shorter the steeo would heat up and distort after a while.
The old stereo enclosure:
I decided on the height I wanted the enclosure and ripped some 1/2" marine grade plywood. Because teak faced marine ply is soooo expensive, about $225.00-$275.00 per sheet for 1/2", I decided on a veneer. Tim R., another forum member, was kind enough to give me some scraps he had left over from restoring his Ericson!
For the rip I cut them a little long then stacked them and cut them together to be sure both sides were the exact same length. I could have used my saw stop, for repeatability, but it took less time to just stack them.
When using a veneer you'll want sharp blades and clean cuts. I used a 40 tooth thin kerf Freud blade in my table saw, for expensive plywood though I rip with an 80 tooth, and I used an 80 tooth Freud blade in my chop saw for cross cutting.
The next step was to dado the edges where the sides and bottom met. I also used the dado blade to cut the front face so it to sat into the front not just on top of it. Once these cuts were made I glued and brad nailed the sides on.
I used what I had left of my stash of 18ga stainless steel brad nails. I've had them for years, and think I got them from McFeeley's, but I do remember them being quite pricey. If you fill the nail head holes with wood flour or glue & sawdust you should be fine with any brad nail, especially under veneer. I like the stainless brads so they never rust & bleed through in the moist marine environment.
This is the face that the stereo will sit into. I did not nail & glue it into the box until I had cut the opening for the stereo and confirmed the fit. Measure twice cut once!
I then marked the center of the face plate and the center of the stereo case insert and traced the outline of it onto the face plate.
To cut the opening in the face I used my Dremel Multi-Tool. Sadly my Fein was on the boat, but having back up tools is never a bad thing.
In some instances I really prefer an oscillating tool for precision work, over a jig saw. In a situation like this my Bosch jig saws base plate would not have even fit on the face plate without wobbling. I also find I can do more accurate straight line cuts with an oscillating tool than I can with a jig saw.
Next I test fit the stereo case. From the original cut it did take a little bit of fine sanding with the oscillating tool before it slid in. There is not much room for error as the flange on these is quite slim, so they need to fit nearly perfectly.
Once the stereo case fit the face I glued and brad nailed it to the rest of the enclosure. I then went to town with a long board and sand paper making all the surfaces perfectly flat for the veneer. The edge on the right is still a little proud in this photo, but I took it down flush with the rest of the box.
Tim had a really neat glue product I had never used nor heard of called "Heat Lock" (LINK). It is a water based veneer glue that is heat activated. I rolled two coats onto both the veneer and the enclosure letting it dry about 20 minutes in-between coats.
Here's the veneer and the enclosure after the first coat of Heat Lock.
Once the second coat is dry you position the veneer, and orient the grain to your liking, then use an iron on high steam to seal the veneer to the plywood. It could not be simpler. After one use I am a convert and I will never use contact cement or wood glue for veneer again! I used to really dislike veneer work but this stuff makes it EASY!
Once the veneer and wood cooled I used my router and a bearing guided flush cut laminate bit to trim the edges. You'll want to orient the veneers edges best for your situation. I had the sides over hang the bottom as no-one will be looking at the bottom and they will be seeing the sides. Oh and don't tell my wife what I do with her iron..
This is the finished product. I still need to do a final sanding, acetone wipe then varnish it to match the interior of the boat. The veneer Tim gave me is BEAUTIFUL, quarter sawn, and quite thick. It came from Boulter Plywood (LINK) in MA.
Over all the whole thing took me about two hours to complete but certainly looks a lot better, IMHO, than the plastic stereo housings sold at West Marine etc..
