Does polk sell replacement wood?

SpeedyFE

My SDA speakers have a crack that has propigated across the top of that wood panel on the top of the speakers. The rectangular piece, looks like it may be detachable. I am wondering if polk sells replacement wood for these? Thanks guys!

Paul

george daniel

nope,, but the wood ninja and others can point you in the right direction,I'm assuming that you are referring to the end caps? If so,, there are others here who have replaced them. You might want to give F-1 or Lasereath a shout for starters,good luck

SpeedyFE

actually it is the top, here is a pic i attached. I am baffled as to why this happened?

ben62670

That is fairly common for solid wood to crack like that. It looks like a clean break down a seam. It may be repairable by a local shop with some biscuits, or dowels.

lightman1

I got yer wood right here.

lightman1

ben62670 wrote: »

That is fairly common for solid wood to crack like that. It looks like a clean break down a seam. It may be repairable by a local shop with some biscuits, or dowels.

That's not solid wood, Ben. It's joined planks. Doofus. Think butcher block.
A bit of a task, but if you manage to remove the top plate and can remove that seam and re-join with some Gorilla glue and a couple of bar clamps. You should get a better joint and cleaner lines.
Best of luck.

lightman1

Lasareath wrote: »

The problem is that it's not solid wood. it is 3 to 5 pieces of different planks of wood glued together and over the years the glue and planks shrink and then they split.

Time to change them out and replace them with some exotic lumber.

http://cgi.ebay.com/XXF-POMELLE-FIGURED-BUBINGA-3565-EXOTIC-WOOD-LUMBER_W0QQitemZ360155491488QQihZ023QQcategoryZ84011QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Some of us don't have your type of coin lying around.:rolleyes:

John30_30

That's weird because there's 3 other glue-joints that look perfect. That joint looks like moisture or some chemical caused it to fail. If it's a clean break, you can scrape both edges carefully, reglue with white or yellow wood glue, clamp, and be good to go. Dowels or biscuits are unnecessary.

ben62670

lightman1 wrote: »

That's not solid wood, Ben. It's joined planks. Doofus. Think butcher block.
A bit of a task, but if you manage to remove the top plate and can remove that seam and re-join with some Gorilla glue and a couple of bar clamps. You should get a better joint and cleaner lines.
Best of luck.

Um thanks;) I noted that they were separate pieces(of solid wood(not veneer)) when I said they split down the seam:) I still say biscuits or dowels and glue of coarse.

nadams

I see at least 4 joints in that top cap. The one in the center takes the most abuse from flexing. See if you can pop the cap off, and either repair the joint or replace the whole cap with the help from a wood shop.

John30_30

Lasareath wrote: »

The problem is that it's not solid wood. it is 3 to 5 pieces of different planks of wood glued together and over the years the glue and planks shrink and then they split.

You're wrong. Glued planks are solid wood, just not naturally occurring and they can last decades or even centuries. They're much more stable in terms of cupping than a solid board piece, and something else caused it to split. Shrinkage of a solid panel vs. a glued-up panel will be the same going by species of wood, but will not affect glue joints.


p.s. Using regular Elmers yellow glue done right, the joint is stronger than the naturally occurring wood. It's been proven.

ben62670

A little side note. If you replace one end cap you will have to replace a lot more to get them to match.

F1nut

Actually, it is solid wood, it's just not one board. There is a good reason to use glued up boards to make a whole piece. By alternating the growth rings, one up, the next one down and so on it helps prevent cupping and cracking that would likely occur with a single board. The downside is what you are seeing, the glue can let go along the glue line. Fortunately, it's a simple fix. Unbolt the top, carefully scrape the old glue off of both surfaces, apply wood glue, the yellow type, and clamp the two halves together. Use a damp rag to remove excess glue before it dries. Do NOT use Gorilla glue, it's nasty stuff with no upside that I've found.

Edit: John types faster.

ben62670

Gorilla glue is excellent for gluing Gorillas together.

lightman1

I've had good results with Gorilla glue. But I guess I should have said "In moderation and with a steady hand". Yes, Jesse is right with the Elmers glue joints. It is water solvent and easier to work with. It doesn't seal the pores of the wood and gives you more time to wipe away the excess from finishing surfaces.

nadams

lightman1 wrote: »

I've had good results with Gorilla glue. But I guess I should have said "In moderation and with a steady hand". Yes, Jesse is right with the Elmers glue joints. It is water solvent and easier to work with. It doesn't seal the pores of the wood and gives you more time to wipe away the excess from finishing surfaces.

We used Elmers in shop class, so it must be good!

SpeedyFE

awesome, thanks guys. Is it difficult to detach the top, bottom and side panels?

Paul

SpeedyFE

so your saying that where the wood split is a place where the "solid" pieces of wood were joined? Not a split somewhere in a solid piece?

ben62670

There are 5 pieces of wood in that top. It split between two pieces.

lightman1

...and appears to be filled in after the fact....

SpeedyFE

gotcha...makes sense, and I am seeing on the other speaker it is starting also, not complete though...

leroyjr1

SpeedyFE wrote: »

awesome, thanks guys. Is it difficult to detach the top, bottom and side panels?

Paul

It's very easy to remove the top and bottom pieces. Remove the passive and two upper mids. Unscrew the four bolts holding the top and bottom pieces down to the cabinet.

SpeedyFE

sweet, thanks..

jimbo1421

SpeedyFE wrote: »

actually it is the top, here is a pic i attached. I am baffled as to why this happened?

Hi Speedy,

Wood is a cellular material, like a sponge. The cell walls absorb moisture from the air and swell; the cells shrink when they give up moisture. Most of the expansion/contraction occurs across the grain, front to back in the case of your SDAs. So during dry winter weather the entire top will shrink and swell back up again during the humid summer months. The amount of dimensional change can be as much as 2% or 1/4" per foot!

F1 and ben have the right ideas for repair. After cleaning off the old glue and filler use biscuits or dowels to help align the joint but mill them to a loose fit. Use your hands to get the final alignment just perfect as you tighten the bar clamps (you do have those, don't you?) Yellow glue like Elmers or Titebond is the right glue to use. It gives you time to adjust the joint and it is easy to clean up squeezed out glue. Don't use too much glue. It will squeeze out all over. Use just enough to coat the surface lightly.

The real problem is how the top was fastened to the top of the speaker case. leroyjr described 4 bolts holding it down. If these are near the front and back edge then when the top shrank the contracting force pulled the top apart in the middle. You should contrive a way to allow the top to float and let the expansion/contraction occur harmlessly. One way would be to fasten down just the front or back edge and leave the other loose. Or put two fasteners in the middle and allow the front and back to move. You could also enlarge the front or back holes in a vee or slot shape oriented across the grain (front to back on the SDA). This would allow the screws to move a bit in their holes and relieve the stress that way.

Leaving empty screw holes or enlarging existing ones will compromise the airtightness of the cabinet so fill the empty holes with putty and maybe use tight fitting rubber washers over the enlarged holes.

Give your other speaker the same treatment to prevent further splitting in the future.

For more info on wood movement read Understanding Wood by Bruce Hoadley.

Good luck,
Jim

SpeedyFE

great, thanks! I will post pics once I start the work to redo the tops and bottoms.

Paul

gdb

The original glue joints weren't done very well to begin with, they're usually stronger than the wood itself, if done right.