Since these are low-cost speakers, and will most likely be used where the looks are not important, I expect that most people will build them with whatever materials they happen to have lying around the workshop. Plywood, MDF, or particleboard would all work equally well. Construction can be done with simple butt joints, glue, screws, staples, or whatever fastening method is most convenient. The cabinets can of course be left unfi nished, given a clear-coat, or painted.

The look that I was going for with my rendition of the design was a vintage, retro look. The cabinet main panels are birchfaced plywood; the corners were mitered to eliminate as much end grain as possible. The leading edges of the plywood were covered with birch edge banding to eliminate all end grain and to provide the look of being built from solid wood. The finish is a pecan stain with a gloss polyurethane clear coat. The vintage oxblood with gold stripe grill cloth by itself was too transparent to provide the look that I was going for, so I needed to layer it on top of standard brown grill cloth.

The cabinet can be finished in many different ways, either to match your television or room decor. Since my television is essentially black, I decided to try the Band-It iron-on black Melamine. Instructions for application are included on the packaging, and I found that using kraft paper between the Melamine and iron worked the best. The Melamine appears to be able to take the full heat of an iron without any problem, so work slowly and steadily to make sure that the hot-melt glue fully melts. Apply the Melamine to one panel at a time, and once you have secured the trim with a knife or edge trimmer, work your way around all sides until complete.