No you shouldn’t get cracks if you glue it really well. Yeah end grain is a pain in the arse. This is why I have always veneered. It’s easier than painting. Unless you pay someone else to do it of course. Happy new year to you too!
Veneered sides and top, with a dark grey front would look nice.
Yes I’m also thinking of a combination of veneer and painting but the other way round possibly. Ebony stained veneer of the centre with white sides, my current speakers blend in with the room and don’t look so imposing against the white walls because of that.
Then again I like the look of the grey Special 40’s, that would match our floor.
Doing a combination of paint and veneer would require a panel line where they meet.
Think I need to get some veneer and stains to try out!
Fun this 
Small world, I currently live in Windsor…and run a CNC machine.
Yes I took a peek at your profile
Must admit the painting part of the test cabinet was the least enjoyable. Found it quite frustrating that I wasn’t able to get it sanded to a smooth finish without the MDF fibres coming through (even when sealed).
Maybe automotive primer and paint would’ve been better. In my early twenties I did a ground up restoration of an old British sports car (Triumph GT6 anyone?!). I hired a spray gun and compressor and resprayed it myself outside, having never done it before. There was the inevitable “orange peel” but I wet sanded the whole car with ever finer grades and then hired a polisher. My Dad thought I was mad until he saw the result, it was like a mirror!
Anyway, I doubt veneering is easy!
I’ve just been having a look and I didn’t realise you could get dyed veneers, there’s quite a range.
Something like this would look nice with a high gloss lacquer. Also saw an Arctic White oak veneer which is interesting. Will see if I can buy some samples.
Veneer will cover all end grains/joints comfortably ,provided they are filled and sanded. Real wood veneers can be a little tricky to use but looking at your skill level this shouldn’t be a problem just time consuming.
The final finish I found the hardest to get spot on ,a sprayed lacquer or varnish finish I would guess giving the most professional results, mine we all finished with coats of brushed on varnish, sanded in between coats which can be a long winded process but with care the finish can be excellent, spraying would take the finish to another level.
Really enjoying your build, which ever route you take I’m sure the results will look brilliant.
Thank you 
I’ve been looking at the paper backed veneers that @Mark84 uses, sounds like they’re a bit easier to apply.
Did you wet sand the lacquer? I can see myself removing all the paint from the test cabinet again to give this a try!
Sounds like you’ve built some speakers yourself?
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark
Really enjoying another speaker build. I have built quite a few speakers myself and find laminated finishes the easiest and most durable. Range of finishes is pretty vast. I will try and post a few photos but am having a few problems uploaded them on my MacBook so will try on my phone
Good luck with the build
Mark
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Have an uptick for mentioning the GT6. When I was in my early 20s I completely stripped and rebuilt a Spitfire MKIV. Before the internet I remember reading the Triumph Sports Six magazine (actually more like a booklet) over breakfast. My parents were very tolerant and let me take over their garage for 18 months. 
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Another Mark building speakers!
Thanks for posting those, they look like they’re from the company I first looked at, down in Devon? I think he has retired now. I was interested in the transmission line range he made. Are those the ones?
They look really nice, and it looks like you’ve had a lot more success with painting than I have. How did you do them?
Cheers,
Mark
Excellent! They were great cars to work on with their separate chassis. Dodgy transverse leaf spring suspension on the rear made them entertaining to drive
Working on cars kept me out of trouble from my mid-teens on … Dad bought me an MOT failure two door Morris Minor when I was sixteen, along with the Haynes manual for it. First thing I did was take the engine out and disassemble it… didn’t even know what a spark plug was when I started
Over the next four years that car transformed a bit, I got into custom cars and the Minor gained a Rover V8 engine on a chassis that I designed (welded by the local blacksmith) with Jaguar suspension all round … a real wolf in sheep’s clothing
Sorry, slight topic drift!
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Hi Mark
These were all designed by a friend of mine. All the pictures are laminated finish. The pippy oak ones are real wood laminate all the others are just normal laminate. I have built some that were sprayed finish but I worked for a joinery company at the time and they had there own spray shop. I always use moisture resistant or fire rated mdf they are a lot denser than the normal stuff and the seem to have a lot smoother finish. The last 2 sets I built with 25mm, the oak ones are really heavy and a bit of a pain to move about!
This is a set of studio monitors I built for my son, these are finished in gloss white paint which has been polished, the painting process took longer than it did to build the speakers but they came out really well
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They look fantastic, what type of sealer/primer/top coat did you use?
You said all the other ones in your previous post are laminate … including the black gloss ones?!
Any tips on the finishing would be much appreciated, it does seem to be the hardest part of the whole process.
I didn’t know that the moisture resistant MDF was higher density, thank you, will look into that.
Looks like you’ve built a lot of your friends designs, they must sound great
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Built a few pairs over the years, the last were large transmission line speaker, beautiful sound but a lot of work to build.
Always used glue backed real wood veneers, dry finished, I love the look and feel of real wood but they can be tricky to finish and are easily damaged.
I think Sparkymark has some good idea’s, guessing laminate is definitely more durable and as he pointed out is easy to work with.
Spray painting/lacquering opens up many options but it may mean shipping the work out which maybe expensive.
Now a days there seems to be numerous routes to take, decision’s ,decision’s…which ever way you take, best of luck with the finished article sure they will be spot on.
Cheers
Hi, thanks … please feel free to post pics if you like, always great to see what others have done … goes for anyone too!
I’m not sure about the terminology regarding “laminate” here, is this a pre-made laminate like melamine or some non-wood material glued on afterwards?
Yes you’re right, decisions, decisions! I’ll have to decide soon … at least I have some time before the drivers etc turn up
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark
I was very fortunate when I built the white studio monitors to have a very skilled professional painter along with a fully equipped spray shop at my disposal. I do not poses the necessary skills to finish a cabinet to the level these were finished to.
The black gloss ones are just high gloss laminate as are the large white ones, once laminated and edges cleaned off no other process is required.
The large oak ones are a real wood laminate, I applied sanding sealer and then spent quite a few hours sanding them down starting with 240 grit and ending up at 4000 grit. Finished off with a couple of coats of clear Briwax. At the time I probably should have really got these sealed with 2 pack lacquer at work.
After over 40 years in the construction industry and now in the last 5 years starting to suffer quite badly with tinnitus I’m probably not best qualified to comment on the sound quality of these, although the reason I’ve built so many is because everyone that hears them asks me to build them a pair. When I have time I find the build process very therapeutic.
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Ah, thanks Mark, yes that was very fortunate!
The quote I had for them to be spray painted was £250, which I thought was very reasonable. I’d need to do the preparation which is fine, but until some paint goes on it’s easy to miss areas.
I’d like to explore the veneers before I make decision, I don’t think the pre-laminated sheets would work for the shapes on these speakers?
I’m also finding this very therapeutic, getting tired of being sat at a computer all day for work, this makes a nice change … and combining two hobbies
Thanks for the tips,
Cheers,
Mark
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Hi Mark,
The quote of £250 to paint them seems reasonable, is that with them doing the prep or do you have to do that? The reason I ask is you have a lot of edges/open/cut joints which do have a nasty habit of opening up after finishing if the prep is not spot on, just my thoughts.
To be honest I always found the final veneering/finishing stage the most taxing, loved the construction side immensely, in fact one pair remaining in a fully operation condition but undressed for nearly a year before I finally got round to veneering them. so for £250 to get them expertly finished sounds attractive but you may wish to have a go yourself but veneering your shape will definitely make it tricky, you could laminate the front baffle and veneer the sides, always an option.
All the best with which every method you opt to take, still be exciting to hear/see the finished article.
Cheers
Hi, They do a lot of MDF painting and are very local. I took the bare test cabinet round so the quote was for prep too, he was looking where filling would be necessary etc. I did point out there would be two of them and they’d be twice the size!
Image is purposely small to hide the dreadful finish! Paint was like treacle having been out in the cold for ages, should’ve thinned it, but anyway, it’s enough to visualise what they could look like. Pleased I tried this, reckon it’s the shape I’ll go for.
Discovered coloured waxes as another interesting finishing option!
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