Speaker Refinish Project

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

corvetteguy78

Well-Known Member
VIP
So my buddy at work was looking to unload some old Klipsch speakers so I bought them off him for $100 bucks as I was looking for a speakers for upstairs. A nice little pair of Klipsch KG3's...I think they are from the mid 90's and they were pretty expensive back then. So I tested them out but they weren't really putting out enough bass for what I want but sound really really good. So I took my pair of BIC Acoustech full range towers and moved those upstairs hooked up to a Yamaha receiver I bought off CL for 80 bucks and they put out serious bass! I never heard them on their own as they were always part of a 5.1 system with the BIC HL100 subwoofer which booooommmsssss.

So anyway I didn't like the speaker cabinet color as it doesn't match the rest of my speakers which are done is Piano black. So I am in the process of redoing the cabinets.

Here's a couple pics:

original finish

20150108_194311.jpg


Sanded down with 80 Coarse and then 180 Coarse(finally put my Makita Sander to use)

20150108_195155.jpg


1 coat of Minwax Polyshade Classic Black Gloss

20150108_201822.jpg


20150108_201810.jpg


Still needs another coat and then on to the second speaker.
 
Not bad, I have rarely been able to get polyshades to not bubble on me, but its a good choice for what you're doing.
2 coats should be good with the color change.
 
Looks good. Oak is 1990ish, so that's a big improvement.
 
I would have used black india ink with a clear finish over the top.....It seems to let more of the grain through and the finish is easier to apply. I haven't ever understood the concept of stain and poly together. The purpose of the stain is to penetrate the wood grain. The poly is to seal the wood. How can you apply multiple coats of the product if the color can't penetrate due to the poly on the previous coat.....anyway looks good. Did you spray it, brush it or wipe it on?
 
Multiple coats of an all in one would be like adding a candy coat. I think I would let it get hard, gently sand it and clear coat it. You can repeat that step until the finish is as smooth as glass if you want. You can also add a little automotive hardener to the clear for a harder finish. I did a kitchen table with automotive clear one time. Man did the wood suck it up. But, once I got enough on there to build and polish, it was impenetrable and tough as nails.
 
Multiple coats of an all in one would be like adding a candy coat. I think I would let it get hard, gently sand it and clear coat it. You can repeat that step until the finish is as smooth as glass if you want. You can also add a little automotive hardener to the clear for a harder finish. I did a kitchen table with automotive clear one time. Man did the wood suck it up. But, once I got enough on there to build and polish, it was impenetrable and tough as nails.
How did the auto clear hold up? I would think that it would be way too hard of a finish for wood. We used to have an issue with that when I was installing cabinets. The finish on the veneer was too hard so if you dropped something on the desktop it would dent the wood but the finish wouldn't budge. The result was a milky bubble in the finish. I would also think there would be some issues with the natural movement of wood due to humidity.
 
I brushed it on with a Purdy Natural Bristle stain brush. The directions on the Minwax are to let dry 6 hours and then apply a second thin coat, and to deepen the color, apply a third coat <shrug>

20150109_170544.jpg


20150109_170403.jpg
 
Looking good. You should dye the grills.

I would have used black india ink with a clear finish over the top.....It seems to let more of the grain through and the finish is easier to apply. I haven't ever understood the concept of stain and poly together. The purpose of the stain is to penetrate the wood grain. The poly is to seal the wood. How can you apply multiple coats of the product if the color can't penetrate due to the poly on the previous coat.....anyway looks good. Did you spray it, brush it or wipe it on?

The 2 component system is much stronger, but for a project like this its not a bad way to go. I have really only used the polyshades for a quick freshening up of stained woodwork. I have had people want to do floors with it, and I just do a face palm. I like doing a few coats of poly and stain mixed and using it a wipe on using less stain more poly on the second coat. Wipeable and levels out decently, but not for many applications.
 
I always forget about single step applications as I am spoiled with my own wood shop.....:blink:
 
How did the auto clear hold up? I would think that it would be way too hard of a finish for wood. We used to have an issue with that when I was installing cabinets. The finish on the veneer was too hard so if you dropped something on the desktop it would dent the wood but the finish wouldn't budge. The result was a milky bubble in the finish. I would also think there would be some issues with the natural movement of wood due to humidity.
First, it was two inch thick Oak, hard wood, found at a garage sale.
Second, being used, there were cup rings into the wood, and the finish was crappy.
I sanded and sanded. I added stain to make it honey oak colored.
Then I started spraying the clear to it, probably a half a gallon, seriously. High solids Polyurethane, with reducer and hardener. Gravity feed HVLP gun.

That was the best finish I've ever had on any furniture. Nothing seemed to hurt it. The table outlasted my wife's taste for Oak. I resold it at a garage sale for $80 about five years after painting it. Our chairs were trashed, and the table was perfect, if that says anything.
 
they make spray dye that works perfectly fine. its in the spray paint aisle.
or you could just replace the cloth with something new. add a little personal touch to it. i covered mine with mustache burlap. lol. just different enough and blends well enough that its not the first thing you notice.
will be doing it again one day with something bright when we repaint the walls.
 
Back
Top