Inputs wether to oil or lacquer old veneer?

D

Dagis

Guest
In my thread on JBL 4410 restoration I have now come to a hault.
I have cleaned and sanded down the old veneer.

rsz_dsc02316.jpg rsz_dsc02317.jpg

And (before finnishing the JBL`s) found myself a practise cabinet where I have tried out different finnishes.
1-Sanded. 2-Clear lacquer. 3-Dark brown lacquer. 4.Charchoal black laqcuer

rsz_dsc02306.jpg rsz_dsc02305.jpg rsz_dsc02304.jpg rsz_dsc02319.jpg

Thing is-I don`t like any of them and have started to question wether I should just stay with the old,
that is to simply oil up the old coloured veneer.

Here is a tabletop done in dark brown colour and clearcoat:

rsz_dsc02268.jpg

Very different.
Possibly different woods,different grains/density etc respond different to the same treament?

In trying to add a different colour on top of the old,
the results have not been to my liking.
Is it a dead end trying to lay a charcoal laquer finnish on top of the brown/redish old oil?

Any inputs/experience?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I need more information as to what you are wanting to achieve, what materials you are trying to use and how you are trying to use them.
 
Did you try real tung oil alone? Milk paint Co. has great products and they also carry pure orange oil for diluting the tung oil. I have had great luck with it on my JBL L36s and other speakers.
 
Did you try real tung oil alone? Milk paint Co. has great products and they also carry pure orange oil for diluting the tung oil. I have had great luck with it on my JBL L36s and other speakers.

Paint thinner/mineral spirits will cut tung oil at a faction of the price of that stuff and do it better.
 
Last edited:
Watco Teak Oil, using this technique, can turn out well; sort of a matte finish like the original oil finish:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/re-oiling-jbl-l100s.475060/page-2#post-6154259

After you have a couple of coats of the Watco on the veneer, you could try a finishing trick that helps to hide scatches, i.e. apply a coat of oil and use either very fine sandpaper (400 wet and dry is a good number) or a scuff pad to make a slurry of oil and finish. Use a circular motion and don't sand too hard. This slurry is then left to set just like you have done for applying the oil (about 10 mins). Then wipe the oil just as you have done but only wipe it across the gain of the veneer once. This will allow the oil slurry to fill in the scratches and fill the walnut grain.

index.php
 
Last edited:
Did you try real tung oil alone? Milk paint Co. has great products and they also carry pure orange oil for diluting the tung oil. I have had great luck with it on my JBL L36s and other speakers.

Paint thinner/mineral spirits will cut tung oil at a faction of the price of that stuff and do it better.

Watco Teak Oil, using this technique, can turn out well; sort of a matte finish like the original oil finish:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/re-oiling-jbl-l100s.475060/page-2#post-6154259



index.php


I do love oil finishes, for walnut especially. These guys posted good suggestions.
 
Watco Teak Oil, using this technique, can turn out well; sort of a matte finish like the original oil finish:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/re-oiling-jbl-l100s.475060/page-2#post-6154259

That looks very nice!
I will take a tour in the shop and see what oil options they have.
I see that my profile doesn`t contain my location-which is arctic Norway,
but even if I can`t find the exact products over here-I might find an equivalent.

Thanks for the inputs!
 
Lacquer when done correctly is fantastic. Unfortunately the correctly part is the thing. Spray gear, clean room/area, temperature, product, technique etc all need to be dialed in for the most part to get a great finish. I have actually taken a few of my speakers to a local finishing shop after doing all the sanding etc for them to apply the finish. Not too expensive if you do all the time consuming work first.
You can do an oil finish with the top coasts being oil rubbed/sanded and it will be outstanding. Look up some youtube videos on oil rub/wet sanding finishing. Most will be for guitars etc, but it's the same thing.
 
Thanks Drugolf,I will look into that.

Yes,lacquer can give a beautiful finish and I have succeeded earlier with varying furniture projects,
this time however I am underwhelmed with the results.
The wood simply did not come to life.

Figured veneer possibly respond better to lacquer than straight ones..?

Btw-the pics in the first post are now big enough to actually be seen!
 
You will never get the same look on the speakers as you did on the table because you have two very different wood species and different ways the veneer was cut.
That much I knew.
What I still had expected was that the lacquer would bring life into the wood on the speaker,
but I am now looking into oiling it instead.
 
Oiling is not going to accomplish that because you are dealing with flat cut veneer, which simply doesn't have much life. One thing you could try is to spray the dye directly on the wood, then clear coat on top. That can kick a bit of life into flat cut veneer.

Another thing that can help is to fill the pores with paste filler first as open pores affect the way light reflects. A glass smooth finish will have more depth than one with open pores.
 
I have been using Watco Danish Oil with good results. I think it produces a more "Vintage-Looking" finish, if that makes sense. If you want a "Mirror-Finish", a good lacquer finish might be better. I guess it would depend on what you are looking for.
 
Thank you for the inputs guys.
From what I`ve read I think more sanding is needed,
and with finer grit.
Even as tempting as it is to just go at it with oil right away.
 
Thank you for the inputs guys.
From what I`ve read I think more sanding is needed,
and with finer grit.
Even as tempting as it is to just go at it with oil right away.

Take it from a pro, all that will do is make more work for you with no benefit. What you need to do is fill the pores, spray the dye directly on the wood, then clear coat.
 
A glass smooth finish will have more depth than one with open pores.
Yes.
The thing that needs to be remembered is that the "understrata" combined with the "inside" of the finish must be reflective; if not there is no or little light being sent back through the overcoat.
Then the overcoat(s) must be capable of transmitting and diffracting the light to the mirror so it can be reflected back through the diffracting layers to the surface.
Anything interfering with this process (ie. muddy particles in the overcoat or bad reflection from the mirror) will compromise how the end finish appears.
 
Back
Top Bottom