JBL L112 Resto

[drfous]

I picked these up a few weeks ago. Tweeters and Mids are good. They had some radio shack woofers in them. I've found 1 128H at this point. The hunt for another continues.

So in the interim, i'm taking a shot at my 1st cabinet work. Sanding and refinishing with Danish Oil. The pictures below show the 1st coat going on the one on the left.

At this point I'm up to 4 coats and just started wet sanding between coats. These things just soak up the oil.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

TIA!

 

[GD70]

You're doing great! Keep going. Wet sanding with oil?
I sand between applications with 600 grit dry, mostly by hand. I let the oil dry 24 hours between each application.
By the 5th application or so, the veneer will stop absorbing oil, and after the last sanding, they should be done!

 

[Mrv8q]

Personally, on the few JBL cabinets I lightly refinished, I preferred Howard's RAF to the Watco...

 

[zebra03]

I was lucky . The 2 pair I just got only had woofer rot . Everything else was just cleaning and

 

[drfous]

I saw a few videos where they wet sanded. Basically this process:

You can create an ultimately smooth oil finish by sanding each coat while it’s still wet on the surface using very fine grit sandpaper. Then wipe off the excess and allow what’s left to cure overnight. Here’s the procedure.
• Sand the wood to remove machine marks and other flaws.
• Wipe or brush on a wet coat of oil and keep the surface wet for several minutes, rewetting any areas that become dull because the finish has soaked in.
• Wipe off all the excess. Be sure to hang your wet rags to dry, or drape them singly over the edge of a trash can, so they can’t spontaneously combust.
• Allow the finish to dry overnight in a warm room.
• Wipe or brush on a second coat of oil and sand the surface while it’s still wet in the direction of the grain using #600-grit wet/dry sandpaper. Sand over all areas with three or four back-and-forth strokes. There’s no gain sanding more than this.

European standard “P-grade” sandpaper is rapidly replacing the American standard. Above #220 grit, P-grade numbers move up much faster than non-P-grade. Sandpaper of #600 grit is approximately equivalent to P1200 grit; #400 grit is about P800.
• Wipe off the excess oil and allow the surface to dry overnight.
• Apply a third coat of oil and again sand wet. Remove the excess and allow overnight drying. This is usually all you need to do to achieve an ultimately smooth finish, but you can repeat the procedure with a fourth coat, and with as many additional coats as you want.

 

[Finjima]

I was checking out the Makita sander you have, was thinking about getting one. (i like the color too) I rave about the Makita 12 volt drill, so nice to use and light too.
I was wet sanding too on the ar's, now that they are empty (sent the tweets and mid's off to roy) I'm going to go over them again

 

[Drugolf]

I saw a few videos where they wet sanded. Basically this process:

Perfect!
I think if it seems like you are not getting enough to remain, you could apply the oil like it says in the first application leaving it over night a few more times and then do the wet sanding on a couple top coats.

 

[drfous]

I was checking out the Makita sander you have, was thinking about getting one. (i like the color too) I rave about the Makita 12 volt drill, so nice to use and light too.
I was wet sanding too on the ar's, now that they are empty (sent the tweets and mid's off to roy) I'm going to go over them again

No complaints with the Makita. It does the job.

 

[drfous]

Perfect!
I think if it seems like you are not getting enough to remain, you could apply the oil like it says in the first application leaving it over night a few more times and then do the wet sanding on a couple top coats.

I will probably do another coat of just oil to see if that helps. I'm in the desert. The wood may just be really dried out.

 

[drfous]

One issue I ran into unexpectedly is "P" grade sand paper. Went to the depot to pick up some 600 grit. Found some 3M. Brought it home. The back of the paper is labeled at "P" grade - Euro/metricish grade equates to about 400 grit 'Merican.

Ya, I'm a newbie to this stuff.

 

[Drugolf]

Never knew about the P grade thing. Good catch.
Guitar and amp guys do the wet sanding thing a lot. I watched youtube vids on that and most were guitars.
Grew up in Scottsdale until 10 years ago. Yes, dry, but many on here deal with moisture that does an entirely other level of damage to things over time.

 

[drfous]

I saw some of those guitar videos as well.

Agree about the humidity thing. Bad for wood but good for the rest of the system.

 

[drfous]

So what's the consensus on recapping these?

Leave it, recap them all or just the electrolytic?

Thx

 

[drfous]

The speakers are back together and sound great. The final job is to reattach the foilcals.

Other than contact cement, any other recommendations for an adhesive?

TIA!

 

[drfous]

Other than knobs for the L-Pads and some appropriate stands, I think we're done.

 

[GD70]

Other than knobs for the L-Pads and some appropriate stands, I think we're done.

You did a fabulous job on them! I'd be proud to say I restored those!
I'd love to get your opinions on how these compare sonically the your AR-3a's.
Cheers!

 

[drfous]

You did a fabulous job on them! I'd be proud to say I restored those!
I'd love to get your opinions on how these compare sonically the your AR-3a's.
Cheers!

Thx, GD. I was just the muscle. I read several of your write ups and plagerized extensively.

I really like the sound. Obviously brighter than the AR's, but not tiring at all. I've had them on most of the day with zero fatigue. Nice bass extension even with new foam on both woofers. Nice mid range also. They play rock extremely well in my estimation.

Very happy

 

[india42]

Hey drfous,
I just acquired a set of 4411's, it's the pro equivalent of the L112's, I agree with you completely. They sound fantastic!

 

[drfous]

Hey drfous,
I just acquired a set of 4411's, it's the pro equivalent of the L112's, I agree with you completely. They sound fantastic!

Right on.

I was just listening to The Allman Bros Live at Fillmore East. I just wanted to hit replay at the end.

Trying some jazz instead. Art Pepper meets The Rhytm Section And watching a replay of F1 quali from Monaco.

 

[Zonker92]

Bravo. They look showroom new. (I'm listening to a pair at a friend's house as I write this.)