Soundmotor, do you know what the actual finish product on ADS speakers was typically? I need to re-do my 1590's and would like to start with what was done original if it still makes sense.
Please Help Identify Wood Type
- Thread starter Pete B
- Start date
soundmotor
super modified
I don't unfortunately. Those cabinets came in from Hados (Germany) ready to stuff. The only finishing done to them in Wilmington was retouching as needed.
I use a lot of their touch-up products and Ultra Penetrating Dye Stains as a back ground color or added to lacquer as a tint. In fact the house I posted above the had Yellow sprayed on the bleached wood as the first stain to give a glow under the oils stains that where glassed on after. Then before the final coats, I added Raw Senna dye into the lacquer as a tint to give it a more amber aged look. All these layers of color add depth and a shift in the way you want the wood to look.
I have a pair of 1230s, they have lacquer on them, and a low gloss black. The finish looks natural but after all these years the walnut is orangeist amber and the lacquer yellowed.
soundmotor
super modified
L1230-L2030 & earlier were made by Pine & Baker (Medford, MA). Until the early 2000s they still had production mistake cabs from various New England speaker companies you could buy. It was like a time warp pawing through that stuff.
http://pineandbaker.com/PB_history.php
soundmotor
super modified
I just emailed them to see if they have records for ADS. What years would they have been producing their cabs?
soundmotor
super modified
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
Interesting thread. The more I look at that picture the more I don't know what it is, but based on the other postings, I know what it's probably not. 
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
BTW I have a blonde Philco console from '48 that I had a heck of a time identifying until I learned that Philco had a 13-step process for making bleached blonde mahogany. You know how dark reddish brown mahogany is. Well, given enough time and talent you can do darn near anything with wood. The cross grain on this console is a dead giveaway for mahogany once you get over the color.
soundmotor
super modified
Interesting thread. The more I look at that picture the more I don't know what it is, but based on the other postings, I know what it's probably not.
I'm certain it isn't ashoak and am going with olive as it has yet to be mentioned or walnut.
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
I feel like we need a closeup of the grain.
Could be bubingaramin or afromoshickory.
Could be bubingaramin or afromoshickory.
smoke-libr8r
Active Member
I think that is up to you...
So far the thread has narrowed it down to (in alphabetical order) ash, cherry, elm, pecan, poplar, teak, or walnut.
The discussions relative to walnut showed examples of black walnut (presumably harvested in North America). If the speaker veneer is walnut, it would be more likely to be European walnut considering the Swedish origin of the speakers. This distinction may or may not matter to you.
Do you have a macro lens for your camera? If so, using it to take some extreme close-ups would help with a more accurate identification.
Attached are a couple of pictures of veneer from items in my home. Both are walnut, but if you study them carefully, there are subtle but distinct differences. If I included similar pictures of cherry or oak, the differences would be night and day.
Were you able to get any hints about the wood from Guru?
Attachments
Thanks 4-2-7 and everyone who's offering help here.
Would you also suggest Orange-Glo on these VMPS RM-40 towers that I think are Rosewood - please correct me if you think it is something else:
The finish seems to be in very good condition without any issues, just seeming a bit dry. They are probably about 10 years old.
F1nut
Super Member
Why do people think they have to put what amounts to crap all over their furniture?
Here's what is in Orange Glo, https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/186-OrangeGloWoodFurniture2in1CleanerPolish#.Wqx-CxkpA0M
That is a product you'll never find in my shop nor will I ever recommend it.
If you absolutely can't sleep at night unless you put some sort of product on your furniture or in this case, speakers use Guardsmen Furniture Polish or use Renaissance Micro-Crystalline wax, which once applied will last for years and years and years.
In closing, your speakers appear to have a nice lacquer finish. My advice, dust with a soft damp cotton cloth otherwise leave them alone.
Here's what is in Orange Glo, https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/186-OrangeGloWoodFurniture2in1CleanerPolish#.Wqx-CxkpA0M
That is a product you'll never find in my shop nor will I ever recommend it.
If you absolutely can't sleep at night unless you put some sort of product on your furniture or in this case, speakers use Guardsmen Furniture Polish or use Renaissance Micro-Crystalline wax, which once applied will last for years and years and years.
In closing, your speakers appear to have a nice lacquer finish. My advice, dust with a soft damp cotton cloth otherwise leave them alone.
I do and will, I even use it to french polish with as it's a good lubricant for that application as well. It evaporates very fast to so there is no oily build up or greasy feeling to it in around 3 hours. Even though it evaporates it turns whitish abrasions and fine scratches translucent pretty good. Now I don't like any of the other Orange oil cleaners very much as they are thicker and don't evaporate very good.
Yes, get them in place and give them a light dusting with it, it will clean of your sweaty hand prints I see in the photos. The alcid within the oils of our hands are far more harmful to old/older lacquer finishes than Orange Glo, hand oils melt lacquer, the older the lacquer the more they melt it.
The lacquer looks like it's getting a bit old and sticky, with all due respect as I know your informed. The last thing I would tell a home owner to use on a older finish and one I don't have eyes or hands on is water. You know that if a older lac finish is starting to get to failing points water effects it as it's getting stick, it will turn white. But I also agree with people putting to much shit on things that isn't needed, and if I just finnish a table in precat lacquer, I'd tell them to just used a damp cloth and then dry it also.
It's friday the last thing I need to do is talk about work LOLHave a nice weekend all
Orange-Glo is mineral oil, a petroleum solvent to act as a cleaner and make it spreadable, and orange oil as a perfume and perhaps additional solvent:
The solvent dilutes the mineral oil which is then deposited on the surface, fills in the cracks and once the solvent evaporates gradually crosslinks. The orange oil is likely present for smell and because, depending upon the formulation, it functions like a solvent. The formula is similar to Olde English furniture oil which, as would be expected, is nothing more than mineral oil, a solvent, and lemon oil as a perfume.
A lot of the apparent benefit of such products is being a low molecular weight solvent which won't attack the finish but which will remove oxidized wax, polymerized oil (kitchen grease which disperses throughout the home, oil from fingers, air pollution, etc.), and whatever migrates through the finish to collect dirt on the surface. The solvent acts as a cleaner and a new layer of glop covers the surface to make it temporarily shinier, at least until it too, begins to oxidize and collect dirt. A perpetual money-making machine.
When the oils are combined with a pigment the combination will cover up scratches, but this is purely cosmetic and temporary.
I agree with F1 in the general case about leaving the finish alone and simply dusting it, but this won't remove any polymerized oil on the surface.
One could get the same effect as the oils without the new layer of sticky glop by wiping the cabinet down with one of the deodorized kerosene solvents removes the deposits but generally will not attack the finish, if it is a fully cured polyurethane or linseed/tung oil. It should be equivalent to the the "xyz oil" without the oil part. First check in a non-visible spot. Many finishes, like shellac aka french polish, as well as anything wax based, are fragile and vulnerable to alcohols and solvents, including water. I have a table which has a shellac finish and water will cloud the finish.
Code:
Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light 64742-47-8 60.00 - 70.00
Mineral oil 8012-95-1 10.00 - 15.00
Orange oil 8028-48-6 5.00 - 10.00The solvent dilutes the mineral oil which is then deposited on the surface, fills in the cracks and once the solvent evaporates gradually crosslinks. The orange oil is likely present for smell and because, depending upon the formulation, it functions like a solvent. The formula is similar to Olde English furniture oil which, as would be expected, is nothing more than mineral oil, a solvent, and lemon oil as a perfume.
A lot of the apparent benefit of such products is being a low molecular weight solvent which won't attack the finish but which will remove oxidized wax, polymerized oil (kitchen grease which disperses throughout the home, oil from fingers, air pollution, etc.), and whatever migrates through the finish to collect dirt on the surface. The solvent acts as a cleaner and a new layer of glop covers the surface to make it temporarily shinier, at least until it too, begins to oxidize and collect dirt. A perpetual money-making machine.
When the oils are combined with a pigment the combination will cover up scratches, but this is purely cosmetic and temporary.
I agree with F1 in the general case about leaving the finish alone and simply dusting it, but this won't remove any polymerized oil on the surface.
One could get the same effect as the oils without the new layer of sticky glop by wiping the cabinet down with one of the deodorized kerosene solvents removes the deposits but generally will not attack the finish, if it is a fully cured polyurethane or linseed/tung oil. It should be equivalent to the the "xyz oil" without the oil part. First check in a non-visible spot. Many finishes, like shellac aka french polish, as well as anything wax based, are fragile and vulnerable to alcohols and solvents, including water. I have a table which has a shellac finish and water will cloud the finish.
F1nut
Super Member
When I say damp I mean well rung out, just moist, barely wet. If one desires follow up with a dry soft cotton cloth.
Water needs a bit of time to get trapped beneath a finish. Any moisture left on a surface from dusting with a damp cloth will evaporate long before it has a chance to get beneath the finish.
Water needs a bit of time to get trapped beneath a finish. Any moisture left on a surface from dusting with a damp cloth will evaporate long before it has a chance to get beneath the finish.
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