Will these do? AR 70s

[neevo]

Grill mounts are in the cabinets. Nice flush finish:



I’ve also put the first coat of oil on. I’ve only done turntable sized items before and these are big cabinets. To say they’ve soaked up the first coat is a massive understatement! I’ve put a coat on to get the process started and then I’ll sand back with 600 grit once dry and then apply another 4-5 coats after.



It’s gorgeous and rich and against the black fronts looks even darker too, but I’m liking the look. Hopefully I can get a really nice sheen on it and it will look professional.

 

[GD70]

Grill mounts are in the cabinets. Nice flush finish:

View attachment 1178844 View attachment 1178845

I’ve also put the first coat of oil on. I’ve only done turntable sized items before and these are big cabinets. To say they’ve soaked up the first coat is a massive understatement! I’ve put a coat on to get the process started and then I’ll sand back with 600 grit once dry and then apply another 4-5 coats after.

View attachment 1178846

It’s gorgeous and rich and against the black fronts looks even darker too, but I’m liking the look. Hopefully I can get a really nice sheen on it and it will look professional.

Looks professional now! Great work on these!
Glenn

 

[neevo]

Looks professional now! Great work on these!
Glenn

Glenn, would you wet or dry sand the veneer with 600 grit? I find the 600 black sandpaper I have clogs a bit if dry.

 

[onwardjames]

THIS THREAD IS AMAZING!!

Keep up the great work!

 

[neevo]

THIS THREAD IS AMAZING!!

Keep up the great work!

Thanks @onwardjames

I’m the grunt and Glenn is definitely the brains!

 

[GD70]

Glenn, would you wet or dry sand the veneer with 600 grit? I find the 600 black sandpaper I have clogs a bit if dry.

I dry sand. Yes, it clogs, so have plenty on hand. I also sand with light pressure to minimize the clogging. You don't want the clogs making sanding streaks.
Many here sand wet with the oil and then wipe away any excess oil. I plan to try this on my next cab restoration.
Glenn

 

[GD70]

Thanks @onwardjames

I’m the grunt and Glenn is definitely the brains!

Oh, don't give me any credit, you're doing it all!

 

[neevo]

I dry sand. Yes, it clogs, so have plenty on hand. I also sand with light pressure to minimize the clogging. You don't want the clogs making sanding streaks.
Many here sand wet with the oil and then wipe away any excess oil. I plan to try this on my next cab restoration.
Glenn

I’ve tried the wet sanding with the Danish Oil and found it left a really inconsistent finish. So I’ll resort to my standard of wet sanding with D600, water and washing up liquid, then apply the new coat of Danish oil on sanded and cleaned veneer.

I checked the cabinets just now and they still need a lot of oil. They’re patchy with smooth and rough finish as you can see the oil is still soaking up in places.

 

[neevo]

I’m done with tinted Danish oil so I’ll need to grab another tin so I can add additional layers without tint.

It’s looking good, very deep and rich and I’m still going to need work to get a flawless finish as each layer dries with patches.

 

[neevo]

I’m pushing on today to see if I can get these cabinets finished and dare I even mention it... a test of how they sound!!!!!

First up was the binding posts. The 6mm holes I’d drilled were no where near large enough for the binding posts, so they were drilled out to 7mm with tape protecting the paint:



Then I set about installing the binding posts and crosssovers:



Next up I moved on to stuffing them again with the material that came out of the old AR’s:



This is when I ran in to an issue! I’d cut the woofer cables off the old speakers as they were soldered on. This left short cables and I wasn’t happy with having the voice coil wires at the top, I think it looks weird.

So everything came back out and I set about replacing the wires with longer ones that will let me run the wires over the top of the stuffing and down the back of the woofer:



I re applied hot glue to the wires where they are soldered to the boards. I assume AR do this to stop corrosion:



So now I’m stuck as I need more parts. I need some more spade connectors for the woofers (2, as 1 crossover I had 2 left), I need some Danish oil (without tint).

Then I need to give the cabinets another wet sand with some 1000 grit before a final coat of Danish oil and once there all dry, I’ll be in a position to put all the parts back in and give them a test run. I’m not sure the oil will be dry tonight so I’ll get the oil done and dusted and look to see how they sound sometime this week once it’s had a chance to fully go off.

 

[neevo]

Anyone used shellac over Danish oil? Looks like an easier way of getting a flawless finish and it can be repaired too.

 

[GD70]

Anyone used shellac over Danish oil? Looks like an easier way of getting a flawless finish and it can be repaired too.

I would not use shellack over the oil. The oil finish is all you need. If a repair is needed, you'll only need the oil to match the existing finish.

 

[neevo]

Gotcha Glenn. Bought another tin of Danish but I think I have another problem.

As I’ve been sanding back each coat of tinted danish oil I’m obviously rubbing the timber back ever so slightly and so I’ve got marks where the timber is lighter than the surrounding area.

I’ve applied another wet coat of tinted oil and let it sit, then rubbed all the excess off with paper towel:



It’s getting better the more it dries so I think I might be ok, but I might need another coat of tinted Danish oil to get it perfect. What do the woodwork experts think?

 

[neevo]

It’s drying a little patchy, so I think I’ll have to wet sand with the oil and 600 grit. Hopefully that opens up the pores of the wood a little and I can even out the colour. I’d rather not make them any darker as they’re pretty dark already.

Wiping the oil off with paper towel has certainly left a great finish though, so at least that’s working out!

 

[GD70]

It’s drying a little patchy, so I think I’ll have to wet sand with the oil and 600 grit. Hopefully that opens up the pores of the wood a little and I can even out the colour. I’d rather not make them any darker as they’re pretty dark already.

Wiping the oil off with paper towel has certainly left a great finish though, so at least that’s working out!

I haven't had this happen with 600 grit. When I sand, it with a very light touch. After you get the color uniform, I would not sand any more, just wipe on the oil and let it dry, then another application, let it dry etc... When I sand it's usually just the first two, three applications.

 

[neevo]

I think the problem is the tint, it’s cutting the tint out I suspect. Hence why I thought wet sanding with the tinted oil might cut it back in?

Other option is to sand it all back and redo it?

Edit: just sanded my sample piece with 180 grit, then sanded with 600 grit and oil. It came up really nicely and so I’m thinking hard about sanding back all the cabinets and doing it again. I want these cabinets done right and at the moment I’m not happy with how I’ve done the oil.

 

[neevo]

I’ve bitten the bullet and I’m sanding back the Danish oil. I’m not happy with the finish and every time I’ve redone it on these speakers, the end result has always been a vast improvement.

I think my problem was how I was applying the oil. Using it as a top coat vs a soaking in treatment. When I used it and sanded too, I ended up with a beautifully smooth finish that’s obviously the desired end result.

Even as I’m sanding I can see it thick on the top and it looks crap. Knocking it back with 180 grit is doing nothing so I’ve had to crack our some 80 grit to take off the finish.



It’s already looking like the right decision and I’m tempted to crack out the power sander but to minimise the risk of permenant damage I’ll keep forging on ahead with hand power only. It’s also giving me the opportunity to fix the edge of the bottom of 1 cabinet which had a mark from the trim router bearing.

Hopefully when I get round to oil v2.0 it will nicely even out the panels.

 

[neevo]

Rome wasn’t built in a day but brick by brick. 2 sides of 1 cabinet down. Sandpaper all clogged and ran out of 80 and 180 grit.

Need more, will keep pressing on when I’ve taken my 15,000th trip to Bunnings!

 

[neevo]

@GD70 whats your process for using Danish oil? I think I was putting it on way too thick and therefore it was building up in the surface as opposed to soaking in to the wood.

Sanding it back I have a super smooth finish and the grain is filled. I don’t want to repeat the same errors and so was going to oil lightly but with as many coats as required.

eg: apply oil using a clean cotton rag and rub in to the veneer not using it too wet. Let it sit for a few minutes (8 or so) and remove all excess with paper towel.

 

[GD70]

I wipe it on with an old sock or cut up t-shirt. Just enough to evenly oil the surface, no excess. Let it dry, lightly sand, apply the next oil the sme way.