soundweasel
Super Member
As anyone who owns a pair of Allison Acoustics speakers knows, because of their age and design, the round and oval plastic grilles are extremely fragile and subject to breakage by even the most careful handling.
While gluing cracks in the grille can be done, even the most careful application of glue on the inside of the grille looks as though it has been repaired. :sigh:
After weighing a number of options, including attaching grille cloth to the grilles, I've come up with something that seems to be working very well -- Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic.
A week ago I took a pair of damaged oval grilles (cracks, no missing pieces) that I'd glued, and removed all the glue from the repaired area using my thumbnail as a scraper (don't use metal tools). I then fitted/aligned the cracked areas and applied a total of three coats of Fusion paint to both sides of the grille over a two-day period. The paint dries to touch in 15 minutes and for handing in one hour. Instructions on the can say to apply additional coats before 24 hours, or after seven days.
After seven days the paint forms a "fully chip-resistant" coating. Because the paint seeped into the cracked section it appears gluing is no longer necessary.
Photos attached. Photo on left is untreated black grille. Photo on right is brown grille painted black.
I just applied two coats of Fusion to a pair of undamaged -- but very fragile -- round grilles with the idea that this will preserve them by forming a hardened, chip-resistant coating on them. I will report back in seven days to share the results, and will post some pictures. Note: I just applied a third coat and it is worth noting that this paint adds some weight to the item you're painting.
The paint is available in gloss, satin and flat finishes. Gloss would be too shiny, and flat would reveal the damaged areas, so I used satin as a compromise. Satin has just enough shine when it dries to conceal the damaged areas better. I used black because the brown shades didn't look like a good match for the plastics used by Allison, and Allison used both black and brown grilles on with all their cabinet finishes.
Here's the link to the Krylon Web site: http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic
Stay tuned. :yes:
While gluing cracks in the grille can be done, even the most careful application of glue on the inside of the grille looks as though it has been repaired. :sigh:
After weighing a number of options, including attaching grille cloth to the grilles, I've come up with something that seems to be working very well -- Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic.
A week ago I took a pair of damaged oval grilles (cracks, no missing pieces) that I'd glued, and removed all the glue from the repaired area using my thumbnail as a scraper (don't use metal tools). I then fitted/aligned the cracked areas and applied a total of three coats of Fusion paint to both sides of the grille over a two-day period. The paint dries to touch in 15 minutes and for handing in one hour. Instructions on the can say to apply additional coats before 24 hours, or after seven days.
After seven days the paint forms a "fully chip-resistant" coating. Because the paint seeped into the cracked section it appears gluing is no longer necessary.
Photos attached. Photo on left is untreated black grille. Photo on right is brown grille painted black.
I just applied two coats of Fusion to a pair of undamaged -- but very fragile -- round grilles with the idea that this will preserve them by forming a hardened, chip-resistant coating on them. I will report back in seven days to share the results, and will post some pictures. Note: I just applied a third coat and it is worth noting that this paint adds some weight to the item you're painting.
The paint is available in gloss, satin and flat finishes. Gloss would be too shiny, and flat would reveal the damaged areas, so I used satin as a compromise. Satin has just enough shine when it dries to conceal the damaged areas better. I used black because the brown shades didn't look like a good match for the plastics used by Allison, and Allison used both black and brown grilles on with all their cabinet finishes.
Here's the link to the Krylon Web site: http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic
Stay tuned. :yes:
Attachments
Last edited: