AR 2-A SCORE and questions...

[GD70]

http://www.howardproducts.com/prod-restor-a-finish.php with steel wool. I have a dental pick and magnifying glasses for grain embedded unwanteds.

That's a great idea!

 

[Drugolf]

I like this episode. Good job man. As a MCM fan, I love that fabric and am glad you are trying to save it. As good as the new 123 stitch stuff is, it still isn't like the old stuff, especially this linen boucle stuff.

 

[stumptacular]

because of the "battle scars" on these speakers.., i dont mind the stain having some specks.. i dont mind the bruises or gauges as much... and it just makes sense that i try to put the bruised old cloth back on the grilles as well... but... that task is turning into such a PITA... its brittle... of course i got it wet before i had a reply on the forum not to lol... i still think i can do it but its finicky... using the clear drying glue from a recent re-foam to attach the cloth... hopefully when i get done these speakers will at least look period correct even if they have some signs of use.... i tried everything to get the speckles of old paint out... everything except for a dental pick lol.. i just dont have time... but im stoked with how its going overall.... tonight i have a little bit of veneer to glue down and more finish sanding on the other cabinet.... as well as trying to re-adhere the old cloth.,.. its brittle and hard to stretch back into place

you can see the water stains the gauges and the warts and all... im still happy with it... i will deal with some of this stuff in my own ways but i dont have time to dental pick every speck out of this veneer... they are weathered from 50 years use and there is an authenticity about that

most of the scrapes that wouldnt sand off are on what was the original bottoms of the cases:

glued the leading edge of the cloth back to the grilles... these things are a pain in the a__ but look how authentic they look...

i'm glad its going how its going... i learned a lot about paint removal... (and avoiding it in the future lol) im ready to get the cabinets to a stopping point and start pulling the woofers....

 

[alteclipsch]

They look great, you've transformed them. I like that solid walnut facing on the front of the cabinets. I sure wouldn't let a few white specks bother me.

 

[stupidhead]

re-do your pics luke, they are not showing up for some reason.
I am anxious to see before and after of the grilles.
Take your time young skywalker, you have much still to do.

 

[stumptacular]

They look great, you've transformed them. I like that solid walnut facing on the front of the cabinets. I sure wouldn't let a few white specks bother me.

thank you!.... i think it really beats the fence-painted white that was on it before...

 

[stumptacular]

some of the grille cloth was stained and decomposed at one corner... i glued it in place first as i reattached the fabric to the grille....
i realized early on that every extra thread that came off of these original grille covers may have value towards the end product... this grille solution is experimental... its a tough stretch for such a brittle old fabric... but if i bow the grille upwards at the ends i can clamp the opposing end of the fabric to the side of the grille that hasnt been glued yet...

here I'm adding a few sparse extra threads that came off the fabric back into the pattern of the part that was stained, deteriorated and missing...
it wont be perfect but if i can make it blend visually i would be happy for these speakers to retain more of their original look even if somewhat battered

 

[stumptacular]

re-do your pics luke, they are not showing up for some reason.
I am anxious to see before and after of the grilles.
Take your time young skywalker, you have much still to do.

the pics show up fine for me... tinypic image hosting was offline today so i used imagur.. i have limited image hosting experience... advise me on the best site for hosting

im anxious to see the after of the grilles.. the before is not pretty... i dont know if i took before pics but i have to stretch and glue one little piece of this cloth at a time using needle nose vice grips clamped diagonally to the 1/2 inch wide at times masonite grille edge... one stretch at a time..just to glue a one inch section... i have to be that methodical or im going to rip it beyond usability ... i let it dry at least 20 minutes per clamping... i dont want to rush it and there are several blemishes in the cloth that i will have to address by fudging them with stitching, glue or camo with extra thread... one way or another i really hope to use the original cover again... they will make the dings and stains on the cabinets make more sense if its all put back together authentically.... fingers crossed. little by little... step by step...

 

[GD70]

Very nice transformation! Pat yourself on the back and have a cold one!

 

[stumptacular]

Very nice transformation! Pat yourself on the back and have a cold one!

Thanks GD70! I couldn't do this project without you guys and I already have more questions lol

 

[ra.ra]

Hey globehead, you are rocking this project! Like yourself, I kinda like it when my 50 year-old speakers show a few battle scars or memories from the past. Keep up the good work.

 

[stumptacular]

Hey globehead, you are rocking this project! Like yourself, I kinda like it when my 50 year-old speakers show a few battle scars or memories from the past. Keep up the good work.

Thank you

 

[stupidhead]

pics are now showing up....and what a transformation in three days! the grille looks great.

 

[stumptacular]

just a glimpse into how im restretching the fabric to the grille... its very brittle and very slow going... but i have found that if i bow the grille out away from the cloth it gives it just the slack it needs to just maybe, hopefully glue far enough to the end of the grille that it doesnt show once installed... it seems to be working but it is slow goin...clamping and gluing one little inch at a time...

 

[stumptacular]

pics are now showing up....and what a transformation in three days! the grille looks great.

thanks man.. the grille has potential but one slip and i could rip a hole right through it... its fragile after all these years.... i did notice one thing to my advantage.... after i soaked these to clean them and they shrank... it became a little more resiliant... so its a give and take.. hopefully i can get them back together so the edges dont show and the threads are as even as possible... the parts that arent lined up with the edge arent glued yet

 

[stumptacular]

getting back to the other cabinet... the same end that had the veneer de-laminating also had the walnut facing unglued...
so thats gonna clamp and dry for awhile... i used the palette knife to spread the glue around inside the crevice before clamping

this has to be glued back on before the veneer can be repaired...

 

[GD70]

just a glimpse into how im restretching the fabric to the grille... its very brittle and very slow going... but i have found that if i bow the grille out away from the cloth it gives it just the slack it needs to just maybe, hopefully glue far enough to the end of the grille that it doesnt show once installed... it seems to be working but it is slow goin...clamping and gluing one little inch at a time...

The weak point on the grill frames is the thin sides. Be careful bending them or you'll end up epoxy in and splinting them! You're approach seems to be working.

Glenn

 

[stumptacular]

The weak point on the grill frames is the thin sides. Be careful bending them or you'll end up epoxy in and splinting them! You're approach seems to be working.

Glenn

i have a kink in one of the small sides from where i was removing it originally... i plan on splinting it just for precaution...

next; the veneer repair... using a palette knife to spread the glue under all of the loose veneer

ironing the excess glue out

for 2 days i have been fussing with re-adhering the grille cloth... that project is ongoing and tedious...
stretching the fabric as far as it will and gluing it while keeping it straight as possible...

here is a detail of one of the rattier areas of the grille cloth... im piecing in strands of thread to try to blend it in better... that is a project in and of itself and there are several small holes that need similar treatment... there are a couple areas on these grilles where its pretty rough but i have some ideas to try to work that out...

i hope to finish the sanding and oiling on the other cabinet tomorrow night.... might even have the grille covers usable by then as well....

 

[stumptacular]

reusing the old grille cloth took a lot of time and effort... i spent a bunch of hours trying to get these as good as possible... glue still drying.... i have some ideas to improve it but all in all its going better than i could have initially hoped... this one turned out a bit wavier than the other oine but i think i can shrink some of that back out of it by getting it wet and letting it dry...

i have no idea why this picture is rotated wrong

 

[stumptacular]

there is always more to do ...but...
the cosmetics are getting somewhat ripe... these are gonna look/sound great hanging out with my AR91's i just refoamed...
can you believe i got both sets of these for ten dollars? !

after i get them looking good i will move on to recapping and resealing etc...