Speaker Cabinets, Howard's Restor-A-Finish and Wood Filler

[hi*ball]

Thanks for all the info, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[4-2-7]

Thanks for all the info, it is greatly appreciated!

Im a profesional Finisher

 

[bills]

the go jo cleans them the howards makes them look better.
It all depends on how good you want them to look.
you will be surprised how good they will look they will not be perfect by any
stretch but they will look good. if you are not happy do a full refinish.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Im a profesional Finisher

And he loves the fumes. :yes:

 

[drbiggles]

Im a profesional Finisher

I'm an unprofessional wood butcher.

the go jo cleans them the howards makes them look better.
It all depends on how good you want them to look.
you will be surprised how good they will look they will not be perfect by any
stretch but they will look good. if you are not happy do a full refinish.

The full re-finish/restore I do pretty well, so far. But the cleaning then Restor a Finish I've only been doing a few months worth. The projects I get aren't generally in good enough shape for the easier of the two methods.

Biggles

 

[bre's dad]

if you're going to try to match the color, and are sanding them, save the sawdust you've created by sanding, and mix that well into the putty with the closest color match to the wood you're working with. it can make the putty very close to the wood in color, and if you are lucky you won't have to work hard to match the final color after staining.

I've tried this method on small things, like filling in nail holes & it works pretty good. I learned this trick from a person that hand built dulcimers & other string instruments and this was a trick he used for years, except he uses wood glue to mix instead of putty. Not sure how well it would work on those ong deep scratches. I think you're still going to see those no matter what and they look too deep to sand out, depending on how thick the veneer is.

 

[WaynerN]

That is a lot of damage, I doubt it would sand out without running out of veneer. Might I suggest that you re-veneer the cabinets instead?

 

[Soldermizer]

Reading with interest! I am more the wood butcher too, as you shall see. In recent years I have become a collector of old Bose 901 pairs, usually with pretty sad cabinets. My skills and tools are usually limited to: sand it and stain it. My first attempt was on a really bad cabinet and I sanded through the very thin ply. That pair was painted white and given to a friend. With better cabinets and more careful sanding,I get better results. I've not tried to get rid of deep scratches, but maybe will try on the next pair? I have used Watco restore and it works well. Later I tried a walnut stain (sorry brand I forget), as directed and then a gloss polyurethane coat. It looks good, but yes the deep scratches and dings are still visible especially at an angle. This is a great hobby. In my case, we are talking speakers that are bought anywhere from $150 to $300 the pair so skills for heirloom furniture are not required.

 

[SteveS in VA]

4-2-7 makes a lot of sense. The dings that are just dents will generally steam out, either entirely or close. But in order to steam out dents you have to really remove the finish so the steam can penetrate. That cannot happen with sanding since you will almost certainly have sanded through the veneer by the time you get to the bottom of the ding. Therfore stripping is what is called for.

Howards is mostly mineral oil, with some various solvents, possibly as cleaning agents or moisture ring combatants. Mineral oil never dries and would have to be removed before you could apply a more permananent finish.

 

[4-2-7]

4-2-7 makes a lot of sense. The dings that are just dents will generally steam out, either entirely or close. But in order to steam out dents you have to really remove the finish so the steam can penetrate. That cannot happen with sanding since you will almost certainly have sanded through the veneer by the time you get to the bottom of the ding. Therfore stripping is what is called for.

Howards is mostly mineral oil, with some various solvents, possibly as cleaning agents or moisture ring combatants. Mineral oil never dries and would have to be removed before you could apply a more permananent finish.

Also with a lot of sratches if you sand befor steaming they will stand out. The color is the same down in the scratch as on the surface. Once you change the color when sanding the surface, the scratch is darker or lighter.