GD70
Lunatic Member
Looking good!
Keep the gaskets for now, especially the mid & tweeter gaskets. I believe Mike re-used his.
Starting ADS 1290 Refurbishment
- Thread starter wildheritage
- Start date
Keep the gaskets for now, especially the mid & tweeter gaskets. I believe Mike re-used his.
plugto
Well-Known Member
Just bumped into this post. Hey wild Rich put gaskets on all my drivers for me after rebuild. All I had to do was pop them in. I just sanded my pair and painted them with spraypaint. Black to match all other equipment. I like to listen and watch movies in the dark. Black is easy to keep when new scratches arise. GD the job you did on the 1590s is impeccable. Gorgeous. I concentrate mostly on the sound not so much the looks. I flattened out my grills with a rubber mallet tapping the inside against a marble slab, then I stripped the inside cloth with MRC wich is metering roller cleaner. I first tried scraping the cloth off but learned it was glued on and the glue is a bitch to sand off. The chemical MRC just ate right through the adhesive and removal was super simple. I then sanded the grills and spray painted. I like the looks of all the drivers showing through the grill. I doubt any increase in sound without the cloth it was very thin. And if you decide to go crazy and go 5.1 for surround sound you can match your speakers with the center channel on Rich's website.
GD70
Lunatic Member
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
If you've got a compass and a pair of scissors, you can make nice gaskets with 1/8" closed cell foam. A lot of guys line tool box drawers with it, if you don't have a place you can go to and say, "Hey, give me a couple feet of closed cell foam." For the screw holes, I got a 9 piece hollow punch set from Harbor Freight Tools, as opposed to the office hole punch normally used on paper.
If your gaskets are rubber, you can get 12" X 12" sheets of either 1/32 or 1/16 Buna-N at Grainger.
gdmoore28
Super Member
Good info there, Pork! That's the same technique I've used when making gaskets for automotive, lawnmower, and speaker applications. I must say that my haste has resulted in much less attractive-looking gaskets than the ones you picture, though.
My uncle used to work for an oil services company making gaskets for the industry down in Houston, so he kept me supplied with industrial-quality hollow punches and rubber and synthetic gasket material. Now that he's passed on, I've been making my own punches. Didn't know Harbor Freight carried them. Thanks for the tip!
GeeDeeEmm
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
Gee,
I've made my own punches as well, but at $9, my days of grinding on pieces of tubing are at an end.
I've also taken to designing the rubber gaskets in Photoshop as there's rulers and guides to help with accuracy, printing the life size version and gluing it to a piece of Buna-N or Neoprene with the clear Elmer's school glue - all glue and paper come off after soaking for a couple of minutes. The print-out is a perfect cutting template.
I've found it also helps to barbeque a tenderloin for a woman that's a functional artist. She can handle scissors in ways I never fathomed.
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gdmoore28
Super Member
I'll bet! Heck, if we lived closer you could invite me over for a tenderloin, too. I've been known to do some creative work myself if the end result was a sizzling steak and a baked potato. Yeah, boy.
GeeDeeEmm
wildheritage
New Member
OK so here is the 1st side sanded to 320. Keep in mind I'm an amateur as you read my next question,,,Do the experts think there are still some scratches to remove or is this the natural finish of the wood? I think it is walnut, but I could be wrong.
GD70
Lunatic Member
GD70
Lunatic Member
That looks good and I wouldn't go any farther unless it's just to even out the veneer color in areas where a bit of original finish remains.
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
Them's going to be some good looking speakers when you're done. Between your and Richard's work, you're going to have some keepers.
I may be jumping ahead a bit, but might I recommend a full covering of the inside of the grill with the upholstery underliner with a little shelf up top to protect the freshly gooped mids and tweets when you get them back?
Are you sure you're through the finish?
wildheritage
New Member
Yes, I'm through the finish. I'm collecting plenty of wood dust rather than the white dust from the urethane. Now I'm thinking the veneer is a rosewood, given the grain pattern and color.
I'll have to post some pics of the grills. They are in good shape and still have the fabric on the inside. I suppose they don't look brand new.
I'll have to post some pics of the grills. They are in good shape and still have the fabric on the inside. I suppose they don't look brand new.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Easy enough to make em look brand new with a little easy metalwork.
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
What exactly is the ADS version of "Rosewood" anyway? Could it be that ADS slapped some red dye/stain on some walnut and marketed it as "Rosewood?" Every "Rosewood" pair I've seen looked like reddened walnut. True, some strains of actual rosewood look like walnut, but actual rosewood veneer is comparatively expensive.
My HT speakers are marketed is "Rosenut", insinuating rosewood, but they could be just about anything with a red dye job. A Monitor Audio rep that I contacted claimed them to be dyed mahogany, but I think he was talking out his ass to humor me as the wood bears no resemblance to mahogany in grain or texture.
I guess is all pointless speculation as those speakers are going to be as pretty as a naked heiress when completed. If you've gotten the the wood stripped without sanding through the veneer, that's 9/10ths the battle. Settling on a color will be that other 1/10th. You may want to drag the wife/girlfriend into the color choosing process just to insure their enthusiastic welcome into the living room.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
But let's not forget the ADS are European Walnut per soundmotor. A different look compared to the more familiar American Walnut
GD70
Lunatic Member
Ah yes!
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
I see three straight, clean grains with three different treatments. Mikes look unique to other "rosewood" ADS' I've seen, which I would attribute to your treatment of them more than I would a difference in the species.
I know it varies, but I think of rosewood as having a bit more "horizontal" to it.
