ATPIII Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I have longed for a pair of Klipsch Heresy speakers ever since first hearing them in high school during the late 70’s. As luck would have it, a good friend who decided to down size his speakers from Heresys to a book shelf surround sound system, offered to sell me his at a good price. I jumped! I now have a pair of plywood finish raw birch (I think) Heresys - on the back of the speakers it says “Type – HRR (seriel #’s 97u835 and 97u834). They are in very good condition – no dings, scratches, or water rings, and they sound great. While I like the look, I want to give them some kind of finish to protect the wood and to give them a richer look. An artist friend who works with wood suggested a light sanding, a clean wipe, and a coat or two of Tung Oil. I was also considering giving the woven cane grills a wipe with the Tung Oil too. I went to the neighborhood hardware store and picked up some Formby’s Traditional Tung Oil Finish in low gloss (a varnish). Before proceeding I wanted to get Forum’s advice. Any wise words of advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 my advice, don't do it. welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumayama Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 The Formby's finish (which you correctly identify as a varnish) is a well known and fairly respectable wipe or brush on finish. Like most varnishes, it creates a film that will be resistant to dirt and water, thus giving much more protection than the raw finish. However, if you don't like it, it is somewhat difficult to remove. If it were me, I'd first just wipe down the surface of the wood with some mineral spirits. While still wet, it will give you a good idea of what the grain will look like with an oil or varnish, and in the process provide a light cleaning. If you like the look given by the mineral spirits wash, I'd personally start with wiping on a thin coat of polymerized tung oil (not a varnish) that will surely bring out the grain and provide a very modest level of protection. (BTW, a good mail order source of polymerized tung oil is Lee Valley). The first light coat or two of PTO, especially if you cut it 50% with mineral spirits, will largely soak into the wood, but can be removed without too much trouble (far easier than a varnish) should you wish to reverse things. Should you like the tung oil look (I do), you can build more coats of PTO over time, to build the classic oiled finish, or you can wipe on a thin coat of your Formby's varnish. The key to a good finish with either of these is to wipe on very thin coats with a lot of drying time between them. Hope this helps. If you want to research this for yourself, I'd recommend obtaining or borrowing a wood finish book by either Bob Flexner or Jeff Jewitt (available through Amazon, and likely your library). Both authors provide some of the best books on wood finishing for amateurs and will give you a lot on information that will allow you to decide between the different kinds of finishes and finish techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATPIII Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 Very helpful! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 If you get ambitious.... take a look at this thread which goes into detail on restoration of Heresy's: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/109693.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 i said don't do it because i love the look of factory BR for the heresy and lascalla. once you stain it it looses its charm. just my 2c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATPIII Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 Sure, I get it. I think I'll just live with them for a while and then make my call concerning finishing them or not. I may do a little sanding either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 I now have a pair of plywood finish raw birch (I think) Heresys - on the back of the speakers it says “Type – HRR (seriel #’s 97u835 and 97u834). They are in very good condition – no dings, scratches, or water rings, and they sound great. Just a guess, but I bet it's HBR, not HRR. That would be Heresy Birch Raw. Staining is trickier than people think, and is probably not the best thing to do. But a clear finish would be fine. A simple, clear finish that really looks nice is Minwax wipe-on satin polyurethane. Light sanding, cleaning, prep work first. Cane grills = Nice! FYI - the "u" in the serial number indicates that they were built in 1980. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 As Greg said. Also birch can be very tricky to stain because of the grain type. I tends to stain unevenly unless it's treated with a sealer/ conditioner designed for birch (minwax comes to mind). A light sanding (very light as in be very careful not to sand through the first/ top layer of veneer) say with a 360 or 400 grit using a random orbital sander followed by the poly coat Greg recommends will make them look very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUGIE Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 +1 on the Miniwax wip on poly, love the stuff. Use the semi, the gloss is well.. too glossy. I wouldn't use anything on the cane grill though, by now they are probably kinda fragile and any varnish will take any of the elasticity out of them and make them more easy to damage. I love cane grills, I have an old Philco HiFi cabinet my parents gave me with cane grills and it looks awesome, sadly I don't have room for it anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 If you like the look of lighter wood, linseed oil or Tung oil after a good cleaning and light sanding will look very nice. I prefer boiled linseed oil to tung oil because it doesn't build up and doesn'tlook shiney. Use steel wool between coats. If you use a stain on birch, use a conditioner first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 If you use a stain on birch, use a conditioner first. That's the key to an even stain and/or an even coloration upon the application of the poly (or oiling, etc.) That being said, if you have a spectacular piece of birch that has patterns that you want to cause to show, then not sealing or conditioning would be in order. As an example, the computer desk I made for my daughter is 7 ply Karelian (Russian) birch (same as Heresy-I's and II's). When sorting through the sheets prior to purchase, I found this particular sheet. I actually made two somewhat identical desks, one for the computer and one as an "office" spare. Excuse the (a) green walls - my daughter is into lime green.... ( the ultra hot hot cheeto's residue - she is a messy person..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Another view. Consider a pair of Heresy's with that pattern - Nice!!! But they would have to go in that room and my daughter stil refuses to have any sound system whatsoever in the room, espcially "big Klipsch speakers". Oh well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 The birch was sanded with 220, then 400, then 600 grit, and then the poly was applied. Two coats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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