Paul Folbrecht Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I'm the new owner of a decent pair of '80 horns in the oiled walnut finish. The sound is good bone-stock - amazingingly good, even with the ancient caps in the xover! - but the finish not the best. Am I crazy to consider stripping that veneer and re-finishing them in (say) maple veneer? A search of the archives did not turn up much on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I built some home made K-Horns and put on veneer. Apparently very thin veneer. Unfortunately there were some bumps and blisters and I tried to get off the stuff I'd applied to start again. The stuff was applied with the most smelly tenacious contact cement. What a mess. My suggestion is to keep the veneer which is on there as a starting point for new veneer. You can repair any places where the banding has come off or dings. Then you have a nice surface to start the new veneer. You should see the extraordinary work by one of the formum members, Greg. http://www.dcchomes.com/restorations.html It is very necessary to practice on scraps or a small project before working on the K-Horns. I always like to point out advice to beginners from the guys who hand grind telescope mirrors. "If you want to grind a 6 inch mirror, it is faster to grind a 3 inch mirror first, and then grind the 6 inch mirror." The exerience is needed and makes the big job go better. A good source of material is http://www.joewoodworker.com/ Wm McD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Folbrecht Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Hi, The thing is I don't much care for the walnut finish anyway - would like a light wood or even black better. Walnut just doesn't go with our decor. A friend who is an experienced woodworker said the only way to get the veneer off is to sand - clearly next to impossible (incredibly time-consuming). Maybe I am better off building new cabinets from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Paul, you got some good advice above. Patching and then re-veneering is a good solution. The idea of building new cabinets would be a real headache. What kind of shape are the cabinets in? If they just have scratches and stains then the prep work is minimal. Gouges and loose edge-banding are a bit more involved, but still easily accomplished (prior to re-veneering). If there are substantial chips on the edges and corners then things become more involved during the prep work. Have you ever done any woodworking or re-finishing before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Folbrecht Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Tom, By re-veneering do you mean putting new veneer over the old or stripping the old? I have to believe that old veneer could be scraped off much faster than sanded. There are definite edge chips, etc. And peeling veneer. My woodworking experience is limited but I'm competent, have tools, and would practice! Oh, and I did briefly look into building new cabs and apparently the precision required makes it a near-impossible task for even an experienced amatuer - that is out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Removing the old veneer may not be required. Is it possible to remove only the loose bits and fill with bondo? Then you could simply (famous last words) apply new veneer over the (patched and sanded) old veneer. The trick is that prior to reveneering, the edges all need to be sharp and not rounded over by careless sanding. You should definitely practice first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dubay Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Paul, Some pictures could help in deciding which direction to go. Some over all pics and the few of the worst dings would help. Filling in voids with filler and re-veenering would be much easier than rebuilding the cabinets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Folbrecht Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Mike, They are not bad overall - no major dings. Some edges coming up. It sounds to me like filling & putting maple veneer over the walnut is the way to go. Not an easy job for me by any means but even if I F it up good they'll still look Ok from the listening seat. I still can't get over how good they sound bone-stock. I don't know if it's the year or what but they are perfectly balanced and very revealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvan Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 It's the year. And all the other years. They sound so good because they're Klipschorns, pure and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dubay Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Good luck to you then. I bet you will be surprised how nice your first veneer job turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Folbrecht Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thank you for your confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss53 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I t ain't so bad. I usually screw everything up and I have had some good results. Go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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