Touching up or refinishing black Forte II

[tromprof]

I have a pair of black Forte II speakers I purchased new in 1988. After many moves and kids the finish on them is dull and chipped in spots. Anyone know what the black finish is? Looks more like a stain or lacquer to me rather than paint. I would like to bring them back of from the basement to serve home theater duty but they are not not up to living room condition. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[luckyduck]

Your black Fortes were finished at the factory like this:

#40 sheen semi gloss primer

2 coats of #40 sheen "production SSG"

one coat of #40 sheen "clear coat"

All products from Valspar/OPEX

(...the information above is from our own Groomlakearea 51)[Y]

I used Rust-Oleum Satin Black #7777 and Linzer artist brushes to make my 1987 black Fortes look nice again when I had them.

[tromprof]

Thanks for the info!

I was thinking about using a good black acrylic latex, semi-gloss. Did you do any prep for the wood (other than cleaning) before the Rust-Oleum?

[luckyduck]

Hey, good afternoon tromprof! No, I didn't do any prep work other than wipe the speaker cabinets down with one of my wife's best towels. LOL I was afraid if I used any kind of cleaner it would screw up the next step. Once the Rust-Oleum was dry (some areas I had to apply a couple of laps), I just wiped them down with cheese cloth which had been gently misted with a little Endust.

[tromprof]

Thanks again. Looks like I have a good afternoon project!

[Groomlakearea51]

You can do that, but given the prepping required for any coat of paint, etc. you would be better off due to the value of the speakers using a lacquer. But if..... you decide to use an acrylic latex, I would recommend Ace Hardware's premium Royal exterior House and Trim semi-gloss. Reason? I have switched to using it for motor boards instead of lacquer primer. Requires no thinning, rolls on even and soaks in without any marks, dries quickly, has no odor or fumes, and can easily be touched up very few years without the hassle of the whole "lacquer" trial and tribulation. Best part? I cannot tell the difference between it and lacquer. I would not "roll" it on a speaker cabinet as there is already previously finished because the original finish has sealed the wood underneath. It will work, but it will have a textured or "eggshell" appearance. It can also be sprayed, but requires a gun, proper dilution, etc.

Take a look at this for how to fix chips and otherwise refinish black lacquer: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/109693.aspx