Cornwall Rebuild - Progress

[PSUSkier]

So this past weekend I finally got around to building replacement cabinets for my beat to crap Cornwalls. So far I'm really happy with how they're coming together, but I realized today I need to figure out how to finish these. I tried some different stains on some scrap pieces and it really subdued the variations in the wood grain. Most everything in my living room is a rather dark reddish/brown color (see the coffee table in the background), but I think these will have to go much lighter.

So anyway, to the meat of the post, what is everyone's thoughts on how to finish these? Oiled? Light stain? Something else?

[Tom Mobley]

What is the wood?

[PSUSkier]

Oops, thought I included that in the initial post. They're hickory plywood.

[muel]

Whatever you decide to try there is no substitute for experimenting A LOT on pieces of scrap until you see what you like. My last project started and ended with Watco Danish oil. I tried a few different tints and started mixing and tried coat after coat until I had exactly what I wanted. The oil is forgiving too! Cost me over $30 in the different tints of Watco and stains. As far as final finish, I spent so much time with urethane on my floors and countless coats of varnish on a cedar strip canoe that I just can't be interested in going that route.

Groomlake has some nice stain suggestions for Walnut in his Cornwall Saga rebuild post. I tried this but came out a little too dark on my walnut veneer. I settled on somewhere around a 2:1 to a 1.5:1 mix of Cherry and Natural Watco Danish oil for the first coat. I followed this with multiple coats of Natural along with some wet sanding and I was very happy with the result. It is not a shiny finish but looks quite nice.

Good luck! Looks good so far. [Y]

EDIT: Oh yeah... the Danish oil brought the grain out a little more and was a little less uniform than stain. It has a certain irridiscent quality as well.

[Guest " "]

looks good. always better to build from scratch than to fil, sand, re-veneer. I vote one of the lighter penetrating oils like the watco stuff. not too crazy about tung and linseed.

[Schu]

since you were building from scratch, wouldn't you want to extend the depth of the cabinets?

[PSUSkier]

looks good. always better to build from scratch than to fil, sand, re-veneer. I vote one of the lighter penetrating oils like the watco stuff. not too crazy about tung and linseed.

Definitely agree. The plywood layers were separating on the old cabinet so there was no saving it. But yeah, I'm going to see if I can get some oil to try the finish because I'm curious how it will come out.. My local SW has some amazing customer service and invited me to bring some scrap in to try a bunch of finishes in store so we'll see where we go from there.

since you were building from scratch, wouldn't you want to extend the depth of the cabinets?

Even if I wanted to I don't think I could've afforded anything deeper in the living room space-wise. Even though it's too late now, what would be the benefit from deviating from the original cabinet dimensions?

[JR1987]

Very nice work! They look great!

Depends what you want to accomplish and what sort of look you want. As far as oils BLO and Tung Oil are common finishes (though Tung Oil can be hard to find).

Generally speaking oil's in my opinion look the best, but are the most difficult to deal with. They take a lot longer to get the desired finish you want, unless deeply soaked/dipped.

For example I am STILL in the process of refinishing my Russian 91/30 rifle with a BLO beeswax mix. I started this back in July.

I am also still working my M1 stock, though it's pretty close to finished.

Note, I am doing a "fancier" finish on these two rifles, trying to get a good deep rich color.

Tung Oil is even harder to work with, and can stay "wet" for even longer than BLO. You really need to let it sit properly before whipping it down.

I've always felt Tung Oil leaves a more "moist" looking finish, while BLO leaves a deep, but "dry" looking finish.

Depends how much time you want to take with them, and your taste. Keep us up to date. Those cabs look great.

[angusruler]

i always like to use clear on the the wood myself. i'm a big fan of lighter wood tones.

[rpampt]

Nice looking. Be sure and get that glue at the joints sanded off before applying any finishes or stains. Good luck, I'm anxious to see how they turn out. That's a great start.

[PSUSkier]

Thanks all. I looked into the oil options and I must say I think I like the look of BLO rubbed into the wood (I'm thinking probably somewhere between 5-10 coats of the stuff). The sanding has yet to commence so that's why you still see the glue in some areas, but I'm waiting until I can get the edge banding on the fronts. One question I do have though... Everything I've read about using BLO tells you to mix it with something different, whether it's terp, mineral oils or a vast variety of other chemicals. For anyone who's worked with it, what is easiest to work with?

[Guest " "]

Everything I've read about using BLO tells you to mix it with something
different, whether it's terp, mineral oils or a vast variety of other
chemicals. For anyone who's worked with it, what is easiest to work
with?

i use mineral spirits. the idea is to thin the linseed oil out so that it soaks in deeper. new cabs are going to soak this stuff right up so don't be surprised if you break your 5 to 10 coat plan.

[ricktate]

I think you should try danish cherry stain. Im using it on re-veneered Scalas and also on the dog house part on the birch looks good i think. I can put up pic if you need one.Rick

[colterphoto1]

Minwax Special Walnut (on birch) is a pretty close approximation to original Klipsch walnut. That's what's on my LS along with several coast of BLO. The original owner did em right.

[JR1987]

Boiled Linseed Oil isn't very difficult to work with, in comparison to stain it may be, but Tung Oil or Linseed Oil (regular non "boiled") are much harder to work with.

Boiled Linseed Oil is pretty easy to work with. You rub it in, let it soak, and wipe it off. On the first coat it is recommended that you lightly rub it down with some 000 steel wool. After the first coat it is just a matter of applying, then whipping down.

Some people have chosen to water it down to make the process easier, but I don't use a watered down formula until the first few coats are on and I am simply finishing it up. My M1, for example, is finished with BLO and a 1/3 mix of BLO, turpentine, and beeswax. Soon I will add a coat of Tung Oil to make it more water resistant. The BLO is the initial coat and coloring and the mix is a finishing product.

I've never found BLO difficult to work with, it's just time consuming. 1 coat a day. Apply, sit, wipe, allow to dry thoroughly, and repeat the next day.

[Pete H]

Oops, thought I included that in the initial post. They're hickory plywood.

I would think you choose Hickory because you liked the color and variation in the wood so IMO, to stain it anything medium or dark would defeat the purpose of picking that wood, but you're the one that has to like them.

[Panacea Engineering]

Watco Natural is about the best finish I have ever used. It is not a stain and will bring out the natural beauty of the wood. If you "Wet Sand" with 600 grit automotive (black) wet/dry sand paper, you will get a finish that you will be proud of. The more wet sanding the deeper the finish. Then you can apply what ever final finish you want, Lacquer, Poly or just leave it natural and apply the Watco periodically

[PSUSkier]

Minwax Special Walnut (on birch) is a pretty close approximation to original Klipsch walnut. That's what's on my LS along with several coast of BLO. The original owner did em right.

Cool. I'm actually looking to avoid the stains at this point just so I can get the most out of the unique wood patterns. After all, at this point they really aren't worth squat because they aren't built by Klipsch, so I'm going as far as I can to differentiate the boxes from the original product.

Oops, thought I included that in the initial post. They're hickory plywood.

I would think you choose Hickory because you liked the color and variation in the wood so IMO, to stain it anything medium or dark would defeat the purpose of picking that wood, but you're the one that has to like them.

Yep, you're pretty much dead on. That's why my attention turned to oiled finishes. I'm new to the whole woodworking thing but I saw a few photos of hickory objects with this type of finish and it really seemed to accent the grain differences.

It seems a bit more obvious now how to proceed now so thanks for the advice everyone. The only other question I have is it seems like for the oil finishes you want to sand the ever-living crap out of the wood with regards to moving up the grit tree. I saw someone mention they went all the way up to 1000 grit (!) dry sanding though that seems overkill. With the oil finish would 400 be a decent sanding end point or should it be pushed further?

[JR1987]

The higher the number, the finer the paper, and the less abrasive it is.This means 400 grit sand paper is far more abrasive and will leave more "marks" behind than a finer grit paper. You ALWAYS work your way up with sand paper. If you need more abrasion you use a lower grit, and work your way up to higher numbers"polishing" away the more visible marks. I just want to make sure you don't think 400 grit is finer, you'd make a horrible mistake! It is the internet and it's easy to get confused reading.

I have never sanded during finishing except with tung oil, and that was very lightly between coats. Boiled linseed oil: you basically apply, let it soak, wipe it off, use some 0000 steel wool, and repeat the next day (except for the steel wool part).

I don't know where you saw that, but I have no idea why someone would do that. The wood will soak it up quick, it doesn't really need to be worked anymore than VERY VERY VERY lightly on the first coat. The problem with stopping at 400 grit would be you will start marring the finish you just worked so hard on putting on. You will see the scratches from the abrasive in the finish when it dries. That's why people go up to 1000 to "polish" away the signs of previous sanding. But like I said, I've never done that with BLO, I do it before to correct any imperfections or remove any stuck on "undesirable" stuff.

I've sanded before finishing something (working my way up to finer abrasives) and THEN applied BLO, but never during the process, and only if I was removing a previous finish and some stuff was stuck or there was uneven areas. But with bare wood... some very light finishing before applying, then apply.

[rpampt]

On my last speaker project build, I used oak, and finished it with Watco Danish Oil. I had read somewhere to apply the first couple coats with sandpaper, since the oak is a coarse and porous wood, it will loosen some particles that will then mix with the oil and actually fill in some of the fine voids. Thus providing a smoother finish. This was only when doing your final grit. Did seem to do the trick. Don't remember where I read it though. My mind is like an iron safe, I just forget the combo sometimes.