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Black shoe shine?


Taz

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So I have a pair of black La Scala's out in the shop that could stand to be refinished. And I was wondering if I filled in the scratches and painted black all parts that are not back, How would black shoe shine wax work for a finish? Polish them up good with a buffer and give additional coats until I'm satisfied. Maybe even finish em off with a good coat of auto wax?.

Has anybody heard of, or done this themselves?

Harassment, Comments of any type welcome.

John

Edited by Taz
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That would certainly be an interesting experiment. The black would soak into the wood to hide scratches, and the finish would be somewhat like Briwax. Could the residue come off on your clean white carpet when you move the speakers in for that special occasion in the future?

You would have the only LaScalas that you spit polish. :D

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That would certainly be an interesting experiment. The black would soak into the wood to hide scratches, and the finish would be somewhat like Briwax. Could the residue come off on your clean white carpet when you move the speakers in for that special occasion in the future?

You would have the only LaScalas that you spit polish. :D

Yea and we do have a white carpet. Maybe I should take a black shoe and do a test spot?

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Yea and we do have a white carpet.

How do you think Mustang Guy knew that, your monitor camera is always ON and we can see everything, might want to cover it or turn it off on occasion ? :o

Edited by dtel
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Since my name came up.

Here is the tread on my suggestion on products from Walgreens and actual professional stains.

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/144471-fixing-scratches/

Much of what you do depends on how much money you want to spend and the results you want.

If these are out in the shop you might not want a new "piano finish." But you could achieve this with a lot of work.

I see there was no feedback on using Kiwi liquid but that will certainly dye or stain any bare wood and obviate the impact of scratches, and put on a little sheen.

After that, I believe you will find that clear or black wax type shoe polish will give a very favorable results with some buffing with even a T-shirtt.. It is possible that it will dye the scratches without the liquid.

I suggest this use of products from Walgreens on black speakers because, in my view, it gives a lot of improvement, bang for the buck, without getting involved with the constellation of products at Home Depot or elsewhere.

Please let us have your notes and photographs. You will be our new expert.

WMcD

Edited by William F. Gil McDermott
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Looks like I'm going to go for it. I had decided against it as I read that fingerprints can be an issue. But no kids at home, smoke colored acrylic for the tops just laying around. I will need specific instructions for reducing the data in pictures as I don't know how and have tried without success. Also posting pictures on the forum.

But regardless I believe I'll give it a try. Have a few scratches and a gouge to fill. Not sure if to go with or Spackle type product.

While these are in the shop, they are presentable enough to be in the house as is. I'd just like to get them nice enough that my Wife will want them in the house.

I hope to drive both these La Scala's and my Khorns with some old tube amps.

I'd like to thank Gil and Everyone else for their input.

John

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So I have a pair of black La Scala's out in the shop that could stand to be refinished. And I was wondering if I filled in the scratches and painted black all parts that are not back, How would black shoe shine wax work for a finish? Polish them up good with a buffer and give additional coats until I'm satisfied. Maybe even finish em off with a good coat of auto wax?.

Has anybody heard of, or done this themselves?

Harassment, Comments of any type welcome.

John

Having a little experience working with wood and paint, I really think you would be making a mistake doing this. I believe what you are talking about doing will always be a little messy and won't last, needing continuous maintenance. If it were me this is what I would do depending on paint or stain. If I chose to go with a stain, any wood with a color sealer would have to be stripped down to bare wood. You would have to take off any type of shiny sealer. Then I would fill in any bad scratches or gouges with a good wood putty. Sand putty down to get a smooth finish and then apply stain. Depending on the look you want to end up with you could then apply a sealer. If you decide to use a paint, just clean well, use the wood putty, and sand down. You only need to sand down the putty until happy along with scuffing up the old paint so the new paint would adhere. With care, both of these options would last a long while with only having to dust when needed. But, that's just me..
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I polish my black speakers, the RF 7's and 64 with Kiwi black paste shoe polish. They have a nice rich look. These speakers have feet so I have not had a problem with the black coming off on the white carpet.

I brought the speaker around a year and a half ago in flawless condition. I put the first scratch on one and broke the first peg on the grill. That is just bad luck seening that the speakers were made in 2003 or 2006. :angry:

Edited by derrickdj1
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if they are black laquer you don't want to put wax of any kind on them if you ever plan to re-touch the finish with black lacquer.

the silicone in the wax will cause a new application of black lacquer to fog up with a white shadow looking mist on the finish.

to cover a scratch on black lacquer...use a qtip slightly dipped in black lacquer and follwo the scratch. repeat every 24 hours until the scratch vanishes.

why does this work....new lacquer melts old lacquer..so basically your scratch gets melted into blending with the surrounding old black lacquer

this is an art, more so than science...which means you should practice in an inconspicuous spot until you get the technique.

Edited by speakerfritz
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I was thinking the same thing but could not find any information about Kiwi containing silicone, they don't list any ingredients.

Good idea touching up with lacquer though its not going to match perfect it will be better than a scratch or ding while protecting the wood underneath.

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I was thinking the same thing but could not find any information about Kiwi containing silicone, they don't list any ingredients.

Good idea touching up with lacquer though its not going to match perfect it will be better than a scratch or ding while protecting the wood underneath.

Here's one take on ingredients: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/st_shoe_polish/

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I don't know really what type of finish is currently on your La Scala's. But if it's something like a oil finish/stain, Klipsch recommends using a product called Watco Rejuvenating Oil. It's made by the Rust Oleum. I've been using it on my Heresy 1's that has a Walnut Oil finish for years. It really keeps the wood looking great. I apply it only once every 1 to 1.5 years. Just dust with a furniture product weekly or so..
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You'll be a shoe in!

hey-hey man, better watch it. you can't do that in here.

Cut him some slack Gilbert, he's new. He just wants people to take a shining to him.

It's all good. I'm laughing,

After All I Did State;

"Has anybody heard of, or done this themselves?"

"Harassment, Comments of any type welcome"

The speakers are currently Black and The tag on the back indicates Black. However a partial repaint shows a Two Tone Black. Even the bottom of the scratches are black.

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