erikjohn Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 I will be adding big brother to my current Corns and Heresey setup. I have refinished the Corns and Heresey's myself but I just purchased a set of K-Horns which I will be picking up next week. They are in perfect shape and have the "Black Laquer Finish" which is fine with me but my wife says I need to refinish them to match the rest of the system. My first question would be "Is it possible to refinish these back to woodgrain finish?" I am concerned that when the black laquer was applied it probably bled deep into the wood making it nearly impossible to bring back to bare wood color. Note that i would like to stain them in walnut to maatch the Cornwalls. Second question, "If it is possible to refinish these speakers what is the best way to go about removing the old color?" ie is there something out there that will strip the old color off of them relatively easily? Any suggestions and feedback is appreciated. Hey HDBRbuilder do you have any comments on this subject? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InventiveAudio.com Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Did u buy the black pair on ebay? They looked to be in good shape. Give the re-finishing a shot, you can always re-paint them black again. I believe that Klipsch wasn't as picky about the quality of the veneer when the cabinet was marked for painting. But maybe you'll get real lucky. Also, the paint may have stained the wood in such a way that you will not be able to get rid of all the stain deep into the wood grain. Perhaps the smart thing to do is to try refinishing inside the top to see what you're up against. Remember to remove all your components and mark everything with tape if you think you'll need to remember. You obviously know how to re-finish so I won't go into that. However, you may try bleaching the wood with special wood bleach. This may get the rest of the black paint from the wood. Good luck with your new speakers and post some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 Trader, Yeh, just picked them up off ebay this weekend. Been wanting a pair of K horns since I got my first pair of Hereseys in 91'. I had the money and they were relatively close to home so I snatched them up. I guess I didn't get a steal on them like I see some of the posters getting as I ended up paying $2950 for them but to me it was worth it. However I did steal my Cornwalls from someone in Phoenix for $350 about 5 years ago so I guess it equals out. I need some posters out there to give me some confidence before I dig into these bad boys. I am picking them up next Sunday and I know the first touch of the sanding pad is goiing to feel like DIY surgerey on my first born child. If they don't turn out I just don't think I could bear to live with myself. Anyway I will post my progress as it is inevitable that I will be refinishing them as the wife gave me the OK to get them under these circumstances. She loves woodgrain Klipsch and wants all of the speakers to match. This message has been edited by erikjohn on 08-05-2002 at 08:13 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 What does the label on them say? That will tell you if they are birch painted black or whatever... If they still have the original black laquer finish on them, it was sprayed on after sanding...and it doesn't normally get deep into the fiber of the veneer from a spray job...you can often just take some laquer thinner and most of the finish will wipe off...then a good sanding will get the rest of the finish off...then just give them a walnut staining and some kind of clear coat(I prefer satin urethane) and you are all set. For the edges of the plywood just go get some "iron-on" birch edge banding or "tape" and that hides the plys from view. Be forewarned that the grain patterns on those k-horn fronts will ,more likely than not, NOT be a match to each other...so don't expect them to be so!! ------------------ I can now receive private messages This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 08-05-2002 at 08:48 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 HDBRbuilder, Please see the attached photo's of the speakers as they were posted on Ebay which shows the serial numbers. Also are you saying that I am going to have to add laminate on the corners because the the black finish models are not laminated on the edges? Or is this because i may not be able to remove the black form the edges? How about woodgrain? Trader said that they use the less attractive woodgrain models for the black finish. Is this true as it would make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InventiveAudio.com Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 I didn't mean less attractive. More accurately I should have said that they will probably not match. I'm not good at reading the tags but it looks like u have birch wood with laquered paint. I have two walnut K-horns from differnt years (one set) and the grain pattern doesn't match and it doesn't bother me at all. That's what wood is all about. But when you paint wood you can use that gouged piece add some plastic wood and then paint over it all and never tell. So who knows what you'll find. HDR knows better then me. Perhaps when they are in production they don't have time to fool around with trying to use the "B" stock ply because it'll be painted. Even if u can't get all the black paint out of the grain it might end up looking like a custom stain job that's unique and appealing. On my Cornwalls my wife wanted a red mahagony stain over the birch. Birch doesn't stain well unless you use a wood stabilizer (sanding sealer). Anyway, years later we were on a blond wood craze so guess what....I couldn't get all the red mahagony stain out of the wood. I even bleached it several times. However, I did lighten the wood and when it was said and done it looked very good. Not blond but not dark either. Very unique. I guess it wouldmost resemble mesquite wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Those are KB FB...which translates to "B" style k-horns painted flat black...but it doesn't denote the wood they are and those pics can't tell me either...most likely birch, though. What I meant about the edge banding was if the edges are just plys with no edge banding veneer over them..."B"-style ones normally had veneer edge banding already on them, though. ------------------ I can now receive private messages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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