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1960's Khorn grill cleaning


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As some of you know I picked up a pair of ~1964 Klipschorns locally. It wasn't apparent in the pictures before I went but one of the tophat grills has some disintegration and/or dust penetration. Is there any collective wisdom as to how to refurbish or clean these? 

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Jimmy Cricket, nice photography!

 

I'm sure there is an accepted technique for cleaning those grills safely, but I don't remember what it was.  You could search for a thread on cleaning grills, but using the Search feature here is not always successful, at least not for me.

 

Somebody will drop by with a helpful suggestion.

 

Nice pick up on the Khorns.  :emotion-21:

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Yeah, I've been searching - pretty much in vain ... except for lots of threads bemoaning the lack of available replacement cane grill cloth. ^_^... I feel like if I can even out the color it'll be 80% better and I won't obsess about it... 

 

Otherwise, they'll be fine after a recap.. very little marring on the veneer..

 

 

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Maybe use a brush attachment on a vac. I cleaned some oxblood grills that had not been touched since some time in the 70s on some ESS monitors this way. They looked like new after. If that grill is disintegrating you have nothing to lose. After that try water, however I don't know what water does to cane. 

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Well, that's just ridiculous. Taking a 50-year-old cane grill and spraying with a pressurized garden hose is insane. But, if you really want to destroy them sure take them out and do that… First of all vacuum them with a brush attachment from your vacuum cleaner. Then perhaps find a dry spray fabric cleaner and tested on an inconspicuous part of the grill. Typically will spray that on and then vacuum off. Be very gentle with these they are going to be quite fragile.

 

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Try some compressed air with control and see if its loose material or penetrated. A soft brush might loosen some of that material as long as the brush doesnt have stiff bristles... use a soft wide paint brush or make up brush to see if there  is a loosening of the material.

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I have tried many times to clean the cane material up, very, very difficult.  I have used Bissell Upholstery Cleaner with the gentle brush in a can, it dries quick and gets out most stains but was not totally effective on my '62 Cornwall's.  I have had great results on lots of other grills with it.  The material in the weave is like paper and after 50 years there is not much hope.  I would plan on replacing it but an exact replacement is not available.  Try Wendell Fabrics they can send you some samples they had stuff that was very close.  Another options is replace it with the black cloth that is like the original either way it is a pain.  I went that route with my '62's.  Either way good luck.

 

http://wendellfabrics.com/mellotonefabricsamples.html

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5 hours ago, ricktate said:

Hey Otis...how did they come out????

You got your Ks set up and in use yet?

 

I'm sad to say I haven't gotten them up and running yet. "Up" involves five short flights of stairs to my man-cave. I have a buddy coming over sometime this week to help...

 

In the meantime, I'm investigating grill cloth replacement and whether or not to that end should I just go with a replacement midrange unit such as the Volti V-Trac or the Fastrac-K/ALK xover and not bother with a grill cloth repair on the stock motorboard. 

 

I'd still like to find some of the old cane grill cloth to replace the single damaged tophat grill but I understand that might be a tough one to fulfill..

 

I'll probably replace the crossover caps and live with the shabby grill for a little while before going the horn upgrade route. 

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13 minutes ago, OtisCampbell said:

In the meantime, I'm investigating grill cloth replacement and whether or not to that end should I just go with a replacement midrange unit such as the Volti V-Trac or the Fastrac-K/ALK xover and not bother with a grill cloth repair on the stock motorboard.

These may be worthwhile to make Greg an offer. (If they fit your production year)

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-klipsch-klipschorn-v-trac-horn-upgrade-2017-03-02-speakers-38544-baxter-tn

LvfVMtwKRnSRIskeJWiL#Vtrac11.jpg

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11 minutes ago, OtisCampbell said:

I'm sad to say I haven't gotten them up and running yet. "Up" involves five short flights of stairs to my man-cave. I have a buddy coming over sometime this week to help...

Moving those any direction other than sideways even using a dolly is a large task.  I highly recommend you find two buddies to help you move those up and down steps in the name of safety, as those Khorns are 175 pounds each and there are no obvious grab places to hang on to.

 

To be clear that would mean two buddies plus yourself as it will take three grown men to move those up or down steps.

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2 hours ago, Tasdom said:

These may be worthwhile to make Greg an offer. (If they fit your production year)

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-klipsch-klipschorn-v-trac-horn-upgrade-2017-03-02-speakers-38544-baxter-tn

LvfVMtwKRnSRIskeJWiL#Vtrac11.jpg

 

So, those as pictured do look like cane grills (as mine are) but the text of the ad mentions Klipsch cloth #7 which is a textured black grill cloth. 

 

If at all possible, I'd like to stay with the original cane but it seems like that will be a major pain to source. 

 

Thanks for the link!

 

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I'd try cleaning them with steam.  If you have a clothes steamer for removing wrinkles in your clothes, give that a shot (just don't soak them).

 

As far as moving Khorns up and down stairs, I found the easiest way is to remove the top section (and side grills).  Then get a hand truck (preferably with pneumatic tires), wrap the Khorn bass bin with a nice blanket, and use ratchet straps to secure the bass bin to the hand truck.  Once you get that bass bin secured to the hand truck and protected with a padded blanket, it's not too difficult to move it up and down stairs.  I've done this by myself many times with Belles, Khorns, and La Scalas.

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