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KLF 30 black satin finish, is it vinyl or painted veneer?


Normo

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It's been nearly 8 yrs since I have posted on this forum.  I have an old pair of black satin KLF 30's.  I can't tell whether it is a vinyl finish, a very thin painted wood veneer or something else.  I was hoping for a light walnut color and am not sure what my options are with these.  Thanks in advance.   Norm

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Hi Normo,

The KLF line are wood veneer. The paint is Black Lacquer.

I have refurbed several pair of 20's but the line is all the same. The paint is easily removed using Lacquer thinner applied with 00 steel wool. Lightly sand with 120 / 220 grit. Stain whatever color you want.

Feel free to PM me if you need advice.

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12 minutes ago, crunchman12001 said:

The paint is easily removed using Lacquer thinner applied with 00 steel wool. Lightly sand with 120 / 220 grit. Stain whatever color you want.

Thanks for the tips.  Last time i tried to bring the black satin back to new was with Chorus II and i sanded and sanded and sanded and still had lots of black left. Eventually i just ate through the oak veneer grain and used citristrip to get the rest of the black off and used a danish walnut oil.
Here's a photo:
While it came out okay, it didn't do anything to hide damaged veneer in places and or the veneer i sanded too far on(mostly the risers). I later rattle canned it matte black with a satin laquer spray to hide defects for sale, but you could tell the grain was gone. 

Now i've got some black satin CF-3's that i need to refresh, or decide if i want to veneer. Walnut or Cherry Klipsch are so rare to come by in my experience. Black looks awesome on the modern Klipsch because they're matched grains and large grain patterns that really pop in the light.  I think they use Ash now.  Older Klipsch i believe was red oak painted black and the grain patterns were all over the place, mine of course having small and thin grain patterns which aren't ideal aesthetically for me. 
 

220.JPG

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3 minutes ago, Maximus89 said:

Thanks for the tips.  Last time i tried to bring the black satin back to new was with Chorus II and i sanded and sanded and sanded and still had lots of black left. Eventually i just ate through the oak veneer grain and used citristrip to get the rest of the black off and used a danish walnut oil.
Here's a photo:
While it came out okay, it didn't do anything to hide damaged veneer in places and or the veneer i sanded too far on(mostly the risers). I later rattle canned it matte black with a satin laquer spray to hide defects for sale, but you could tell the grain was gone. 

Now i've got some black satin CF-3's that i need to refresh, or decide if i want to veneer. Walnut or Cherry Klipsch are so rare to come by in my experience. Black looks awesome on the modern Klipsch because they're matched grains and large grain patterns that really pop in the light.  I think they use Ash now.  Older Klipsch i believe was red oak painted black and the grain patterns were all over the place, mine of course having small and thin grain patterns which aren't ideal aesthetically for me. 
 

220.JPG

Hi Maximus89.

I just refurbed a pair of CF-3's that were painted black back to OEM Medium Oak. See my thread here. 

 

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1 minute ago, Maximus89 said:

Nice job! Those black KLF-20s pop! Makes me want to get started on mine!  I still just can't decide if i want to veneer them Walnut though.

Thanks they turn out nice.

 If the veneer is solid, strip the paint and use Watco Danish Oil "Dark Walnut" or "Black Walnut". Finish it off with 3 coats of Behlen Satin Lacquer. 

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Thanks they turn out nice.
 If the veneer is solid, strip the paint and use Watco Danish Oil "Dark Walnut" or "Black Walnut". Finish it off with 3 coats of Behlen Satin Lacquer. 
Dont you have to wait a few weeks for the oil to cure before before applying top coat?

If I did the Danish oil or any oil finish, it would be over new raw wood veneer. I have this opportunity to match the kv4 center speaker(they only came with black vinyl) to whatever veneer I choose for the cf3

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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7 minutes ago, Maximus89 said:

Look how your grain patterns look like compared to mine. Just not enough thick grains to really pop in the light like yoursff741bf68a3a6dca33a9f1bee6f7f1e4.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Well, Not a big deal to pull the woofers and front baffle of the CF-3's. Strip the paint as noted above and see how they look. You really don't see the finish from the front anyways.

On another note... I would just re-spray Satin Black. Any speaker I refurb, I match the color to the tag unless someone buys them and if they want pink, pink it is. lol

 

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2 minutes ago, Maximus89 said:

Dont you have to wait a few weeks for the oil to cure before before applying top coat?

If I did the Danish oil or any oil finish, it would be over new raw wood veneer. I have this opportunity to match the kv4 center speaker(they only came with black vinyl) to whatever veneer I choose for the cf3

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Oil is like stain. You need the oil or stain to flash off the solvents before top coating. (a few days to weeks depending on the outside temp) 

If you want to match your Black Vinyl KV-4, then you would need to refurb the CF-3's to Black Satin.

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Yeah, i understand the serial matching and the front view not showing is also another reason i'm hesitant to do a different veneer.  Should i pay several hundreds for a nice walnut veneer when all i can see is the front black baffle?  

As far as the KV-4 being black satin. If i were to do that, i'd just put my KV4 parts and crossover into my KLF-C7 black satin cabinet. Nearly identical size and volume. 

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7 minutes ago, crunchman12001 said:

Maximus89,

PM me if you need tips on refurbing the CF-3's. I learned a few tricks along the way.

If one wanted to do a matte black finish like the special edition matte black Forte III, how would you go about making it completely flat with no grain? Is that a white melamine veneer spray painted flat/matte black? 

Maybe i could use grain filler?
 

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9 minutes ago, Maximus89 said:

Yeah, i understand the serial matching and the front view not showing is also another reason i'm hesitant to do a different veneer.  Should i pay several hundreds for a nice walnut veneer when all i can see is the front black baffle?  

As far as the KV-4 being black satin. If i were to do that, i'd just put my KV4 parts and crossover into my KLF-C7 black satin cabinet. Nearly identical size and volume. 

They are close, are the K-64-KN and the K-90-KV horns the same size for the cutout? That would definitely open your possibilities to new veneers.

 

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1 minute ago, crunchman12001 said:

They are close, are the K-64-KN and the K-90-KV horns the same size for the cutout? That would definitely open your possibilities to new veneers.

 

Yes. Someone on the forum that i can't currently recall has done it. I just had them both in front me the other day and it's true. The only difference is the C7 is slightly taller because it has full wood trim at the bottom whereas the kv4, the horn sits flush with the bottom of the cabinet.  It's the same horn but one is 1 3/8 thread and the other is bolt on. 

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8 minutes ago, Maximus89 said:

If one wanted to do a matte black finish like the special edition matte black Forte III, how would you go about making it completely flat with no grain? Is that a white melamine veneer spray painted flat/matte black? 

Maybe i could use grain filler?
 

I have not seen the special edition matte Black in person so I cannot recommend how to finish them. You could however use something like Duratex with a smooth roller for a matte black, semi textured look.

 

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