Satin Black repairs

[colterphoto1]

Hello all,

DrWho will be visiting Saturday from Chi-town, and his Chorus II's in Satin Black will be needing some touch up. I'd like to do the homework for him and have an answer to some rubbed corners and occasional nick.

What paint/stain/other product would be best to touch up the original Klipsch Satin Black paint. It looks like perhaps it is an oil based paint, sprayed on thinly on top of the Oak veneer.

Thanks,

Michael

[jwc]

How will you repair the nicks? Some kinda "filler" that will dry and later sand?

jc

[colterphoto1]

not really nicks, just 'dings' in the finish where the finish is just barely worn away. no damage to surface really.

I'm thinking maybe a thin stain, just to 'blacken' it up. These are mostly worn edges, where the wood shows through. It doesn't justify full-scale painting of any degree. Thought maybe someone had a touch-up tip for the Klipsch black.

Michael

[fini]

I'd seriously consider something like a Sharpie if it's a small area.

[T2K]

What fini said. The paint is black lacquer.

Keith

[colterphoto1]

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. It may be a bit duller, but it will soak into the oak after several swipes and it is black. Maybe try a black wood stain if that doesn't work. It might have the gloss that the sharpie doesn't. Will experiement and let you know.

Thanks guys. and thanks from DrWho, who landed these ChorusII's at quite the bargain.

Michael

[colterphoto1]

Ok, just tried a few spots (on the back DrWho, don't panic)

Here is my technique for touching up Klipsch Satin Black speakers:

Here's the trick. On vertical edges,where you're going with the wood grain, just wipe the edge of the Sharpie along the cabinet edge.

On the flat planes, the Klipsch satin lacquer is so thin, that if there is a scratch across the grain and you draw along it with the sharpie, it'll be denser and a different black than the surrounding areas, and will show up. So 'sharpie' about an inch of the scratch, then with cloth or finger, 'blend' the ink with the grain, so bits of wood grain show through as on the original finish. Better to have go over an area twice to build up color density than get it too dark. This is from my technique from touching up spots on black and white photo prints with dye.

A trouble area is the short seams where the oak veneer meets at a mitre joint, if the edge is mashed at all, seems like the glue in the mitre joint is exposed, which will not accept the Sharpie ink. Have to find another solution for those edges.

Michael

[Frzninvt]

Go to Michael's or equivalent craft store they have a variety of paint pens in there in all colors and width's. I have a few of them that I use to touch up gear for resale.

Sharpie's do work well but are not as permanent as you would think, the paint pen's from the craft store will hold up longer and be more durable.

[colterphoto1]

Thanks Frzninvt!

[fini]

As a side note, if you want to stain black a hard, tight-grained wood (like maple), you should use a dye stain, not the pigment stains (like Minwax) found at home improvement stores. You've gotta go to a paint store. It's nasty stuff, too.

[J.4knee]

Not wising to hijack this but I am refinishing a bass bin for my split La Scala, I was looking at the gel finishes in the Grizzly catalogue. Specifically Black Gel as this unit will sit below my DLP TV with the HF section above it. My goal is to make it disappear as much as possible. Does anyone have any experience with this type of finish? I was thinking a few coats of this and then some clear coat over top. I am looking for a satin finish, I dont want anything too glossy nor do I want the grain to be visible or at least I want the grains appearance muted so it is not very noticeable. I am not sure this type of stuff can be sprayed on I suspect it cant so does anyone have any recommendations? Sorry for the hijack Michael.

[colterphoto1]

I'll try to help with finishing for ya. Generally, to get the wood grain to 'lie down' you would apply a LATEX primer which will tend to raise the grain, then sand down to flatten. The primer then is acting as kind of a filler in the pores and grain structure of the wood. Then for black use a paint product. Appeal to the paint experts here for help on that. I do know that the Klipsch Black Satin still shows LOTS of wood grain, so the priming/filling step is necessary. Don't think you could apply oil-based stain on top of latex primer.

You might be able to use an oil based primer, then your stain product or better yet an oil-based paint. Once you tamper with the wood finish with any type of filler, I would think that any stain product would adhere differently to the filler than the wood. Stain would be out of consideration on this basis alone.

Somewhere recently a pair of piano black lacquer (ultra high gloss) was shown, where the owner (sorry, forgot who did the beautiful job) used like two gallons to fill the wood prior to finishing.

I would think that the gel stain first of all wont be true black, will not fill the grain, and the clear coat will add a gloss that will not help the cabinet to disappear.

Hope this helps. No hijack, it's related, No problems!

Michael