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Refinishing a pair of Cornwall II's


JohnWhite

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Several years ago my wife and I aquired a pair of cornwall II's in trade for a Blows suround sound system from her father. He had used the cornwalls while he had a DJ business in the mid/late 80's. He painted these CBR's with a black lacquer pant. The wife and I have been divorced for a couple years now and she took the cornwalls with her. So I went on a search and found a nice pair of Decorator cornwalls on ebay a couple years ago and have been quite happy with them. Thanks again Chris Robinson for picking them up and holding them for a few months till I could drive from Florida to Mass for those speakers.

The ex-wife called me up the other day and gave me the cornwall II's since they are too big and she is moving. [:D] I'd like to strip them down of the black paint, sand them and possable use a cherry stain. Does anybody know or have seen the effects of black lacquer paint on wood for 20 years? I would rather not try to use a veneer. I know the lacquer will have absorbed well into the wood and even after stripping and sanding the black will still show, How much is the question? I was thinking that if enough of the paint was removed that a cherry stain might give the wood a unique look.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

John

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I am not a wood worker (metal is more my Fort'e[:P]) but from all I have experienced with wood, once it has adsorbed something like paint, you won't get it out without a healthy sanding. I don't think the veneer is thick enough to get away with it. You can re-veneer them without much problem if you just take your time at it. You can then have any wood and stain combo you want.

Good luck with them!

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Congrats on getting your old friends back! So you'll have 4- that's very cool.

Even if you could get that lacquer off, you'd have to deal with whatever original finish Klipsch put on the speakers and that would sure be deeply engrained in the wood veneer. They would never look like anything resembling Cherry wood.

That stain on stain thing rarely looks good. The pigments of the two stains ADD together to make a muddy mess and it usually looks very spotty. Not the furniture-grade finish that you're hoping for.

Best bet might be to sand down a bit and apply new veneer. CW's are big, but nice and FLAT!

Michael

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Why not just pick an out of the way spot, and try sanding through the

black paint? If it comes off, you're good to go. If it does not, touch

it up and rethink your options.

If you're lucky and they used cheap black paint (like the stuff Klipsch put on my Chorus I's) it'll come right off.

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You could use Dads stripper from wal-mart thats what i used on my K-Horns it just sprays on, let it set then use a plastic type brillo pad from 3-M...mine had white house paint then Klipsch black under that...came right off but a little left in grain but you still need to get it off to reveneer anyway so might as well try it.Rick

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Uhh, let me butt in here. You're first veneer job can be rather enjoyable. You can keep it relatively simple by going with a high quality paper backed veneer and using the iron on method with titebond II adhesive. Look at these, they belong to Colter, now. My first job....

Nice job, I've been looking at several sites that sell veneer sheeting, does anybody have a suggestion as to a site that carries "high quality paper backed veneer"? Im headed to the book stores this weekend to see if any have books on veneering.

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