J M O N Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 I have been thinking about refinishing my speakers in a piano black finish -- you know, the kind that has a very smooth and lustrous finish. Does anyone have any advice or knowledge about how to accomplish this? I don't even know if it's a good idea as it may take more skill and/or tools than I have. It may be best if left up to a professional. Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted November 21, 2001 Share Posted November 21, 2001 I dunno if that's A DIY project. Especially if you want it to look as shiny and deep as black piano finish. ------------------ My system thus far: 1980 Cornwalls (mains) 1990 Heresy II's (rears) 2001 KLF-C7 (center) 2001 KSW15 (Subwoofer) HK AVR 510 (reciever - Going back soon!) Kenwood DV402 (DVD) Sony KV 27V55 (9 year old 27" TV) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted November 21, 2001 Share Posted November 21, 2001 Hmmm... Piano black means to me at high gloss black lacquer finish. Assuming that your speakers have a real wood veneer and not vinyl or something else, its pretty simple to do with some patience by sanding down the current finish, applying several coats of black lacquer, sanding between coats, and then wet sanding the last coat with very fine paper (600 grit or finer) to get the gloss. Its a labor intensive, but very forgiving process. Screw up, just sand out the mistake. A simpler way may be to just veneer with black plastic laminate like Wilsonart makes. You'll need a router with a trim bit to do this. An alternative might be to use gloss black polyurethane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted November 21, 2001 Share Posted November 21, 2001 how about a black high gloss oil based paint? that would provide and excellent shine and woujld reseist any and all water (like the others would) and would not be as hard to do, just take like a week to set, but after that it would be great. ------------------ -justin I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good2BHome Posted November 25, 2001 Share Posted November 25, 2001 I'm new to the Forum, but not new to Klipsch or woodworking. A black lacquer (Piano) finish can be done by a amatuer with practice. However I would suggest that you pactice on something else first. Look in your local Library for books on refinishing or furnature refinishing. Good Luck, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 I'll chime in with the obvious fact learned from home construction of several projects. In may situations it is possible to do things very well the third time around. But difficult to do it the first time. Practice on a learning project might very well be worthwhile. The folks who grind telescope mirrors say that if you have to grind a 6 inch mirror, it is quicker to grind a 3 inch mirror first, just for the learning experience. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 Oh, God! Don't remind me about grinding mirrors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 Whoops. You never know what people are sensitive to. It must have been that wood finishers want a "mirror like finish". This probably will send Malcome over the edge. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 I was told by an astrophysists that hand ground telescope mirrors larger than 4" in diameter, even done well, are a complete waste of time because the tolerances are piss poor for decent resolution and the advantages of the extra light gathering capacity are lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 I love meandering, off topic threads... John, Abso-posi-tivly-lutely not. Hand figured mirrors are not all that difficult to make, at least simpler designs for a long focus (IE, at least f/8 or so) Newtonian where you're talking a basically spherical surface. I used to be a member of the New Haven Astonomy Club, a very old group (goes back to at least the mid 50's or so), and I had the chance to see several large Dobsonian mounted Newtonian designs with mirrors ranging up to 24 inches (!!!) that were hand ground and figured. A focalt test usually showed at least a 1/8 wave figure from edge to edge, if the person making the mirror knew what they were doing and took their time. Mass produced mirrors, even from reputable folks like Edmund, can't out perform a well made, hand figured glass. I made a few smaller mirrors myself (none larger than an 8 inch), and once you get over the tendency to keep fiddling with it to the point where you turn down the edge, you can come up with a really, really accurate surface in fairly short order. In fact, most of the flats we tested were the limiting factor - the ultimate resolution of the scope was compromised more by the flat (purchased from Orion, usually) than by the hand figured main. You'd be surprised at the image you can get out of a long focus 8 inch scope with a decent mount. I compared an f/8 8 inch Newtonian made by an 8th grader in the club against a 5 inch Astro Phy$ics refractor, and when the seeing was decent you could see a LOT more detail in Jupiter's cloud banks or Saturns rings with the kid's scope. Contrast was excellent, too, though maybe not quite as good as the AP. ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Ray's Music System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 any update? pics? interested to see how they came out! ------------------ -justin I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted December 5, 2001 Author Share Posted December 5, 2001 I don't have any updates yet. I haven't even started working on this project. I'm still in the information gathering stage. It's gonna be a while. If I do trying this out, I will post photos if it comes out successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 Ah hell, JMON... post the pictures either way. This way, if they don't turn out right and someone else asks the same question, we can just show them your pictures and that'll be the end of it. Mike ------------------ My Music Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Mike Lindsey: Ah hell, JMON... post the pictures either way. This way, if they don't turn out right and someone else asks the same question, we can just show them your pictures and that'll be the end of it. Mike LoL!... that was cruel funny though ------------------ -justin I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 quote: Originally posted by John Warren: I was told by an astrophysists that hand ground telescope mirrors larger than 4" in diameter, even done well, are a complete waste of time because the tolerances are piss poor for decent resolution and the advantages of the extra light gathering capacity are lost. Well, take it from a guy who has made astronomical mirrors and flats for the old National Bureau of Standards (flat to less than 1/2 wave length of light across 18") and other interesting things, it ain't that hard, just verrrry tedious. You might be interested to know that the original front windshields for B-52 bombers were also parallel and flat to within 1 wavelentgh of light and were made by hand in a commercial operation in a little town in South Mississippi named Ferson Optics. No great electronics or high falutin machinery just good old hard work and trickery to verify the results. I will admit that highly complex aspherical shapes are very difficult to do by hand but the result is at least as good as those made by machine if done carefully. ------------------ Richard Hemmings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 i read once in popular scinece that they can make a lens so perfect that if it were to be blown up to 2 miles in diameter that the highest bump... if you will... would only be 2 inches. it was used in some telescope i beleive. that just amazes me! ------------------ -justin I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 back in the early 70s when I was a college student, I spent a summer at a company here in the Boston area that made telescope systems for satellites. Some designs were Newtonian. And the mirrors were ground at the plant. They were not ground from quartz blanks. The blank was metallic. The mirrored surface then created by evaporating gold onto it. The biggest ones were 3 or so inches. they would not tell me anything about the resolution of surface tolerances because I had no "need to know". they scoffed at hand ground mirrors and referred to them as "carvings" and/or "primitive art". Maybe it was just in fun but I got the impression that these guys knew something that the rest of us didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted December 6, 2001 Author Share Posted December 6, 2001 I will likely take the advice of practicing on pieces of scrap before actually trying it on a speaker. If it turns out well then I will do the speakers and will have photos to post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 JMON, I just read this. I never did that type of finish,so I just now painted a board with some gloss black paint that I have. I'll give this board two maybe three coats of this gloss black, sanding between coats. Later next week I have to spray up a natural oak fireplace mantel that I'm making for someone. I'll be using clear satin lacquer on it, and I mean clear.A lot of lacquers are milky or greyesh in color. When I spray the mantel, I'll also give this board three coats of this lacquer.This will give me a good idea what it would look like with a gloss lacquer on it. I only use satin lacquer on my stuff, so I don't have gloss. I'll let you know what I think of the finish. Q. ------------------ Q-Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Q-Man: JMON, I just read this. I never did that type of finish,so I just now painted a board with some gloss black paint that I have. I'll give this board two maybe three coats of this gloss black, sanding between coats. Later next week I have to spray up a natural oak fireplace mantel that I'm making for someone. I'll be using clear satin lacquer on it, and I mean clear.A lot of lacquers are milky or greyesh in color. When I spray the mantel, I'll also give this board three coats of this lacquer.This will give me a good idea what it would look like with a gloss lacquer on it. I only use satin lacquer on my stuff, so I don't have gloss. I'll let you know what I think of the finish. Q. WOW! I commend you! Talk about being a nice guy. ------------------ -justin I am an amateur, if it is professional; ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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