Rebuilding/Refinishing older Heresy's and have some questions

[Mike Lindsey]

I bought some '76 Heresy's at a garage sale about 4 years ago, and presently have them pulling duty in my garage mated to a H/K 730. They have pretty rough cabinets and one of them has a K-77M (square magnet) that replaced the original K-77 (round magnet).

Recently, I picked up some nice '80 HBR Cabinets with risers from CL for $50 locally. They have a very light cherry or golden oak stain on them (cannot tell if they have been laquered). They are not perfect but are in very nice condition, and would be easier to refinish than the existing 76 cabinets (which are a mess). My goal would be to sand down the existing cabinets and fix one chip on a front corner, and then stain them like my 86 La Scala's in the same Golden Oak. I was also thinking about new networks or caps, new wire, new tweeter, etc, and had some questions on all of this since I have never done any of it before:

1. I have never done any woodworking before but do have an electric sander. Can someone explain the proper technique to do this, as well as what grit paper to use.
2. I need to repair a small chip in one front corner. Can someone explain how to do this? I'll post pictures in the next day or so.
3. My La Scala's were professionally done by Q-Man, and he stained them in a Golden Oak and then applied 3 coats of clear lacquer. I believe he sanded in between each coat of lacquer. How difficult is it to do this? I would hate to get them sanded smooth, and then screw this part up.
4. While I have everything out should I consider replacing the caps in the networks, or the networks themselves? How about new wire? Which wire would be best for this?
5. What should I do about the tweeter mismatch? I presently am using BEC tweeters in my La Scala's so have an extra pair of K-77M's. Would it be best to put those in, or find another K-77? If I go with the K-77M's, will I need to do something with the networks?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[Daddy Dee]

Mike,

Just a couple of thoughts... The electric sander (it's orbital and not a belt sander right?) is helpful. A belt sander would be unusable IMO. Even with an orbital sander you need to be careful because the veneer layer is pretty thin and folks have been known to sand through.

The tweeters you've got on hand after installing the BEC tweets would be fine.

Yep, new caps are needed, that's all. New wire is OK, but not as important as the caps and IMO could be left off the agenda.

For the chip, wood filler works. Leave the chip just oh, so, slightly over filled, so you can come back and sand down to match the surrounding veneer. The wood filler can be stained, after it's prepared for finish.

[Mike Lindsey]

Thanks, Dee!

Maybe I should have posted this in 2-channel. Doesn't look like this area gets a lot of attention anymore.

Do you have a suggestion on the sand paper? Do I start with a particular grit and then work my way up to a higher grit?

Thanks,

Mike

[Daddy Dee]

On sandpaper, I think I've used 150-180 grit for most of my work on speakers. That is classified as "fine" and seems to do well on surface prep. That could be followed with paper that is extra fine. One thing that's helpful is tack cloth. It does much better than a plain soft cloth for cleaning off the surface. It just picks up the tiniest particles.

Tony Reed helped me finish some oak LaScalas and he used a water bases poly called "poly-crilic" It is not so prone to bubble from brush strokes as the old poly. I was very pleased with the satin finish.

[IB Slammin]

On sandpaper, I think I've used 150-180 grit for most of my work on speakers. That is classified as "fine" and seems to do well on surface prep. That could be followed with paper that is extra fine. One thing that's helpful is tack cloth. It does much better than a plain soft cloth for cleaning off the surface. It just picks up the tiniest particles.

Tony Reed helped me finish some oak LaScalas and he used a water bases poly called "poly-crilic" It is not so prone to bubble from brush strokes as the old poly. I was very pleased with the satin finish.

Dee, you have a PM.

tc

[Mike Lindsey]

Thanks, Dee!

I started on them today and used 100 grit with an Orbital sander. I removed the stain on both speakers and got them pretty smooth. I was thinking I would use 150 on them next and then finally 220. I have no idea what I'm going to do after that. I amy stain them or have them professionally stained or veneered. Will provide pics after I get them sanded smooth.

Mike

[klipschaholik]

Mike,

If you're going to have them veneered or do it yourself I would say that 150 grit is plenty smooth. If you're planning on staing the birch, be very careful not to sand through the outer layer of veneer or you've got trouble. There are plenty of good threads on veneering in the archives that can give you some help. [D]