Klipsch Fortes Restored - The Complete Thread

[rtomas]

Since some folks don't have access to AudioKarma where I originally posted this, I am duplicating it here. Enjoy!

PART 1 - The Beginning

A while back I purchased a pair of Fortes for $250. This was a smoking deal except for one thing. The cabinets had been painted white and one of the emblems was missing. But the driver boards and drivers were in great shape. The grills were also in good shape. Here's what they looked like:















You can see in that last picture above that these Fortes have a walnut veneer. All I gotta' do is strip some paint to expose it. Right? Surely it can't be that tough. (And don't call me Shirley.)

[rtomas]

PART 2 - The Process

Since the driver boards needed no work, I decided not to pull the drivers and to instead just mask them off.





Then I got to work stripping the paint using a chemical stripper. Note that I positioned the cabinets so that there would be no stripper running down the driver boards. Even though they were masked off, I wasn't sure what the stripper might do to the masking. In the picture below, you can see that the top of the cabinet has been stripped and the side is in the process of being stripped. Note also the water stain on the top of the cabinet that was hiding under the paint. [N]



The stripping process removed 99.9% of the paint. But there remained small bits of paint down in the grain of the wood. You can see that in the picture below:



Removing this last little bit of paint would prove to be the most labor-intensive part of the whole process. It took .1% of the time to remove 99.9% of the paint and it took 99.9% of the time to remove .1% of the paint. Here's a picture of one of the cabinets with the grain partially cleaned out:



I don't know why the stripper didn't raise these bits of paint down in the grain. I have never done this before and only knew what I had read on the Internet. Anyway, the process I used was to wet the cabinet with mineral spirits using a steel wool pad and then scrubbing with the grain using a fine-bristle brass brush. You might think that the metal bristles would scratch up the wood veneer but they did not. Here's the "tools of the trade" I used:



The scrubbing process involved multiple passes over each side. And I never really got all of the paint out of the grain. If you look closely at the partially "scrubbed" cabinet a couple pictures back, you'll see there are still some tiny bits of paint. It seemed that the law of diminishing returns had kicked in. It would take a ton more effort to get that last bit of paint out of the grain. So, I decided I would try applying a coat of stain to color the paint. This worked marginally at best after 3 coats of stain.

After applying the stain, the cabinets looks pretty good except they looked a little "dry" in places. So I headed down to my local Woodworker's Source store to learn about different types of finishes. Based on their descriptions and my desires, I selected a Tung oil. The person I talked to at the store recommended applying the oil and letting it sit for 2-3 days to soak in. After that, I could wipe off what was left. BIG MISTAKE! Upon the 2nd day, I noticed the oil had soaked in in some areas and appeared to still remain wet in other areas. I touched what looked like a wet area only to find out the oil had hardened like a varnish. Furthermore, the wood veneer felt almost waxy and I didn't like that. What to do? I decided I could either re-strip the cabinets or sand them down. Having had my fill of stripping and wanting to get this project done faster, I decided to sand. Then I applied another coat of stain and called it good. The stain was an oil based stain so I guess, in effect, I did apply more oil.

I didn't take any pictures of this part of the process.

Note that I did have to repaint the black inset of the bases as well as touch up around the edges of the front and rear driver boards. The paint that Klipsch uses for this is hard to find and only available in large quantities so I wasn't able to use the exact same paint that Klipsch used. But the brand they use is Valspar and I discovered that Valspar black satin spray paint from Lowe's is a pretty good match.

[rtomas]

PART 3 - The Final Result

In general, I'm happy with how the speakers turned out. I think the finish on the veneer might have turned out a little nicer if I didn't have the issue with the tung oil, though. Nonetheless, they look pretty good.

I vacuumed off the grills and then soaked them in a bath tub full of water and Woolite. (Plastic grill frames make this possible!) I then glued a new emblem onto the grill that was missing one. I had ordered a new emblem directly from Klipsch.

The pictures below show what the speakers now look like:













The cabinets looks darker in person that in these photos. Also, in the picture showing the tops of the speakers, you can barely make out that water stain on the front-most speaker. But it seems more noticeable in the picture than in person. I don't think anyone would notice it unless I pointed it out.

By the way, I already owned another pair of "minty" walnut Fortes so this is my second pair and yes, I love how they sound. Would I take on another project like this? I think not.

[jbsl]

They look 100% better now! Very good job! They look just like mine.

[Invidiosulus]

Beautiful job.

The directions probably would have worked fine for Boiled Linseed Oil.

Tung Oil is a completely different animal though(as you discovered).

They really do look great.

[Daddy Dee]

rtomas,

wow. beautiful work. thanks for posting these pics here.

That is a wonderful thing to redeem great speakers.

[John Warren]

Nice job!

If you ever have to do this in the future, try lacquer thinner. It's a combination of 4 or 5 solvents (toluene, acetone, methyl alcohol, alphatic). It gets the little bits out of the deepest grains.

[colterphoto1]

That work makes my heart feel warm. Splendid job of restoration, a labor of love. Enjoy!

[soundbound]

Beautiful job and now beautiful speakers! [Y]

[jacksonbart]

Those look top notch, you did a great job. I will take them off your hands for $225 for the pair.

[Deang]

I kinda liked the white paint.

[wsu99999]

I never thought my refinishing project would have taken as long as it has. You never know what you are getting into until you start a project that you really have your heart in. I purchased a pair of LaScalas for 600 bucks that had a really nice green wallpaper covering them. Under the wallpaper was paint. If I knew then what I know now, I would have purchased a pair in mint condition. I've now been working on these LaScalas for about 2 months and I haven't even fiinished one of them. I have pictures and I will post the finished product in a similar fashion as here. Great work. I really like the job you did and it gives me encouragement to finish mine.

[Brac]

Those look great! Anybody have any thoughts on weather a pair of black KLF's (factory) would come out as good?

[jerohm]

Those look great! Anybody have any thoughts on weather a pair of black KLF's (factory) would come out as good?

Factory Black are Lacquered Black ASH ... and I AM TOLD, that blemished OAK also exists (I don't know if that is true). Whatever, those are obviously Walnut which doesn't have nearly the grain depth (but look GREAT). I refinished a pair of Black Fortes, using Rustoleum Satin 777, which is the closet match I have ever found, that was easily accessible. Spray painting is an art, which has a learning curve... but that is another story. I stripped one side of a cabinet using acetone, and I really doubt you can ever get it all out of the grain. If you use steel wool, you get "dust" pieces all over. Not impossible to overcome, but it is a BIG JOB.

[rtomas]

Nice job!

If you ever have to do this in the future, try lacquer thinner. It's a combination of 4 or 5 solvents (toluene, acetone, methyl alcohol, alphatic). It gets the little bits out of the deepest grains.

Thanks for the tip. I had thought about using lacquer thinner but thought it might be too harsh. In any case, I don't plan on doing this again. []

[rtomas]

I never thought my refinishing project would have taken as long as it has. You never know what you are getting into until you start a project that you really have your heart in. I purchased a pair of LaScalas for 600 bucks that had a really nice green wallpaper covering them. Under the wallpaper was paint. If I knew then what I know now, I would have purchased a pair in mint condition. I've now been working on these LaScalas for about 2 months and I haven't even fiinished one of them. I have pictures and I will post the finished product in a similar fashion as here. Great work. I really like the job you did and it gives me encouragement to finish mine.

I probably spent the better part of a year on the Fortes. Of course, I only worked on them intermittently at best as I coach youth baseball in addition to my fulltime job. But don't give up. They will be that much more enjoyable to listen to (and look at) knowing that you refinished them yourself.

[rtomas]

Those look great! Anybody have any thoughts on weather a pair of black KLF's (factory) would come out as good?

In my case, bits of black paint down in the grain of the walnut veneer would look somewhat natural since the walnut grain is itself naturally darker in color. In your case, I'd say it depends on what kind of wood you have and what the natural colorations are for that wood. It could be that you wouldn't need to get every last bit of paint out of the grain.

[greg928gts]

Nice job!

I'd say the end result was worth all the effort.

Greg

[colterphoto1]

Nice job!

I'd say the end result was worth all the effort.

Greg

That's fine praise coming from the Best!