Installing new Grill Cloth on 3A's

[Charles218]

I have almost completed restoring my 3-A's, the only step remaining is to put the new cloth that I purchased onto the grills. I have looked around the forum for ideas and suggestions for getting the cloth on straight and taut but have not found what I need. Can anyone point me to any step by step instructions on securing the cloth to the grills?

Thanks!

Charles

[johnieo]

>Can anyone point me to any step by

>step instructions on securing the cloth to the grills?

Charles:

You will likely be given as many ways as there are people responding! I used to use staples to attach the cloth from the back. I would wrap the cloth around the backside and put one staple on the left center and another right center. Then ditto top and bottom. After that one on each side of the original staple and proceed in the same sequence until all was attached stretching the fabric as you go. Corners need to be trimmed at the end.

One of the difficulties with this approach is that many staplers do not have the power to drive into 1/4" Masonite frames. If you have the older plastic frames used on the AR-3 it can be worse as staples will shatter the frame. This is one way if you own a stapler that is sufficiently powerful.

Recently at the suggestion of Roy C, I have used a tube of Goop glue. Run one bead down a long side of the frame, and another very light bead on the cloth some distance from the front fold line. Wait a minute or two, then fold over, stretch and press tight until the (contact) cement bonds. stretch end to end so there are no wrinkles. I prefer to wait a half hour until it has taken some set, then stretch and glue the opposite long side, then the two ends. Take great care and do not apply too much glue, or it may flow into the visible part of the grille!! That could be an expensive mistake. Also ensure that the Goop remains only on the back side of the frame. If any dries on the side of the frame, it will prevent the frame from fitting in the cabinet opening and degrade its apperance.

The fabric may be shrunk in place with a fine water spray afer mechanical attachment - I use a spray bottle as one uses for ironing clothes. When using Goop, please wait a day for the glue to completely harden before shrinking in place.

Other folks may have suggestion additional methods. There is always more than one way.

Cheers,

[Guest filedog]

John, I'm getting ready to do this on my 2axs, so your info came at the perfect time. thanks for the detailed instructions. I was considering using staples, but I knew I was going to have to get a pretty good stapler to do the job. I think I'll try the goop!

[Guest tgw]

Another method that works for me is to stretch the fabric on a board and then pin with thumb tacks. Spray 3M 77 adhesive on the grill frame and then position on the stretched cloth. Then wrap around the frame and staple in place. After that you could try the spray technique that John describes if using linen or cotton fabric. I replaced the grill with a polyester speaker cloth so the water technique would not work for me. I have a dark brown cloth on my AR-3's that I got from Speaker Parts and the speakers look great in my living room.

[JKent]

If you decide to use the polyester instead of linen, here are good step-by-step instructions:

http://www.humanspeakers.com/howto/grill-cloth.htm

[Guest filedog]

So, when you have your grills re-covered, how do you attach them to the speakers? Obviously not glue and staples : ) Anybody using Velcro?

[JKent]

>Anybody using Velcro?

yes :-)

[RoyC]

>Anybody using Velcro?

I staple or glue on velcro if the grille frame does not fit tightly. Many times it does not need anything to stay in place.

As for the discussion above, I almost always use heavy duty 1/4" staples and a power stapler (see pic) to attach the grille cloth to the frame. I've been told that Sears sells "chisel point" staples that work very well, but haven't tried them yet. LIGHTLY spritzing the finished grille cloth with water and drying with a hair dryer will tighten the linen material to the frame.

Goop is a very tough and versatile glue for many of our speaker fixin' needs, but I use it on grilles only when stapling isn't feasible (ie modern, less-than-1/4" replacement masonite). It can be thinned as well as cleaned up with Toluol (Toluene), which is available in quart sizes from stores like ACE hardware. It should be kept on hand, as Goop can be very messy to work with. *Use it it in a well ventilated space.*

Roy

[Charles218]

As I have come to expect you guys have given me several good suggestions, thanks. I'm going to hold off until the weekend when I will have the time to complete this project, maybe others will chime in with more suggestions by then. As always I really appreciate the help that I have received from this forum.

Charles

[Guest bjmsam]

I followed this procedure when doing my AR-9s, and a hot glue stick gun worked great!

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Just a comment about an ebay ad for Dynaco speakers last year.

The seller mentioned having removed the dirty grille cloths and washed them, then there was a stain that appeared from nowhere.

The cloths had shrunk and now the original glue had stained the cloths.

Because they had shrunk they now were all exposed on the speaker fronts.

A pretty bluish-green perimeter.

Just a caution if washing any grille cloths.

[speaker dave]

Hi Guys,

I've just finished covering my AR2ax grilles. It was a little more involved than I thought it would be, so let me throw in my two cents worth.

To find the cloth I enlisted my sister-in-law who is into sewing. She took me to G Street Fabrics in the Maryland DC suburbs. I didn't find an exact replacement but got very close with a nice natural fiber muslin. (Some of the Paisleys were tempting though!) It was a little finer grained and lighter than original, certainly lighter than the yellowed cloth I was replacing, but really only noticeable by direct comparison.

I wanted to staple the cloth as the factory had. I bought an Arrow T50 stapler and a box of 1/4" 6mm staples. A small screw driver let me pry off the old staples. It seemed to work best to pry one side and then the other. If any break then needle nose piers will pull out the remaining half.

I ironed the new cloth first as it had been folded and had a soft crease. Others recommend spritzing the cloth afterwards. This is good advice but I hadn't thought of that so I wanted to put the cloth on tight to begin with. The best trick here is to cut a rectangle about 4-5" longer and taller than the frame. Start with one staple in the middle of a long side. Pull the cloth snug but not overly tight and staple the middle of the opposite side. If you've just done the top and bottom then shift 90 degrees and do the left side/right side (just one staple in the middle).

Now the key to a nice job is just the right amount of tension as you work along, stapling at about 1 1/2" intervals. The trick is that you must not only apply tension across the frame dimension, but also laterally away from the middle. The best guide for tension is to watch the weave of the material. You can see the threads of the material and use them as your guide to straightness. If you overstreach a section then you would be able to see that the threads are bowing over the edge. With just the right tension the threads will run a straight line down the edges. This isn't overly hard, just work slowly until you get the hang of it and don't go crazy with material tension.

Bass notes will tend to drive the cloth and may cause rattles of the finished grille. To combat that, AR had applied a coat of some kind of contact adhesive on the front side of the frame. Being a clever lad I tried a little solvent to see if it would soften up. Alcohol did the trick (on the frame), so I brushed some on at the very beginning of the process. For the second frame I brushed a little more alcohol on and repeated. When I turned the second finished grille over I was dismayed to see some dark areas of bleed through. My cloth wasn't very thick and the old adhesive had been softened to the point where it soaked in completely to the outside, ruining the job. Luckily I had bought enough material to rip that off and start over. (Hint, buy more than you think you need.) The second time I re-did it with no solvent. Once done I went at it with a warm iron (clothes, not soldering) which seems to have stuck it down adequately.

Another detail is finishing the corners. The way the factory did this was to fold over a 45 degree corner flap, kind of like making a bed with a hospital corner. When the sides are done you will need to trim the material. This is easy with a pair of very sharp scissors. If yours aren't very sharp then buy a new pair (seriously!), otherwise you won't be able to do a satisfactory job. Cut along your neat line of staples, perhap a half inch inboard of the line. When you get to the end, continue in a straight line to the edge of your cloth. Do the same for top, bottom and sides. This should give a little corner flap that AR had pulled over at a 45 degree angle and fastened with one staple (study this detail before you pull off the factory cloth and it will all make sense). As a final touch I put the badges back on, careful to displace the material raher than break any fibers that might run.

The finished grilles look like new.

David Smith

[JKent]

Just a couple of thoughts:

• the water spritzing works extremely well IF you are using a fabric like linen that shrinks. A lot of grille cloth is synthetic, so that won't do
  
• some speaker grille boards are only 1/8" thick and won't take 1/4" staples.
  
• I have used Alene's Tacky Glue (craft store) with good success on smaller speakers. Apply it like the Goop John & Roy described but it is WATER based and I assume non-carcinogenic!
  

Kent