Grille cloth question--what staples?

[JKent]

Replacing grille cloth on KLH speakers is a bigger challenge that ARs for 2 reasons: First, the fabrics used by KLH (boucle for example) do not seem to be availble. Second, and the point of this question: The boards are flimsy fiberboard, about 1/8" thick. So how do you staple the cloth? The shortest T-50 staples seem to be 1/4". I'ver tried reinforcing the KLH boards to make them thicker but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks

Kent

[boreas]

> The boards are flimsy fiberboard, about 1/8" thick.

> So how do you staple the cloth? The shortest T-50

> staples seem to be 1/4". I've tried reinforcing the

> KLH boards to make them thicker but does anyone

> have any other suggestions?

> Thanks

> Kent

Yeah, I just went through that myself. I ended up using the 1/4" T-50 staples and it's okay, I guess. I measured the legs on the staples holding the original grille cloth and found them to be 3/16" so we're only talking about 1/16".

After I attached the new grille cloth the staples were indeed protruding through the Masonite boards slightly, less than the 1/16" we're dealing with, so I placed the grilles face up on a folded towel and, using a tack hammer, tapped the staples back through until the points were flush with the surface of the board. That means that the staples are *very* slightly loose on the back side of the board but it doesn't seem to be a problem.

If I have to do this again I'd probably do as you've done and build up the thickness of the boards in the critical area. My plan is to glue strips of heavy card stock or mat board, probably 1/2" to 3/4" wide, around the perimeter of the grille boards on the front surface. That way the extra thickness won't mess with the Velcro, spacing it too far from the front baffle for it to grab the other Velcro tabs, and the strips will be concealed underneath the grille cloth.

Of course, you *could* make new boards out of thicker Masonite........

I'd love to find those 3/16" staples somewhere!

jb

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

With the 1/16" protruding, could you not lay it down with the points up and instead of drifting them back up 1/16", could you not peen them over?

Just a thought.

[boreas]

>Hi there;

>

>With the 1/16" protruding, could you not lay it down with

>the points up and instead of drifting them back up 1/16",

>could you not peen them over?

>

>Just a thought.

Well, the thing is they're protruding through on the front side so clinching them (peening them over) would tend to capture the grille cloth and end up being visible on the fronts of the grilles. Also, if they were peened over they'd probably tear up the boards on the way back out if you ever wanted to replace the grille cloth again, not all that unlikely, considering how long these old KLHs last!

I think the *real* solution is to find the 3/16" staples like those KLH originally used. I own a T50 and a JT21 stapler so those are the staples I was looking for. In both cases the shortest available is 1/4".

BUT! I just Googled 3/16 staples without specifying the stapler type and found that there are 3/16" staples available for the T30 & HT30 staplers. (If you have the old discontinued T32 stapler the T30 staples will work in it.)

You can find boxes of 5,000 for sale at a number of places online for like 11 bucks and I imagine you can find boxes of 1,000 at a local hardware store or home center, probably for 4 bucks, give or take.

jb

[JKent]

Thanks JB

I had tried googling 3/16" staples and only found staples with 3/16" CROWNS--not 3/16" legs. Just tried again and found some made by Hansen for the Hansen staple gun. Maybe those also work in the Arrow T-30. I'll do some more research on this....

Kent

[boreas]

> Thanks JB

> Maybe those also work in the Arrow T-30. I'll do some more

> research on this....

>Kent

Hey, Kent -

With the search terms "t30 staples 3/16" I found several sources. Here are a few of URLs for you:

jb

[boreas]

>With the search terms "t30 staples 3/16" I found

>several sources.

After a little more investigation I discovered that T-30 staples are pretty light-duty, more or less the same weight as JT-21 staples, so they might have a tendency to tear through the fabric. Also 3/16" staples turn out to be 5mm and 1/4" staples are actually 6mm. That means that there's really only about 1/25" difference between the two sizes and that 1/4" staples are actually a little less than 1/4" and 3/16" a little more than 3/16". So I'm wondering whether it's worth the trouble to find them.

jb

[soundminded]

Why not attach them using velcro, duct tape, a hot glue gun, or some other method? Or you could just make another board out of thicker material such as 1/2 inch plywood or luan using the original as a template. Those will accept staples much more readily than masonite. There's no rule saying that you have to make the same mistakes the original manufacturer did. Henry Kloss was an outstanding speaker designer IMO but as a manufacturing engineer.....he stank.

[boreas]

>Why not attach them using velcro, duct tape, a hot glue gun,

>or some other method?

This may just be the only thing duct tape isn't good for. <> Velcro might add too much thickness to the grilles, two layers of velcro and one of grille cloth and prevent the other velcro, that intended to hold the grilles in place, from grabbing.

Hot glue would certainly work well but it might interfere with future replacement of the grille cloth.

>Or you could just make another board out of thicker material

>such as 1/2 inch plywood or luan using the original as a

>template. Those will accept staples much more readily than

>masonite.

I did mention making new thicker grille boards in an earlier post but I think the idea has been to find a way of using the original boards. If, however, you were to make new boards, 1/4" would be plenty and masonite a suitable material. Masonite's ability to accept or hold the staples isn't a problem. It's just the points of the staples protruding through the grille cloth at the front of the 1/8" stuff the original boards are made from.

jb