AR3a Cabinet Refinishing

[James Bond]

I'm planning to use the wet sanding method as described in some of the post here using the Watco Danish Oil. I'm kinda confused about one aspect of this process. If I use a chemical stripper and then go with the wet sanding method with the danish oil will I still have my original color. BTW, I do have the walnut finish. How do I keep the original color?

[genek]

Sanding will almost certainly change the color. You'll be removing years of oxidation that have altered the tone and the texture of the wood ("patina"), and any new finish you apply after will result in a new color that might or might not look like the color the speaker originally left the factory with, but will definitely not look like a speaker with a well-aged original finish.

Can you post some pictures of your speakers? It may be possible to restore the original finish without having to sand it off.

[JKent]

I'm planning to use the wet sanding method as described in some of the post here using the Watco Danish Oil. I'm kinda confused about one aspect of this process. If I use a chemical stripper and then go with the wet sanding method with the danish oil will I still have my original color. BTW, I do have the walnut finish. How do I keep the original color?

Be careful with chemical strippers--they can dissolve the veneer's glue. Having said that, I've had some success with Formby's Furniture Refinisher

http://www.formbys.com/products/refinisher.cfm

Despite the name, it is NOT like Howard's Restor-a-Finish. It is a chemical stripper. Very strong odor so use it outdoors and wear gloves. But it does a good job of removing the old finish. Then clean off all of the stripper as described in the directions.

If there are any deep gouges or bashed corners, use John O'Hanlon's formula of #22 Mixol and epoxy (illustrated on page 6 of my KLH Eight restoration booklet: http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library...h-model-eig.pdf )

Sand VERY carefully with very fine dry sandpaper. I've used #600 grit discs on an orbital sander but you MUST keep it perfectly flat--the edges and corners of the veneered cabinet are very vulnerable to being sanded through.

Finally, use this method of wet sanding (but skip the coarse sanding):

http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/SAL/smothoil.htm

Good luck!

Kent

[Carlspeak]

Formsby's refinisher can be tricky to work with. I've had mixed results and only resort to it now in dire circumstances. What I have found is the use of Formsby's with a #0000 steel wool pad (as they recommend) must be done with utmost care regarding the pressure applied because light areas may result where more pressure was applied vs other areas. This is particularly true if you find yourself working harder on one area of the cabinet that may have paint splatter or other stains.

I agree with genek's post regarding the shift in color over time and liken the effort to maintaining the current color after refinishing to maintaining the current sound after recapping the crossover. You can always go over it with Minwax walnut stain prior to oiling.

[James Bond]

Here are some photos of my AR 3a's. I didn't crop or rotate them.

[Carlspeak]

Thanks for the pics. The tops and bottoms look like they'll need some extra sanding beyond the wet type or 600 grit. Those are indeed good for final sanding, but if you start with them you'll be sanding for ever to get those scratches out.

If I had them to do, I'd sand the top and bottoms and hit the sides with Howards dark walnut restor-a-finish. Start with 150 or 220 grit on the tops and bottoms. Kent is absolutely correct regarding the the orbital sander. Edges are particularly vulmerable to sanding thru. The older the speaker, the thicker the veneer which can withstand more sanding. Howards feed-n-wax is a nice finishing wax if you want a sheen just like when they were new. For a higher sheen do the wet sanding with a paste wax or feed-n-wax to complete the job.

Please share some pics when you're done.

[genek]

The bottoms are clearly the worst panels, but unless you're planning on positioning these horizontally where the ends would be viewable, the rest of the panels all look restorable to me.

[Shacky]

Howards Restor-A-Finish is incredibly stuff. The sides will be fine with just that. And you may be amazed what the tops and bottoms look like after RAF applied with steel wool

[JKent]

Howards Restor-A-Finish is incredibly stuff. The sides will be fine with just that. And you may be amazed what the tops and bottoms look like after RAF applied with steel wool

I agree with Shacky, with 2 caveats: A couple of shots seem to show the corners worn through to the particle board. Is that true? If so, I would recommend the Mixol/epoxy filler, but then some sanding would be needed. Second, once you use the Restor-a-Finish, it's tough to sand further because the RAF will gum up your sandpaper (that is NOT a problem if you do the "wet sanding" with Watco Oil--only if you use an orbital sander), If I were doing it, I'd fill any chips or missing veneer, sand the bottoms VERY lightly and carefully with 320 or higher grit sandpaper, use RAF on everything then do the wet sanding.

Kent

[genek]

This would be my process:

1. Naptha or a finish amalgamator like R-a-F rubbed in with a grey ("fine") Scothbrite wood finishing pad.

2. Fill scratches and voids and rebuild corners with epoxy putty or plastic burn-in stick (I like the Mohawk walnut-colored products, which are slightly lighter than most AR walnut) Avoid sanding by scraping with a razor blade or X-Acto knife while still pliable.

3. Apply thin coat of flat wipe-finish (Watco or other tinted oil/varnish blend) with a little tint to even out color if needed.

4. Match color and grain of repairs as needed with touch-up pens. Protect touch-ups with a shot of flat sealing lacquer.

5. Apply paste wax or some mineral oil based polish ("Old English," etc.) to put a bit of sheen on the surface if desired.

[James Bond]

Be careful with chemical strippers--they can dissolve the veneer's glue. Having said that, I've had some success with Formby's Furniture Refinisher

http://www.formbys.com/products/refinisher.cfm

Despite the name, it is NOT like Howard's Restor-a-Finish. It is a chemical stripper. Very strong odor so use it outdoors and wear gloves. But it does a good job of removing the old finish. Then clean off all of the stripper as described in the directions.

If there are any deep gouges or bashed corners, use John O'Hanlon's formula of #22 Mixol and epoxy (illustrated on page 6 of my KLH Eight restoration booklet: http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library...h-model-eig.pdf )

Sand VERY carefully with very fine dry sandpaper. I've used #600 grit discs on an orbital sander but you MUST keep it perfectly flat--the edges and corners of the veneered cabinet are very vulnerable to being sanded through.

Finally, use this method of wet sanding (but skip the coarse sanding):

http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/SAL/smothoil.htm

Good luck!

Kent

If I use a chemical stripper, what exactly am I taking off? If I'm taking off the old finish what does the old finish consist of?

Thanks for your replies.

[Carlspeak]

If I use a chemical stripper, what exactly am I taking off? If I'm taking off the old finish what does the old finish consist of?

Thanks for your replies.

Formsby's strips off old wax and dirt mostly. Read what I wrote in a previous post about using Formsby's.