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Restoring finish on AR3


canman

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Attached are photos of one speaker cabinet I am considering refinishing.  I will be putting all speakers back in soon along with new caps.  Pots are ready redone. Top was pretty scratchy with fine scratches, one side has slight light spot, and one side pretty good.

Would you keep as is and leave alone but it has some scratches especially on top (as usual).  I thought about Howard's walnut  Restore a finish not sure on that approach.

What is everyone's suggestions? I assume this is the walnut speaker??

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That speaker looks good. I'd say it should not need much.

Others may chime in with suggestions, and some may be better than mine but I would first clean it thoroughly. I use lacquer thinner for that, or Spray Nine.

If there are any chips, fill with JB Wood Weld tinted with Mixol #22. After it is thoroughly cured, file down the patch then sand the speaker VERY lightly and carefully. Be especially careful at corners and edges--you don't want to go through the finish.

Wipe it down with lacquer thinner again and see how it looks. You could use the Howard RAF at this point. Some like Mahogany, to give a slightly warmer tone, or Walnut.

A couple of days later you can start applying coats of Watco Danish Oil OR use a wax finish. Howard Feed-n-Wax is good. Roger and others have had very good success with bees' wax.

Good luck!

-Kent

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First, you need to decide if you want to restore or refinish.

If it's restore, there's only one correct process, and that's to clean up the wood as best you can, including filling and sanding if needed, and then apply boiled linseed oil to the wood. That's the original finish.

If it's refinish, then your options are endless, and all of the approaches Kent has described are good ones. It just depends on your preferences as to color and surface sheen.

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To repair corners correctly, you really should splice in veneer so the corners can be squared up. This will also insure the finish will be consistant. Wood fillers are terrible for excepting stain or color oils, and they will always show.

Here's a few pics of repairs I did on my 3's, which I hope helps.

Glenn

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The gap under the two adjoining pieces is filled with epoxy. This is much stronger than the original wood.

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An edge that needed attention.

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Glued in place and then sanded to blend in.

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The best part! This is after the first application of Watco's natural color Danish oil. When these were finished, I applied 5 or 6 coats of oil, sanding with 600 grit between coats.

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Here they are completed.

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  • 2 years later...

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