Monitor 5,7,10 Original Stand redo

BaggedLancer

So, as some of you saw I landed myself a pair of original Polk stands, not the particle board. Couldn't stand the black finish on them so today I went to work sanding it off.

I noticed it was sanding off very strangely, not like regular paint......maybe a lead based paint? Either way, no big deal.

I think I'm going to stain them a dark cherry color.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

jakelm

I prefer a black stain. Black stain just seems to allow the stands to disapear.

Other wise a dark, rich, mahogany, or dark cherry like you suggested

No stain, just varnish if you want to go neuveaux...

Ricardo

Here's a suggestion. Sell them to me; I need them for my Monitor 7's.

(I'll even finish the sanding for you)

BaggedLancer

Ricardo wrote: »

Here's a suggestion. Sell them to me; I need them for my Monitor 7's.

(I'll even finish the sanding for you)

1 billlllllllllllion dollars.

Ricardo

Deal. I'll make you a bank transfer from my account in Nigeria. I will need your bank account, and paypal logon and password.

BaggedLancer

Ricardo wrote: »

Deal. I'll make you a bank transfer from my account in Nigeria. I will need your bank account, and paypal logon and password.

Dear Sir/Madam,

That sounds great but we need to route the transfer through my bank at the North Pole. There is a fat **** up there that will take care of the transfer. Either him or his fluffy wife.

Please let me know your bank account number, social security number, full name, date of birth, address and current phone number.

Please Thank You,

Mark

BaggedLancer

Just picked up red oak stain and put on the first layer, totally awesome, i can't wait to post pics once it dries. I have never stained anything in my life before so don't laugh too hard if i did something wrong.

Ricardo

Is it an "all in one" stain or you need to apply clear later? I just want to make sure the job is done correctly...you know, so when I get them I don't need to do it all over again

BaggedLancer

Ricardo wrote: »

Is it an "all in one" stain or you need to apply clear later? I just want to make sure the job is done correctly...you know, so when I get them I don't need to do it all over again

Not a clue, whats the difference? I went straight for the yellow Minwax cans, grabbed red oak and walked away.......

BaggedLancer

Here is the progress. There is a picture of the minwax can, is it all-in-one?

I really haven't a clue what I'm doing, the Minwax came came with a free booklet on how to stain and I've been following it.

Ricardo

From Minwax web page for that Wood Finish (I'm sure that the instructions will tell you the same):

4. CLEAR FINISH PROTECTION
After a minimum of 8 hours, apply a clear, protective finish such as Minwax® Fast-Drying Polyurethane, Minwax® Helmsman® Spar Urethane or after 24 hours, apply clear Minwax® Polycrylic® Protective Finish.

You need to go back to HomeDepot and get a Plyurethane clear coat.

hale2thechief

Very nice! I hope you didn't inhale too much of that lead paint.

BaggedLancer

so the booklet says to Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane....guess I have more product to buy...


Also, I got the stain all over my hands, apparently it doesn't wash off? Not much just spots everywhere....looks like I have a disease or something.

BaggedLancer

Whoa, 3 posts in the same minute, cool!

BaggedLancer

hale2thechief wrote: »

Very nice! I hope you didn't inhale too much of that lead paint.

I swept it up and put it in my sandwich..kidding...I dunno if inhaled much, when I blew my nose earlier it was all black so I assume my big nostril hairs took care of the job.

Ricardo

Since you are doing it, make sure you do it right; get some metal wool (I know there's a better name, but I can't think of it right now..). Put on the clear coat, wait for it to dry, finish any hard spots with the wool, apply another coat, wool again,and do this 3 or 4 times. It will be a fine furniture piece.

(Man, I'm gonna love these stands)

BaggedLancer

I found some polyurethane.....it says clear satin, we had it when our floors were refinished......also found some high gloss but that was hard as a rock so i don't think it's any good.

If these looks decent when they are done maybe I will start doing some of my furniture since most of it is 3rd generation hand me downs that are in brutal condition.(1/10 on the audiogon scale).

BaggedLancer

Put the first coat of poly on......wow it has a nice shine now. Will do a 2nd coat tomorrow and 3rd coat on saturday if needed.

BaggedLancer

I must say the refinishing thing is pretty cool, i could easily see myself getting addicted to refinishing furniture. It really isn't that hard, especially if you have no clue what you're doing since you could always say you wanted it that way.

BaggedLancer

Well, they are done and reassembled, what do you guys think? I really couldn't be much happier with them. 1000x better than the black that they came with.

Ricardo

Great job there. You just need the speakers now

BaggedLancer

Ricardo wrote: »

Great job there. You just need the speakers now

Yea, I just need speakers, some cables, a preamp and a tube amp or an integrated, and a cd player and I will be able to call this system complete. But damn, these look good sitting on my bureau awaiting something nice, glad I kept them.

Mike Reeter

Very nice work,those stands must have been made "back in the day" I've only seen reference to the partical board stands before.

You should take a certain amount of pride in a job well done.

BaggedLancer

Mike Reeter wrote: »

Very nice work,those stands must have been made "back in the day" I've only seen reference to the partical board stands before.

You should take a certain amount of pride in a job well done.

Thanks, yea I guess these are REALLY back in the day and definately are a prime example of "they don't make them like they used to."

Not sure how long these were in production, but can't imagine long as I have mostly seen the particle board ones.

mhardy6647

For the record, whatever those are they're not the "original Polk stands". The originals were particle board with a vinyl "contact paper" covering. They may well be from Polk; if so they're from the mid-'80's or later, as I've never seen Polk stands like them.

Here are some original Polkstands (as they were called). These date to ca. 1978, and I am sorry they're kind of beat up. They were demos when I got them, and really aren't any more beat up now then they were then :-)





Here they are under an original Model 7 and Model 10 in a brochure I have from ca. 1976.

BaggedLancer

Interesting, I was told by a few people they were originals....

The pictures you showed me, plus the 2 pairs of stands I already have make it 3 different stands for the monitor line up?

Either way, I like them. Maybe the guy custom made them? Who knows.........maybe some of the other Polk veterans may know?

BaggedLancer

Good god, i just looked the pics of your original stands on my big monitor at home rather than my crappy little laptop, did you send those things to war?

polk didnt really sell something that looked like that did they?

mhardy6647

I kid you not, they were demos (as were my Model 7As) when I bought 'em at Soundscape in Balto. They look just about the same now as they did in 1978; crappy. On the bright side, I got a good deal on the demo speakers, and they threw the stands in essentially for free.

When they were new (to me), I added a trim strip :-) of electrical tape around the very frayed front edge. The rubber grippies have crept over the years, but just a bit.

They have been moved from Baltimore to California to Massachusetts over their "lives", but they really look about the same as always.

Are you suggesting that I should re-"veneer" them? :-)

EDIT: Polk was much more focused on providing sonic value per $ in the early/mid 1970s then they were on appearance! The aesthetic and construction values of the early "monitors" was pretty nominal.

BaggedLancer

Haha, i still wanna know where my stands came from and if they are even a polk design?

BaggedLancer

*cough* Ricardo *cough*


My these 7A's look really nice on these stands.......:p;)

engtaz

Those are very nice looking. Great job.

Congrats,
engtaz