refinishing veneer / stripping?

michael_w

I may be picking up a set of speakers and the veneer on them has cracked very badly due to them being stuck in a shipping warehouse in the dead of winter (apparently every copule inches there are a large amount of spidery cracks). I have been told the veneer is unsalvagable.

What would be the best way to refinish them? Should I attempt to remove the existing veneer or would it be better to sand them down as much as possible and then veneer right over top of that. Just checking here to see if anyone has already attempted this. I'm also contemplating an attempt at a piano black finish.

Thanks

burdette

Kind of hard to tell about removing the veneer or refinishing them without seeing them. Usually veneer is pretty thin - you don't have a lot of depth to work with.

One idea is to recover them with high quality 1/4" hardwood plywood which you could finish as you desire. Or if you're wanting the black piano finish, you could recover them with something thinner.

Also, companies like Parts Express sell woodgrain vinyl wrap. I know it isn't wood.. but I've read of people getting very good results.

michael_w

That's what I was thinking... it must be thin enough that it's beyond repair so I'll have to strip it off. I will be looking at them tomorrow morning and if they sound good they're coming home with me (assuming they actually fit in my car).

I'm reluctant to cover the existing veneer in case the old stuff starts to peel. Then I have twice as big of a problem than I had before! The 1/4" hardwood is a good idea... with flushmounted drivers it may look a bit odd but I could fix that fairly easily.

Thanks for the recommendation on the vinyl. I'll have to check it out but I think I'd rather go a more natural route and either finish them with a paint or real wood. Vinyl looks great until you get close or feel it.

I know I don't even own the things yet but I'm trying to get an idea of what amount of work I'm throwing myself into here.


Thanks!


OH and what do you guys think about the idea of possible damage to the speakers from getting cold? I know they sat in a warehouse for about two weeks and got cold enough to crack the veneer but I don't know how this could possibly effect the drivers and crossovers. They obviously weren't played when they were at that temp. If it makes any difference, these are being sold straight from the manufacturer from an awesome guy I've met a couple times (also the company owner).

68rustang

If you want wood you don't need 1/4". That would be ridiculous, use a veneer and stain/paint to whatever finish you want.

michael_w

Yes, I realize now the corners have a roundover and doing a 1/4" layer would be difficult to bend over that large of an area (a 4 foot bend down the speaker edge).

Thanks for your input... I went and auditioned the speakers and they weren't my taste. Great speakers but they didn't work very well with my electronics and had a bit of a different feel to them that I wasn't sure on. The finish was actually quite nice unless you got up close and felt the veneer to where you could feel the raised splits about 2 - 4" long.