I’m about finished remodeling most of my house and after giving my wife a new kitchen and baths, I planning on moving some of the vintage (1983) Kenwood, dbx and Akai equipment into the living room. The problem is that most of my equipment is pretty beat-up and on the cosmetic level, has seen better days. The wife doesn’t have a problem with the equipment moving out of the main listening room to the living room, but stated that they just “ugly” to the eye and takes away from everything else.

To be honest, I agree that they’re not in the best overall cosmetic condition and I’m not about to buy anything that’s currently out there since nothing within the last 3-4 years that has caught my eye… Except for the newer Yamaha AX-2000 amplifier and CD-X2000 CD player.

Anyway, I’m thinking about having each of the face plates refinished either with an automobile or firearm semi-gloss “silver” finish. The only problem I’m running into is the silk screening. The only thing I can think about is taking each of the face pieces to an engraver and see if the can go over the current marking and after being refinished, fill-in the engraved areas with a black paint.

To be honest, I really don’t know anything about silk screening, but my gut is telling me that it would end up being more problematic than the engraving, which will cost far more money than re-applying the marking by silk screen.

I know that my Kenwood/dbx/Akai equipment isn’t really hi-end gear, but we have history together that goes back to the early 80s, which is something I can’t even explain, but are almost priceless to me. Hell, my wife is freaked out by this and every year or so, she brings up the ideal of clearing some of the clutter in the house by starting off with throwing away my trashed out stereo system(s).

Has anybody out there ever done this?? I’ve seen equipment with chassis covers refinished or the wood siding redone with a different wood, but nothing as drastic as the whole unit.

Once this is done and all the clear plastic windows are cleaned and polished, they will go nicely with the modern contemporary European styling my wife has going on. My Akai GX-77 reel to reel would look great as the centerpiece unit in the wife's "expresso" finished bookcase!!

Am I a nut or what?? Please advise.

I'm experimenting with it but so far no luck.

I am confident in due time I'll get it sorted out.

The end process will not be cheap but should look great.

If you can find a quality engraver that can do it affordably, that's a great alternative.

But be forewarned, either way is going to require an effort of labor and expense.

Who would paint their equipment ? what a foolish idea :D I have been known to paint a case or two and am presently working on how a faceplate could be painted without losing the lettering or restoring it in some way.

i am currently refurbishing my rig.
For plastic knob holders, I have them sent for CNC cutting using aluminium - I am rather happy with the results(will post some pics later).

the biggest problem is still the faceplate.
I have talked to different people in silkscreening/engraving.etc

silkscreening is the only one that could convince me to have the faceplate done 99% close to original - but of cause at the price of burning my wallet. I am still exploring....

as for engraving - they do have some restrictions(or maybe the guys i talk to aint good enough).

I work in engraving and silkscreening- indeed it can be done, but at an expense, and at this point with me and a co-hort, more trial and error.

Are there any other options that can be explored? Like hiding the uglier equipment behind smoke or frosted glass? How about getting some broken donor equipment and swapping out only the cosmetic parts? If it were my sentimental pieces I'd feel better doing that over painting them, but that's just me. :music:

i guess the only part that looks good using paint = casing
I sent mine to the car painting workshop to have a 2k paint on my sansui tuner casing.

I'd try to find more of the same gear and swap faceplates. It may take a while, but it's probably the way to go. I really think you'd be disappointed with any "paint" solution and start looking to swap faceplates anyhow.

Thanks for the replies. To be honest, I've been searching for "cleaner" donor faceplates for about 9-10 years without any real luck. This includes eBay, flea markets, pawn shops, Craig’s list and garage sales and to this point, I’m giving up on that ideal. Plus, the shipping to Anchorage, Alaska is a killer from the lower 48 too.

As for hiding them behind a smoke glass door, that’s a no-go for the wife.

With that being said, painting is now a more realistic option for me. I’m hoping to get some samples within the next week from a auto repair shop in town. I’m also going to contact a gunsmith who provides a refinishing service for firearms with a product called “durakoat” which also comes in a “stainless steel” type finish.

I’m also hoping that a “brushed Aluminum” type finish is available!!

I understand that the faceplates will be painted AND look painted too, but with all honesty, it will be an improvement over their current looks. After looking at some of Jeff Corder’s custom reel to reel players, which were displayed at the CES 2009, I‘m convinced that painting, either in silver or black, is workable, if done by a SKILLED person with the right equipment... Not by “Bubba” with a $1.24 can of spray paint from Wal-Mart on his kitchen counter.

Yes, his work on his Technics reel to reel are a real art form and these decks do not come cheap, but his service includes the reel to reel deck, a complete rebuild with many components upgrades, as well as the painting and silk screening of each unit.

BTW, I sent him an email to see if I could commission him for this project, but I haven’t received a reply… I’m sure that he is still laughing!! Seriously, I’m pretty sure his main business of rebuilding Technics reel to reels keeps him busy.

As for the silk screening… The real problem to this project, is something that I REALLY have no knowledge of, so I don’t feel that I could make a semi-intelligent statement on this issue, but looking at the fonts used on my Kenwood equipment is very similar to my Yamaha equipment. And the font used by Pioneer is pretty much the same as Akai’s. The templates would be the main issue, but basic template covering the common functions, i.e., volume, bass, treble, loudness, phone, tape, aux, etc., could made and used over and over with special function templates could be made and used as needed.

As for me, some of the decorative lines that do not serve any real function, I can live without and would give a more updated cleaner look to each piece. I know that this isn’t a popular ideal with the purist, but neither is painting.

Thedelihaus, please-please keep up with your trial and error process. I know that once you get this system working, you could corner the market on audio/video restoration!!!

try this route

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/

try this route

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/

nice but......my bank acct doesnt have many zeros:D:D:D

Do What you Like.....Blind Faith.

I had the glass for a Kenwood 700M reproduced by silk screen. I furnished the glass and it cost $100 for 1, $120 for 10. The only trouble I had was finding a shop that was interested enough to stick with it until they had it perfect. I spent another $120 in false starts. There is a product called PhotoEZ that you can make your own silk screen with but I was never able to get the small letters sharp enough. As far as painting the covers I always use auto- base coat, clear coat.
Here is a Sansui I painted. It will probably make some purists cringe but I like it. The colors don't show well in the photo but it is midnight blue. The lettering and Japanese characters are matte clear coat.

if you have a scanner, try scanning the front panel, and see if you can then use that to create a clean full scale image. from that point, you could make a new image from scratch if the above is not good enough, if you can accurately match the fonts and such. most of the effort on silk screening would be creating the master image, not transfering to the screen, or using that to transfer to the panel.

How about using dry transfer lettering on the front panels?

nice but......my bank acct doesnt have many zeros:D:D:D


Did you work one out? I have a new faceplate for a DBX-400a that has a LOT of lettering and a zillion little rectangular holes and I think it was only $75.00

Bergun,
Do you have a college or trade school near with a graphic arts department? Several years ago I hooked up with the head of a local university graphic arts department to get some silk screening done. Actually a rather large project, but done much more cheaply than I could have had done with the commercial companies.
The process would inlcude photographing or scanning the faceplates onto a photo-resist material. The photo-resist material is used to make the screens, which are then used to screen the "new" faceplates. You'll want to specify a good acrylic enamal for the screening so it won't wear off. Also, SAVE THE SCREENS! in case you need to do this again.
Bob

try this route

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/Wow -- that looks interesting. Price seems pretty reasonable too. One to keep in mind...thanks! :thmbsp:

Bergun,
Do you have a college or trade school near with a graphic arts department? Several years ago I hooked up with the head of a local university graphic arts department to get some silk screening done. Actually a rather large project, but done much more cheaply than I could have had done with the commercial companies.
The process would inlcude photographing or scanning the faceplates onto a photo-resist material. The photo-resist material is used to make the screens, which are then used to screen the "new" faceplates. You'll want to specify a good acrylic enamal for the screening so it won't wear off. Also, SAVE THE SCREENS! in case you need to do this again.
Bob

I haven't thought of that yet... We have the University of Alaska, Anchorage here in town with several other smaller colleges as well, but it’s something to think about.

I was talking to a co-worker about this ideal today and he mentioned that “laser etching” might work too… Tomorrow or within the next few days, I’m hoping to make it to a local engraving shop and talk to them about this ideal, either about laser etching or the engraving. Also, I’m going to approach them about the silk screening ideal as well to gage their interest or if they know somebody that can do this type of work.

At this point, I’m willing to spend about $50.00 (+/-) for each of my faceplates to be refinished by a “professional” with a high grade automotive silver paint, for a total of 8 or 10 various pieces. As for the silk screening or the engraving/laser etching, I’m looking at about the same for this process as long as it can be professionally done. Again, I don’t mind omitting some of the non-practical silk screening on each of the units to cut down on the cost.

Also, I’m counting in the cost of the clear coat finish with the paint job since it will the last step in this process.

As for the dry transfers, that’s something worth looking into as well since they would be “sealed in” during the clear coating process.

Again, thanks for all the advise and to be honest, I’m starting to believe that this is a workable option… With limitations!!!

Hi Bergen - I was sorting through posts and saw yours Thanks for the great comments. You said you sent me an e-mail but I am sorry but I don't remember seeing it. Please send me another e-mail and I an interested in what you are trying to accomplish. Jeff from J-Corder jeff@j-corder.com

I've worked with dry transfer lettering and it can work, but it is very easy to get letters that are not precisely aligned and just one letter a tad off makes the whole thing look bad.

Did you work one out? I have a new faceplate for a DBX-400a that has a LOT of lettering and a zillion little rectangular holes and I think it was only $75.00


ok...will try it out - their webpage looks expensive to me:D.

I work in engraving and silkscreening- indeed it can be done, but at an expense, and at this point with me and a co-hort, more trial and error.

so for detail as fine as whats needed using silkscreen, then umm photostencil? or is there something hotter (been out of it for a looong time).

What's the bad? Silver scratched all over? All lettering beat and missing? What needs fixing? Could the area around the controls, as in an outer border be coated (I use Lauer DuraKote on fire arms - works well). What I'm suggesting is tying it all in with a themed border say 1/4" all around. Could be colored, silver, pewter, etc. Paint the chassis hammered black, new feet from hardware store so they all stand the same apart, black cables (numbered) so no color behind to distract the eye and some focused lighting to pick up the border highlights?

There is a way...
:thmbsp:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3637888652_5f847a4534_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3640494808_5beb7e81a2_b.jpg

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=235720

You can emulate silk screening with an aerosol photoresist called "Positiv-20". This is a cheap method.
You need to create an accurate artwork copy of the faceplate on computer graphics software. Then, get a lithographer to convert your printout into a black & white photo positive. (If the printout is larger, get a print shop to print it on large paper).

The Positiv 20 is sprayed on the faceplate, then the photopositive laid over it and exposed to UV light. The Positiv 20 cures where the UV light is NOT allowed to pass (its a POSITIVE mask, not the usual negative mask for PCBs).

Rinse off the uncured Positiv 20 in dilute NaOH (this is corrosive to aluminium, so it has to be done carefully). Now bake the Positive 20 lettering at 200C for about 45 minutes. It turns very dark brown, and becomes permanent.

Because of the baking, it only works on anodised aluminium, not painted surfaces.