Restoring black-ash finish (wood veneer)

pmsummer

simul justus et peccator
The Yamaha NS1000Ms I got yesterday are in great shape overall, 15 of 16 corners perfect (1 rear a tiny bit compressed), very few nicks or scrapes or gouges, but a few. On the speaker tops, the black stain is very thin from wear.

What's a good product to restore the black to these without doing a complete refinish? Normally, I would use a Howard's Restor-a-Finish wipe-on product for these conditions, but they don't have black.

The pic makes it look worse than it is, but you get the idea. Any thoughts, thou AK founts of wisdom?

p4260001ay2.jpg
 
I've filled in small imperfections with Sharpie Markers . . .

for a big area like that, maybe some type of wood dye ? :scratch2:

I would think a couple coats of wood dye rubbed in, and buffed out would work. . . .
 
Most dealers around here go the shoe polish route, too. I was recently looking for something better, that also wouldn't have any risk of smearing, etc... for renewing the plinth of my Pioneer PL-L1 TT.

Asked around, and came up with black wood dye. They had two types; one left more of the grain visible, almost like a dark grey stain; the other --which I chose-- was a deeper, more concealing black. The lady where I bought it said it wasn't very shiny, but I could add it to lacquer if I wanted a shinier black finish.

I applied a coat, rubbed it a bit to remove excess, but it still looked a bit "streaky". However, by the next day it had all been absorbed and the plinth looked much better, a nice even black, and despite what the lady said, fairly shiny/reflective. I rubbed it a bit more, then repeated the process to make sure it was a nice, even black.

The third time, before it even completely soaked in, I put on the first coat of oil and rubbed that a little, in effect mixing black wood die with oil in one finish. WOW! It really started to get the look I wanted. Now I'm adding a few more coats of hand-rubbed tung oil, and I'm very glad I did not resort to shoe polish! There is a richer depth, a soft mirror-like quality (for lack of a better term), that comes from the combination of wood dye and oil, that I much prefer to the shoe polish approach. You can almost "look into the depths" of the black, but it is still woodgrained, not as smooth as lacquer.

The total process is taking me a few weeks, since I let it sit between coats and sometimes do only half or less of the plinth at a time. I don't want to put fingerprints on the thing nor risk getting dye on things or dropping it when it is oily, etc... as it is very heavy and awkward to turn around (It is not on a lazy Susan... stupid me!).

I know some people add a final coat of beeswax polish over an oil finish to "seal" it, and I may try that, but I might not risk it, as I think this will look superb without it. That said, a clear wax would fill up the teensy-tiny grooves in the grain and make a smoother surface, if the oil doesn't do that. Wax would also retard any evaporation of the oil.
 
I thought you might be kidding, but it seemed perfect. I used a shoe cream (as opposed to shoe polish-wax). It infused black back into the wood, and buffed out with a nice lustre, very much like the original finish.

I'm sure wood dye wood be better, but I don't have any, and I just want to make these look better, not perfect. They've earned their patina.

Perfect suggestion. Thanks!
 
Well, what can I say... sometimes you step in it, sometimes you don't!

Glad it worked! The Paradigm mini MKIII's I got a few weeks ago could use a touch up, I'll have to give it a try! :thmbsp:

PS they look great in the pic!
 
Heh. I was going to suggest shoe polish as well -- used it once on some speakers that I didn't care too much about, and the results were actually really nice! :thmbsp:
 
When I was last in Jamaica, quite some time ago, I had a lad carve a piece for me, and he used shoe polish for the black section.

If its good enough for carvings, it should be good for speakers. :thmbsp:
 
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