Your experience with liquid finish remover vs hand sanding?

Start by identifying the finish you need to remove, this will help determine the best method of removal.

Ideally, you only want to remove the finish, and not underlying sealers, fillers, and color.

Depending what the original finish is, a light, fine sanding and re-coat may be all that's necessary.

A lot of folks go overboard re-finishing and create a result that is a margin below the original.

That said, there are some folks here at AK who have done some fantastic restoration and finish work.
 
My original naive first plan was to hand-sand it, then apply Osmo Hardwax Oil as recommended by @Bratwurst7s in
this post http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/canton-quinto-540.825420/#post-11673579

But it seems there is much more to it. For example, I have no clue how to identify the finish. Having looked at Wikipedia makes me even more clueless, since there are so many types of finish.

Basically I am happy with how the sides of the boxes look, and would like to make the top/bottom sides look the same.

bowtie427ss said:
Start by identifying the finish you need to remove, this will help determine the best method of removal.

Ideally, you only want to remove the finish, and not underlying sealers, fillers, and color.

Depending what the original finish is, a light, fine sanding and re-coat may be all that's necessary.

A lot of folks go overboard re-finishing and create a result that is a margin below the original.

That said, there are some folks here at AK who have done some fantastic restoration and finish work.
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the manufacturer mentions the finish in their literature somewhere.

Also agree with the above poster referencing member 427, he's an expert in the finish trade and a pretty nice fella too.;)
 
First, decide whether the original finish can be refreshed, you might be able to clean it up sufficiently with polish/000 steel wool/a finish restorative product like Howard's.

If you do decide to remove the finish, a sanding block is your friend. Start with a fine paper and work from there. Fingerpoint pressure is what burns through veneers the fastest. The bigger the block the more difficult it will be to burn through. You'll also need to decide whether you need to totally go back to bare wood or simply prep the existing surface well enough for a new coat to stick. If the latter, a scuffing with fine sandpaper might be sufficient.

I'll defer to 4-2-7 or the dude who did that beautiful Koa table, but in my experience, the biggest thing for *not* burning holes in veneer with sandpaper is to use a block. Not just a hand pad but a large block. I make them out of the hobby hardwood, usually oak, from Home Depot or Lowes. What you want to avoid is putting any kind of localized pressure on any part of the veneer. For a box like that I'd probably make a block at least the length of a standard sheet of sandpaper.
 
You identify the finish by applying solvents and determining which eats through the finish... You do it on a small area, preferably the bottom of the cabinet..

https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/what-finish-is-that-anyway


Unless the veneer is super thin, it takes a lot of sanding to burn through it..

I would steer clear of the liquid finish remover. Its a mess, and just all around nasty stuff. You dont want to breath it.
 
Last edited:
Ok Tony
Do not sand the finish off!!

Get some Lacquer thinner and try washing the finish off with it. Looking at your speakers I think it's either lacquer or oil finish.

If the lac thinner works use white rags and keep changing them as you go along. Keep washing off the finish till your rage stays clean and not sticky.

BTW do this with good air circulation and some latex gloves that can handle the thinner.

Get back to me if this doesn't work, and we'll take one step at a time.
 
bowtie427ss said:
A lot of folks go overboard re-finishing and create a result that is a margin below the original.
Click to expand...
I have to agree here, mostly in the way of sanding. They try to make the speaker look brand new with the mind set we'll sand the hell of it.

Well they sand off the years of beauty that turned the speaker a nice amber patina.
 
In my experience, hand-sanding is a good way to ruin the finish entirely. I have had great results using a chemical stripper, followed by a very light sanding. The problem with hand sanding, is it's really hard to do it evenly enough that everything stays flat.. you hand sand it, look at it in the light, and it's no longer flat. One tool which also works really well to remove deteriorated finishes is a flat scraper like this http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=49548&cat=1,310,41069&ap=1 The scraper also doesn't ruin the flatness of the panel, like aggressive sanding can.

I only resort to sanding, when there's gouges, really bad water rings, or something else in the veneer or something needing repair which is so bad that judgement says it's better to risk ruining the flatness of the final product, if the blemish can be blended in.
 
Tony124 said:
thank you for your comments, very much appreciated. I will try my luck with lacquer thinner as recommended by @4-2-7 first.
Click to expand...

Read the link I posted above before you begin with that.. You want to determine what the finish is, so follow those steps.. I agree that it is most likely lacquer..

Make sure you are in a well ventilated area while playing with solvents! Preferably outside.
 
4-2-7 said:
I have to agree here, mostly in the way of sanding. They try to make the speaker look brand new with the mind set we'll sand the hell of it.

Well they sand off the years of beauty that turned the speaker a nice amber patina.
Click to expand...
Totally agreed. I Could have ruined my Onkyo speakers by removing the Japanese lacquer job so carefully applied 30 years ago, just because of a few defects. I ended up removing about one half of a layer with a compound, then a super fine polishing compound which removed the haze and dirt. What I was left with was a beautiful (but not perfect) finish, which preserved the history and also looks good. A nice wax or the like on top keeps the shine uniform.
 
I used a soy-based stripper (inset pole-dancing joke here) and was careful to limit my time rinsing/neutralizing and STILL wound up with joint separation. I'll be going "dry" from this point forward.
(On a positive note, the damage forced a re-veneer job that was quite the learning experience and produced a more beautiful result that I had originally planned for.)

Photo_12_DamagedCorner.gif
 
EngineerNate said:
First, decide whether the original finish can be refreshed, you might be able to clean it up sufficiently with polish/000 steel wool/a finish restorative product like Howard's.
Click to expand...

Never use steel wool on a speaker cabinet without first removing all the drivers. Little pieces of steel wool break off when you use it. These little pieces will be attracted to the magnets on your drivers.

In general, avoid using steel wool for wood because the little pieces of steel wool have a tendency to get embedded in the wood. The steel pieces even react to the tannins in oak. It is often better to use synthetic (plastic) abrasive pads.
 
RTally said:
Never use steel wool on a speaker cabinet without first removing all the drivers. Little pieces of steel wool break off when you use it. These little pieces will be attracted to the magnets on your drivers.

In general, avoid using steel wool for wood because the little pieces of steel wool have a tendency to get embedded in the wood. The steel pieces even react to the tannins in oak. It is often better to use synthetic (plastic) abrasive pads.
Click to expand...

Good points. I wouldn't use steel wool on unfinished work but I didn't think about it getting embedded through an existing finish. I usually use a scotch Brite pad myself now that I think about it.

I also probably wouldn't mess with the finish too much in any case unless I could remove the drivers. Too much risk of damage. Dust, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

guptonr
Yamaha CR 2020 Finish
Replies
2
Views
762
REDone
R
sancho22
Mission 70 MK II - re-finish?
Replies
9
Views
6K
kbott
kbott
triacon
KLH Model 6 wood veneer finish circa 1972
2 3 4
Replies
65
Views
2K
GD70
GD70
Onebean
Need advice on ADS speaker refinish
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
GD70
GD70
Maxmano356
Finish Types Shootout - Help me choose
Replies
10
Views
258
Porkloin
Porkloin
Back
Top Bottom