Black staining speakers...

[nickds1]

Hi,

I'm reconditioning some speakers - a set of Quad ESL 63s - I'm and electronics engineer, not a woodworker really, so please bear with me... The electronics and the speaker modules need a fair bit of work (they are electrostatic speakers - quite famous ones) - for me, that's the easy bit...

The speakers are physically in poor shape - heavily stained from hot coffee cups & water. They are also very (very) brown. So 70s...

I was considering changing them to satin black - you can get black speaker cloth for them, and the base is already black, so I thought that I'd strip they hevaily marked wood top and stain it.

I've used Liberon Fine Surface Stripper to remove the existing finishes and rubbish - unfortunately the water damage goes through to the wood, which might be cherry or similar.

If I went down the black route, what finish would folks recommend?

Many thanks

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

If you are going to stain and polish them black, you do not need to worry about them having water stains on them. If you are not experienced at polishing I think the easiest method for you to use is to spray them. With so many sharp edges, it would take an experienced polisher to put a good finish on without getting a run or sag on the edges. ( also, black is the hardest finish to put on as it shows every tiny little fault ).
Give them a good sanding, firstly with 150 grit then again with 240 grit. Stand you speakers on blocks that are smaller than the base of the speaker. Stain with a colron or ronseal black or tudor oak. Buy four cans of satin black spray paint, spray a few coats, leave to harden for a few hours then cut back with 400 grit. If you cut through the stain at this stage you can apply more stain. Continue spraying in thin coats untill you have your desired finish.
If you don't want to go down this route you could take them to your local spray polisher, if you do all the prep he would probably charge about £60 - £80 for the pair and give you a really professional finish.