Mike Keith

I'll never use Polyurethane clear coat again!

Minwax polyurethane clear satin finish ruined my speaker project. In just a few months the ambering effect became visable, then over the last year it go so bad I couldent hardly stand to look at them, especially after compleating my Maelstrom subs with the same paint and inlays, but with a clear lacquer top coat. So I completely stripped down the drums and repainted them with the "Bleached Stone" textured paint and used a water based clear top coat, much better, now they match my subs perfectly. To see the effects of this evil product in amber action see link with pictures.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthr...threadid=14142

Allen Ross

umm, i think its pretty much common that poly will do that to any wood, at least the high-school kid working at home-depot knew it, for a true colorless clear coat try polycrylic clear or satin buy minwax, thats what i used on my Pi as i wanted to keep the blonde of the baltic birch.

A Finished pic, i finished them late september and they haven't changed one shade.



I noticed the change of the poly on my unstained rack mount the very day i finished it. I guess it would do the same to a painted finish too.

Member and Founder of the \"Its Never to Big or too Loud to have in a Dorm Club\"
Everyone in college should have a 9 cuft Tempest in their closest!

Hank Frankenberg

The poly didn't mean to ruin your speakers. It's a well-known attribute of solvent-based polyurethane that it does yellow a bit over time. Depending on the color of the wood it is applied to, the effect runs the gamut from barely to VERY noticeable. The new water-based polys remain clear.

Ken Cline

It says right on the directions

(from minwax.com)

That's why I used Deft laquer on my maple cabinets.

Ken Cline
Too Many DVDs, Too Little Time...

My Academy Screener Collection

Mike Keith

Yea, I finally found that same blurb too, should have done more research but it's too late now. Anyway what’s with the mentioning of "Slight ambering", that’s just plane deceptive, there is nothing Slight about it, and spot testing wont work either, I actually did a test piece and let it set for 2-weeks, and no visible ambering, the extreme ambering that does occur will take a couple months at least, who’s got that much time to waste. Anyway I'm just venting about a mistake that was due to my inexperience in finishing, but seriously they should have a big red flag that pops up when you pick up a can that says "Warning this product will make everything it touches YELLOW, hope you like YELLOW", just my opinion.

BTW nice looking sub, looks very well built.