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Need help with BLACK finish on MB1 monitors (1 Viewer)

jeff lam

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I received 3 MB1 cabinets last thursday from a guy that built them for me. Some minor problems with them. Mostly I fixed myself. The major one that I don't have much experience with is finishing. He used deft tung oil on maple veneer and didn't get the finish quite dark enough. I wanted it finished black, but it arrived more like a medium-dark brown and is not to my liking so I would like to try to get it as black as possible and still have the nice woodgrain finish to it. Could I use paint and oil? If so, what brands and where should I buy them. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
 

Pete Mazz

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May 17, 2000
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With the tung oil finish already applied, you might have problems. If you have an area (bottom?) of one of them to test, try this.

1) Wipe down with naptha to remove any wax and soften the finish.

2) Mix oil based black paint (or whatever paint color you want) with paint thinner. About 1 part paint to 3-4 parts thinner.

3) apply the thinned paint with a rag.

4) After about a minute, wipe off lightly with a clean rag.

If this works, you should have what you're looking for. If it's not dark enough, let dry and re-apply. Put on a clear coat like Watco transparent or Poly.

Pete
 

Brian Bunge

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Jeff,

That sucks that you paid someone to build them for you and you aren't happy with the finish. What other problems did you have that you were able to fix?

Brian

P.S. You've got mail!
 

jeff lam

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Brian,

A few other problems included: Broken grill snaps(he had PE send me replacements). All 12 of them broke and wer stuck inside the mounting holes. I just used needlenose plires to get them out. Also, when he sent them, he didn't wrap them in plastic or anything so the styrofoam got stuck to the cabinet and was caked on somehow. I have never seen styrofoam do this but it took me about a half hour to scrub it off the wood. That's about it. Nothing too serious. The craftsmanship is very good and the front and rear baffle/pannels are really nice. He used truck bed liner to make a textured look. I like it a lot. The only problem is the color of the finish.

BTW, I can't check my yahoo mail till I get home from work.

Also, They sound great so far.
 

Brian Bunge

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Jeff,

Nothing but styrofoam? I just sent out a 50+ lb. SV10 based subwoofer today. We wrapped it in at least 4 layers of bubble wrap and double boxed it with a piece of 1/2" pressed wood in front of the driver.

UPS might break it but they sure ain't gonna damage the driver cone without ramming a fork lift into the thing!

Brian
 

jeff lam

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Brian,

yes, just styrofoam. However, there was both types in the box. He had fitted some formed styrofoam block(the ones found in computer boxes/receiver boxes, the harder stuff) around 2 of the cabs and had a smaller one around the 3rd. This was the stuff that got stuck on the outside of the cabinets. It looked like the cab had littl white bubbles all over one side. Anyway, then he put the popcorn foam stuff inside the open space. Not really a top notch packing job but at least the cabs corners and peices weren't busted or broken. I had suggested buble wrap and plastic bags and seperate grills for the next time he ships out something to someone else. If I can fix the color of the cabinets, I would actually be quite pleased with the speakers overall.

BTW, I did have the drivers shipped straight from Danny at GR Research so there were no drivers in the cabinets when shipped. I figured that would be the best way to do it. So I just soldered the drivers to the network and screwed them in.
 

Brian Bunge

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Jeff,

OK, not as bad as I thought. The peanuts do add some extra protection.

We're going to get the thin sheets of styro (like what your receiver, DVD player, etc. come wrapped in), then go with bubble wrap and double boxing in the future.

Glad you like the speakers!

Brian
 

jeff lam

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Jeff Lam
OK, enough of that. Back to finding a solution. Anyone else have any ideas on how to paint/stain the veneer black?
 

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