Re finishing enclosure (1 Viewer)

[Jimmy Beaman]

I currently have a pair of cerwin vega d-9's. I wanted to re finish the outside of the enclosures to give them the new "black wood" look. Anyone know where i can get the stuff to do this and how its done? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would post a picture of what im looking for but the site wont let me until i make 15 posts. But there are speakers on the cerwin vega site that have the finish.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Jimmy,

I'm assuming that there is currently a vinyl veneer on the outside of the cabinets now. To go about doing such a finish that you desire, I'd do the following:

1) Wipe off the surfaces to be prepared with a paint thinner to get rid of any finegprints, dust, etc.

2) After you wipe the speakers, wear rubber gloves to avoid adding more fingerprints which could contain oils.

3) Tape off the areas of the cabinets you don't want to have this color added to.

4) Apply a good primer that will stick to the vinyl surface and make a good base for the paint you are about to apply. A good primer for this purpose is Zinnser's Bullseye 1-2-3, which you can have tinted black also.

5) After the primer has dried, prepare your paint for application. I find that a good latex paint conditioner is essential at minimizing brush marks. For this purpose, I'd use either Floetrol or Wagner's Paint Ease as a conditioner mixed into the paint.

6) Apply paint in long strokes. Once you have laid paint down on the surface, it will being to "set up" so don't go back after 5 minutes with your brush to hit a spot that didn't look right. You'll do too much damage to the quality at this point. If it's a really bothersome issue, go back and lightly sand the spot after the paint has dried.

OK, that was basically my "long" version on how to handle refinishing your cabinets.

As an alternative to painting them, you could easily go to Parts Express and get some of their vinyl veneer and cover the current surfaces of your speakers for a great update.

If you do go the veneer route, I'd still wipe the cabinets down with paint thinner to ensure you've cleaned any spots off the cabinets before applying the veneer.

 

[Steve::Weaver]

As an alternative to painting, I'd recommend stripping off the old laminate and applying a new one. It sounds like the look you're going for is this one:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=260-010

Pull out the drivers, remove the old laminate, and sand them smooth. Then simply peel and stick the new laminate, and carefully trim the edges. Instant black wood finish.

Getting a perfect finish is a little harder than it sounds, especially during the trimming part, but it's not beyond the capability of the average DIY-er.

 

[Jimmy Beaman]

Thanks for the info. Do you know how I would go about stripping off the old laminate?

 

[Wayne Ernst]

That could be very tough not knowing what type of laminate adhesive was used. You could take some 320 or 400 grit sandpaper and just "rough up" the surface of the laminate slightly to allow the new laminate to adhere better. I'm sure this would be more than adequate and provide a good surface to mate the new laminate to.