|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
66.245.216.9
Hello,
I am rebuilding some speaker cabinets, and in order resize them I need to remove the solid wood trim. I plan on reconstructing the cabinets and reusing the trim. The cabinets are of good quality, old (maybe 60s), and the trim seems to be glued (and not nailed) on.
I am not sure if there are any special techniques. My plan was to run a razor knife along the seam and then use a sharp, broad blade chisel and slowly work along the length of the trim strips tapping lightly to get under the strip. Hopefully that will pop it off in fairly short order.
Any suggestions or alternatives would be useful to hear about.
regards-Roger
Follow Ups:
Even with old hide glue it is like the two wood surfaces become welded together. I have tried this with old furniture and darn near had a "coniption." Good luck at least it will be interesting.
Sounds like heartache waiting to happen to me... unless this solid wood trim is 1/8" or 1/4" thick. If it's veneer, I seriously would not bother.
I would resize by laminating MDF panels onto the speaker as needed. To glue MDF to wood you could use contact cement or just wood glue.
Then you can seal the MDF with a 50/50 wood/water glue mixture and prime/paint or put new veneer on.
Or you could use 1/4" plywood with veneer on it and glue THAT to the existing speaker. I've refinished a lot of speakers... trust me... you're better off forgoing the original finish and starting anew. It seems like a waste, but one thing I learned about DIY is the only thing I waste more of than money is time. ;)
Post a picture of the speaker, it might result in more accurate advice.
I've painted speakers, put on veneer, used veneered plywoods, used laminates... re-painted, re-laminated with MDF layers, rebuilt speaker interiors...
I've turned stuff ready for the garbage bin into strong good looking low-resonance enclosures.
The best thing about a cheap speaker with nice squared-off sides is that you don't need to be a cabinet maker or carpenter to augment the existing shape. It's pretty hard to mess up. If you put over-sized panels on and use a router to trim the excess... you can really end up with a perfect looking end product.
Enough out of me.
Good luck.
-Presto
Hi,
There are a couple of picture on my Dec 12 post in this thread. Got the trim off fine (at least on this cabinet - one to go after this). If the rest of the cabinet deconstructs as well as it has so far, this will be fairly straightforward (but of course I don't fully expect that to happen). Then it is a matter of resizing the panels and rebuilding.
A very interesting project, and I an optimistic the result will be very nice.
Thanks -- Roger
If you got that veneer off, you're golden. It's really not often this is a plausible scenario. Foil-backed veneer? Whatever it was, it didn't penetrate the veneer or it just dried out. Glad you got it off!
Once the cabinet is raw you can do practically anything.
Myself, I like to use routers to cut apart speakers for changing dimensions, but I've also thrown speakers on table saws (with suitable jigs) to make much faster cuts.
Laminating on layers of MDF or other materials is a sinch too....
Cheers,
Presto
Elephant in the room issue:
Frankly those don't look like very well Designed OR even decently Built speaker boxes.
Are you Sure? they are worth saving?
You seem pretty handy. It will work out one way or another.
Also sanding is going to be a concern. Veneer is very thin and will not take much to sand right through to the base wood.
Just remember cutting off an inch or two off the cabinet may be your final choice. So be careful with the rest of the veneer.
The trim is off, but I still need to separate the cabinet sides and top/bottom. I am reducing the width of the cabinet by about 6 inches, so Ican afford to lose a bit of material on the top and bottom. I am planning on using a router to take off the lap part of the top joints (1/4 inch thick) and then hopefully carefully separate the sides. I want to maintain the height of the cabinet, so going to have to work slowly on those joints. I can see that they are held by brads, so I may cut through the entire top if it does not release easily, and then move from there. Cutting through should allow me to knock the brads out before trying to release the glue joints.
I know why people usually don't go this route - it takes a lot of time and thought. It will be quite satisfying if I can bring these old beauties back to life!!
Repairing and refitting the Magnificent wood grills is another interesting challenge.....
regards -- Roger
Whatever glue was used on the trim, PVA or hide glue, it will probably be stronger than the trim. Prying it will likely pull chunks of the trim and the cabinet out. You will likely destroy the trim and the area of the cabinet around the trim.
I would suggest you score the trim/cabinet joint with a marking gauge. Then, if you can get your hands on a track saw, with a fine blade, cut the trim away leaving a light 1/16" behind. Try to heat the thin remains of the trim with a heat gun (low setting) or a hair dryer and see if the glue will soften.
Instead of a chisel, try a 1-1/2" wide putty knife instead. Pry the strip up gently as you move along its length. A heat gun may also be of some help.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Thanks, I will give the putty knife a try.
I will also try the heat gun. The cabinets are an Altec Magnificents, and the trim is more than a bit thick, so I don't know if the heat will penetrate well.
Prior to getting grief, the Magnificent cabs are in fairly tattered shape. If I didn't rework and re-purpose them, then they probably would have been headed for the bin. My intent is to rebuild them into 'Magnificent' 620s for my 604 coaxials. Wonderful old walnut ply. The wood grill is a bit busted up, but I might be able to patch and reuse that as well.
I have some of the bass horn bits available if anyone is interested.....They pretty much came out in nice pieces that could be rebuilt easily. Could be quite fun to play with if you had a 15" bass.
regards -- Roger
Do you have a picture?
Worst case is the trim will take the walnut veneer off with it. Which is most likely to happen.
If possible can you just cut off that much of the cabinet and redo the baffle plate?
Hi,
Here are a couple of pics. I ended up usins an edged putty knife, and it worked really well. Actually used 2 - one to keep the 'crack' open as I moved along the trim strip. Also removed the top front strip as well. Still have 2 tricky ones left (front uprights) depending on what I decide on the final layout.
There is a vinegar and water soaking you could google and try. Might work but be careful. That glue is stronger than you would imagine.
Also if it's oak veneer vinegar will react with it and tarnish it permanently
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: