Speaker Cabinet Protection

**smtcom** · March 24th, 2003, 02:00 AM

Hi:

I have a question. If I apply polyurethane to the non-veneered areas of the speaker cabinet, is there a risk of affecting the veneered areas of the speaker cabinet? By doing this I hope to reduce the risk of moisture damage. As for the veneered portions I will occasionally apply a thin coat of lindseed oil. Thanks.

**smtcom** · March 24th, 2003, 03:51 AM

Hi:

I forgot to mention that I have a pair of Altec Capri speakers.

**smtcom** · March 24th, 2003, 11:41 AM

Thanks Jim. Maybe I'll use poly acrylic in place of polyurethane. I am concerned about the possibility that the adhesive holds the veneer in place may be affected by any solvents in the poly acrylic. I'll be applying it to non-veneered and exposed areas of the cabinet. My plan was to let the polyurethane or poly acrylic "soak" into the particle board. I'd thin it and apply successive coats until the area was "saturated". The Capri speakers I purchased are in good shape physically and cosmetically so there's no need to do a lot of work on it.

**Jim Butler** · March 24th, 2003, 04:26 PM

I have been collecting and repairing/refinishing Altec cabinets whenever I can find them. I find that often they need joints and veneer clamped reglued. As for refinishing, gouges and corner dings can be *****d and painted and stained to match. After this I will give the cabs a pretty thorough sanding with 220 sandpaper and then apply a shellac coating (the shellac is a 1/3rd cut), and then apply a color stain on top of this. The shellac will seal the wood and you can control the stain (and its color) very carefully since it won't be soaking into the wood because of the shellac. After it dries I finish with 3 coats of poly acrylic (I'm partial to the semi-gloss these days) which provides very good UV and H2O protection. Much, much better than polyurathane IMHO.
I've got a bunch of nice cabs now incuding Santanas, 872's, 891a's, model 19's, model 17's, Sonehenge 1 and Stonehenge 2's (the 1's came with a beautiful teak venner) and many others.

Hillcraft did beatiful cabinetry.

JIm Butler