Thanks for the pic's.
Give us a run down on your finishing procedure with tips and tricks if you have time.
Well, for better or for worse, this was the sequence.
- Brush-applied Zinsser Dewaxed Shellac sealcoat
- Light sanding with 320 (I think)
- Light coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly applied with old t-shirts
- Heavy "sanding" with grey colored scotch brite "finishing pad"
- Heavier Poly
- Again, with the pad
- Poly
- Poly
- Finishing Pad
- Heavier Poly
- Sanding with 400
- Now I was left with more dullness than I was expecting
- Thin coat of poly with - much thinner than before
- Another coat of poly, thin, like above
- Trewax clear wax - mostly carnauba, I believe. I had a bunch of this left after using it to seal the metal frames on the rear of my main 3 ways.
If I had to do it over again... well. I am sort of doing that. I have a second pair for myself in the basement now. One is at about step 9 above, the other is at step 9, plus a quite heavy sanding. I plan to follow with the other one now that the first pair is out of the way. I'm not really sure what I'll do. I went with more sanding because I noticed some areas that are sloppy with uneven build-up.
I'm sure I learned something during this, but I'm not sure what it is. There was definitely a value in the final two very light coats. In fact I probably could have been better off only doing it that way. I read many different approaches - thin coats, heavy coats that will even out with sanding, etc. I sort of tried it all with mediocre results. I think I was mainly thrown by the visible scratches from the 400 grit sanding. I'll get some better shots of the finish before I pack these up so they can be compared with the next.
All in all, I'm happy with the result from BB alone, but for "show" speakers, I wouldn't hesitate to use veneer.
