Repainting speakers

[rlammi]

Hello all long time since I have posted ,good to be back have been reading alot .

I have a set of GR Research AV 3's and an Audax center , I had them painted but I am not really happy with the outcome .what is the best way to repaint them .Still looking to do them a gloss black .
Thanks, Ron.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

hmmm, very hard to do. To get a good piano gloss finish you need a compressor, a good paint sprayer, lacquer, a good smooth cabinet and a very clean place to paint it. I have achieved ok results with some gloss black enamels and a very smooth roller. You have to play with thinning the mixture so that it smoothes out before drying. You will never get it piano smooth, but if your surface is really smooth, the roller will leave a slight texture that does not look half bad. Practice on some smooth pieces until you get the desired look before you start on the speakers.

The only other way is to use some good simulated black lacquer wood finish formica and just refinish them. That is if you don't have rounded edges on the cabinets.

 

[MDS]

If the surface is wood, in order to get a 'piano' finish you must first use wood filler to cover all of the pores of the wood and then apply your finish. Woods with an open pore, like Oak, will always appear darker in the areas of the pores as the stain/paint will soak into them more.

I know these things from research into staining woods and to be honest, I'll never do it again.

 

[davidtwotrees]

Hey, rlammi. You say that you had them painted. By whom? I mean was it a professional? Someone who finishes things for a living? I'm a residential house painter, so I do a fair amount of spraying of woodwork, and occassionally some furniture. Trying to achieve an automotive quality finish is almost impossible for a diyer. And a piano gloss lacquer finish? Fugeddabadid.

Seriously, if you're willing to pay someone, an auto body shop is the place to go for a good finish. If you aren't gonna pay someone........then it is either cans of spray paint where putting on a bunch of light coats will get you a pretty good finish, or as was suggested, a foam roller and some higloss oil paint, like rustoleum. If you lightly sand between coats and wipe the surface down with a tack cloth, you will get the best results. If the finish on there now is crappy, that will need to be sanded down smooth first, and then possibly primed. Don't rush the process, if you do it will look like a homeowner painted your speakers and they will be ready for the garage sale!

 

[rlammi]

Thanks for the reply's everyone .A little history on the speakers ,they are MDF . 1st attempt I primed and then rolled on a gloss black but wasn't happy with the outcome so I had them redone .Funny how the auto paint came up I am in the auto industry and had a guy that does that paint them but I think he was in a hurry becuase you can see the pock marks in the clear coat .So I was going to invest in a srayer ( will have more functions than just the speakers) and resand down and fill the holes and corners up and then reshoot them .I would like them perfect but I don't really think that is going to happen but anything is better than the way they are now .They sound awesome but if you get up and lok at them then you see all the flaws . I will have to pull out the spares and disassemble them towers and get started .Thanks again .
Ron