The PHILCO Phorum

Had that happen on a truck I painted. 2nd coat of clear lifted. Paint shop said we waited too long between coats. I've had fits with rust oleum recently lifting on the 2nd + coat and have started using  Krylon. Had that on the light I restored in my radio room.

Oh, great...if I have to strip and redo the tops I will scream very loud obscenities...

Actually, though, the tops are still OK so far. (Of course I can't see them right now as I am at work, but they were still OK as of last night.) I found a small stash of Deft so I will redo the trim pieces only with Deft (and Mohawk Medium Walnut toner, of course).

It's getting harder to find Krylon around here, even. Rustoleum...that's a different story...it's everywhere around here.

Well,

I've re-reapplied sanding sealer to the trim pieces, let dry, sanded, and applied some toner. That's as far as I am going with them tonight.

And while I was letting the sanding sealer dry on the trim...I took the tops, wet sanded them with 1000 grit and a sanding block, and gave them two more coats of clear. That is as far as I am going to go on the tops other than rubbing them out and then polishing them once the lacquer fully cures. The tops look pretty good at this point. Not perfect, but pretty good.

Keeping fingers crossed on the trim pieces...

For my next trick, I will attempt to make holes in the back pieces disappear with the help of Bondo.

Starting to see light at the end of this long tunnel...

Okay!

A third coat of toner, some No Blush Plus (the toner was blushing pretty badly) and then two coats of clear...and that is how things stand with the bottom trim.

I have a little bit of orange peel on the trim (I do on the tops as well; I decided to ignore it on the tops, though, as the last thing I want to do is to strip and redo the tops). Other than that, the trim looks really good at this point.

Next: Wet sanding (this time only the wide surfaces of the trim, not the edges) followed by two more coats of clear, and that is all I am going to do to the trim.

I hope to be ready to attach the bottom trim to the cabinets this weekend, and to attach the tops as well.

Two more coats of clear, and I'm not going to do any more to the bottom trim.

I'll find out this weekend if I measured and cut the trim correctly...

Come on Ron, let's see an air of confidence!  Of course you cut them right!  Take care, Gary

Well...

I cut one front trim piece right. More or less.

The other front trim piece was just a bit too long.

I trimmed it.

Of course then it turned out just a hair too short...

I know you folks are waiting for pictures, so here's some shots of what I consider to be the better of the two cabinets.





Close-up of the joint of the front and left side trim:



That turned out very good.

Now, a close-up of the joint of the front and right side trim:



Not so good.

But I've already decided to touch that spot up with Medium Walnut toner and let it go.

On the other speaker...the trim fit perfectly until I nailed it in place. Now, there is some slight gapping at both corners. They will probably get filled with some filler and touched up with toner.

Yes, I'm my own worst critic. Honestly, though, go back to page 1 of this thread and compare how the cabinet looks now with the "before" pictures. I do believe there is a definite improvement in the looks overall.

I'll have to fill the tiny holes where I countersunk the nail heads using a nail set. I'm debating now whether to use Timber Mate filler which is walnut in color but not the same shade as my toner, or use regular natural wood filler and then dab toner on the spots. I'm leaning towards the latter.

How am I going to touch up those areas with toner, you ask?

Simple - I'll spray some Mohawk Medium Walnut into a spray can lid, then use a tiny brush to do the touch-up work. I've done it before and it isn't that difficult to do, fortunately.

Looking like new, Ron!  Woodworking, much as we would like it to be, is not an exact science.  That's how all those companies made their millions selling fillers, toners, and such.  Remember, the bottom trim was probably meant to be not much more than a buffer between the speaker grille clothe and the overzealous housewife pushing around a fifty pound Kirby vacuum cleaner anyway!! Take care, Gary

 Going back to page one and then looking at last pictures you did one heck of a job!

  That took a lot of work and I too get frustrated with myself when I have a small flaw in something that most people will not ever notice.
.
  Enjoy your rebuilt speakers. Bet they will sound great.

I appreciate it, guys

I've just spent some time filling the nail head holes. After debating whether to use walnut Timber Mate (too dark) or natural wood filler (which contains acetone), I decided to go with the latter. They turned out okay. I think that after I let it dry, dab some Medium Walnut toner on the spots with a brush, let dry thoroughly and polish, that they will be A-O-K.

I did use some Timber Mate at the joints of the trim on the one speaker where the trim was gapping a bit. It likewise will be OK.

More to come...this job isn't finished yet...

I touched up the filled nail holes...



I'm not real happy with it, but I'm not going any further with it other than polishing out the spots once the lacquer fully cures.

So...

That having been done, I turned my attention to reattaching the insulation inside the cabinet tops...





After that, I decided to attack the cabinet backs.

I removed the insulation from each back.

Then, following GarySP's advice, I applied Bondo to the extra holes in the cabinet backs that should not be there.



In a little while, once the Bondo is fully dried, I'll sand down the backs and then reattach the insulation on the inside of the cabinet backs.

The project will then be basically complete.

Now comes installing new wiring from the speaker screw terminals to the 3-way crossovers, and from the crossovers to the speakers. This, of course, goes along with reattaching the speakers inside the cabinets.

Almost there...

ron
insulation    uck

looking go so far 

sam

After sanding:



The areas where the Bondo was applied aren't perfect as they have a few depressions in them, but that's OK - no one is going to look at the backs anyway - the important thing is that the unwanted holes are now sealed up.

I've re-stapled the insulation to the backs and they are ready to be put back on the cabinets. Of course the speakers and crossovers must be installed, and the new wiring run before the backs can be attached.

Those are looking pretty nice Ron. 

Did you use new insulation, and if so is it any different than regular house insulation?

John (Eliot)

Thanks!

No, I retained the same insulation that was in the cabinets already.

The brown stuff in one cabinet is some sort of paper insulation product. Quite fragile now after 60+ years.

I don't know if the other cabinet is that much newer that it had fiberglass from the factory, or if someone replaced the original brown paper stuff at some point.