Cleaning filthy black walnut

[Fred Sanford]

I'm not a wood guy. Every chance I get I farm out the wood work on my speakers, house, guitars, all of it. Any advice given here would be greatly appreciated.

That said, I'm looking to at least clean up a few sooty cabinets to be able to use them until my woodworker friend has time to take them & do a real job on them. Four of my L46 cabinets lived at least 20 years of their life inside air intakes in a Manhattan building. They're pretty well covered in soot & general city air grime. Grilles I figure I'll go at with vacuums & air guns & various attachments, I think they'll clean up reasonably well. Any recommendations on how to attack the soot removal from the cabinets, without destroying the dried-out black walnut veneers? I've got the cabs stripped of components, and eager to hear about my options.

Should they just sit in line, since they're just going to get sanded anyway? Or, is there a safe way to just clean them for now so they can be used in a clean room in the meantime?

The dirty L46s are the top 4 on the right in the attached pic. The rest in the pile are really dry, but not too dirty.

Thanks in advance,

je

[briang]

My first attempt would be to use Watco Rejuvenating Oil and #1 or #0 Steel wool. My method is to dip the steel wool into some oil (you can skip this step and apply the oil to the wool from the can if you a 'neat') and them rub in the direction of the grain. The oil layer is heavy initially. The dirt will emulsify in the oil. After a 5 to 10 minute soak, wipe down with a soft terry cloth (the cloth will be useless after this). Repeat the above as needed in round one to get the cabinets clean and smooth.

Round two: Re-apply the oil per can directions after about 24 hours. Wait about 3 more days and the oil will have hardened enough to move the cabinets around without finger prints.

http://watco.net/product.asp?frm_product_id=113&SBL=1

[Zilch]

A potential problem with steel wool is the bits that break loose being attracted by magnets.

I use ScotchBrite finishing pads for this. They hold the oil better, too....

[clmrt]

A potential problem with steel wool is the bits that break loose being attracted by magnets.

I use ScotchBrite finishing pads for this. They hold the oil better, too....

I "swooled" a pair of ADS cabs, and the tweeter had suddenly grown a 5 o'clock shadow.

Note to self - remove and carefully hide drivers next time.

[Fred Sanford]

I use ScotchBrite finishing pads for this. They hold the oil better, too....

Thanks for all the input- so, if I'm ultimately going to use the JBL-approved method of a "mixture of three parts boiled linseed oil and one part pure gum turpentine", would I use this mixture along with Scotch Brite finishing pads to work the gunk off the cabs, or is the Watco oil better for the cleaning chore for some reason?


I just read the warning labels on the linseed oil & turpentine cans
If anyone sees a bright flash of light coming from the Shenandoah Valley, that's just me disposing of my Scotch Brite pads.

Thanks for the helpful posts, keep 'em coming.

je

[hjames]

Well, smoke if ya got 'em! whoosh!

I just read the warning labels on the linseed oil & turpentine cans
If anyone sees a bright flash of light coming from the Shenandoah Valley, that's just me disposing of my Scotch Brite pads.

Thanks for the helpful posts, keep 'em coming.

je

[briang]

I "swooled" a pair of ADS cabs, and the tweeter had suddenly grown a 5 o'clock shadow.

Note to self - remove and carefully hide drivers next time.

Oops. I did leave out that part. I do all cabinet restoration after I've removed the drivers...

[fotodan]

As a cabinetmaker by trade, I would first use Denatured Alcohol, (will clean without damaging veneer), then I do 3 coats of a mixture of Sam Maloof's (poly/oil satin finish), then follow up with 3 coats oil/wax finish. Cant beat the handrubbed finish.

[Fred Sanford]

Managed to barter away a nice Ibanez Talman guitar to pay for my cabinet-maker friend to re-furb 14 of my black walnut JBL cabs and provide a nice counter top slab as a temp living room setup. Lots of work ahead to re-load and re-locate the cabs, but they all look great (some of the deeper scratches still show on the 4333As, but that I can live with).

je

[grumpy]

Lookin' good, Fred.

Might consider a -low- freq/Hi-Q isolator for the disc player if you notice any
difference with it off of the 4333A Some pickup/servo combos are more
sensitive than others.

[hjames]

very nice Fred - a beautiful improvement!

Managed to barter away a nice Ibanez Talman guitar to pay for my cabinet-maker friend to re-furb 14 of my black walnut JBL cabs and provide a nice counter top slab as a temp living room setup. Lots of work ahead to re-load and re-locate the cabs, but they all look great (some of the deeper scratches still show on the 4333As, but that I can live with).

je

[Fred Sanford]

Lookin' good, Fred.

Might consider a -low- freq/Hi-Q isolator for the disc player if you notice any
difference with it off of the 4333A Some pickup/servo combos are more
sensitive than others.

Haven't had an issue- since that pic was taken, I've bi-amped the 4333As and they're fed from the PCM out of the Pioneer DVL-91 for DVD, CD or LD audio. No problems with vibes at human-survivable volume levels. They will also get a PCM feed from the music servers downstairs, so no sweat there either.

The Sony DVD on the left is "Hers", and only routes through the Yamaha/Canton/NHT surround system.

Thanks,

je

[Fred Sanford]

very nice Fred - a beautiful improvement!

Here's a couple 'before' pics of the 4333As for comparison:

[Fred Sanford]

...and some of the smaller cabs (the garbage-picked L110s were so dry it was criminal, and two of the L46s were covered in NYC soot for 20+ years):

[Tim Rinkerman]

WD-40 takes off years of sticky,oily grime pretty quick without damaging the wood.