Refinishing vintage JBL's; an alternative to the Howards route

[audiomagnate]

I've been using the tried and true Howards Restore-a-Finish followed by Wax-n-Feed system for years on refinish projects. That's pretty much all you get on the internet when it comes to refinishing speakers and things like old McIntosh cabinets. The results have been very good, and it's incredibly fast and easy and requires almost no skill. There's also something good about keeping things original. The other day I happened to have a PBS show on in the background about wood finishing with real Indian shellac flakes (made from dead bugs BTW) mixed with alcohol. I was just about to start work on my L200's, so it grabbed my attention. I like all things weird and wonderful, so I ordered a pound of dead bug flakes. They got here a few weeks ago. You have to take the finish all the way down to raw wood, re-stain, and several coats of shellac are required along with some play it by ear mixing, and LOTS of hand sanding. After practicing on a pair of beat up L100's, I went to work on my beloved L200s. All I can say is holy crap! The results are simply astonishing, at least to me. After about five coats and two weeks, these things are starting to look amazing. Certainly not 100% authentic like the original oiled walnut, but there is so much depth and luxuriousness to the finish. It doesn't look like a newly refinished speaker, it looks like a perfectly preserved antique with the original finish. The guy on the show said the shellac will yellow slightly over time (centuries?), but that's a good thing. Here's a quick cell phone pic. I'll post more from a real camera later. This photo doesn't show it right, but the word I would use is "luminous." It's got a depth you don't get with the Howards system or modern poly finishes, which look all wrong to me.

[gferrell]

Nice work, I just wonder what kind of bugs?

[Goldjazz]

Nice one. I've done a bit of shellac work on furniture, not yet tried speaker cabinets but was curious. I always love the result. There's a bit of a technique to applying it. I was taught to use a wad of special cotton wool called a "swooge" that you keep in a jar so it doesnt dry out, used to apply the coats. For the first layers youve got to be careful to not drag the timber stain. Really is a nice finish. But you can't put hot things or wet things on shellac finished surfaces. The bug is called the Lac

[svollmer]

I'd love to know more about the process and application if you have time to share. It looks great, by the way!

[hjames]

It REALLY looks nice in the picture you posted ... to protect the finish I'd consider a sheet of glass over it to keep fluids and temperature off the finish.
That gorgeous appearance should be preserved! Fine furniture! Thanks for sharing the info!

I did the usual googling "How do I finish wood with Shellac flakes" and a number of things came up for further info:

Wiki says: "Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes (pictured at right) and dissolved in ethanol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph (gramophone) records were also made of it during the 78-rpm recording era which ended in the west during the 1950s.

From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was largely replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

Shellac was once used for fixing inductor, motor, generator and transformer windings, where it was applied directly to single layer windings in an alcohol solution. For multilayer windings, the whole coil was submerged in shellac solution, then drained and placed in a warm place to allow the alcohol to evaporate. The shellac then locks the wire turns in place, provides extra insulation and prevents movement and vibration, reducing buzz and hum. In motors and generators it also helps transfer force generated by magnetic attraction and repulsion from the windings to the rotor or armature. In more recent times, synthetic resins, such as glyptol, (Glyptal), have been substituted for the shellac. Some applications use shellac mixed with other natural or synthetic resins, such as pine resin or phenol-formaldehyde resin, of which Bakelite is the best known, for electrical use. Mixed with other resins, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfide, aluminium oxide and/or cuprous carbonate (malachite), shellac forms a component of heat-cured capping cement used to fasten the caps or bases to the bulbs of electric lamps."

I've been using the tried and true Howards Restore-a-Finish followed by Wax-n-Feed system for years on refinish projects. That's pretty much all you get on the internet when it comes to refinishing speakers and things like old McIntosh cabinets. The results have been very good, and it's incredibly fast and easy and requires almost no skill. There's also something good about keeping things original. The other day I happened to have a PBS show on in the background about wood finishing with real Indian shellac flakes (made from dead bugs BTW) mixed with alcohol. I was just about to start work on my L200's, so it grabbed my attention. I like all things weird and wonderful, so I ordered a pound of dead bug flakes. They got here a few weeks ago. You have to take the finish all the way down to raw wood, re-stain, and several coats of shellac are required along with some play it by ear mixing, and LOTS of hand sanding. After practicing on a pair of beat up L100's, I went to work on my beloved L200s. All I can say is holy crap! The results are simply astonishing, at least to me. After about five coats and two weeks, these things are starting to look amazing. Certainly not 100% authentic like the original oiled walnut, but there is so much depth and luxuriousness to the finish. It doesn't look like a newly refinished speaker, it looks like a perfectly preserved antique with the original finish. The guy on the show said the shellac will yellow slightly over time (centuries?), but that's a good thing. Here's a quick cell phone pic. I'll post more from a real camera later. This photo doesn't show it right, but the word I would use is "luminous." It's got a depth you don't get with the Howards system or modern poly finishes, which look all wrong to me.

[grumpy]

Might also google French Polish... No, it is not a euphemism.

[JeffW]

Might also google French Polish... No, it is not a euphemism.

Ah yes, nothing like French polishing some shellac with your swooge.I saw a program once about restoring shellac surfaces by French polishing, it just kind of dissolves the scratched up surface and then smooths it back out with careful attention to the dampness of the swooge. I bet it was on PBS as well, might have been the same program the OP saw.

[audiomagnate]

So it's not dead bugs, it's bug "secretions." Maybe I'll start a shellac farm in my sun/garden room to keep things in-house. You can get the flakes it in different colors. Because I knew I was going to use stain (like in the show I watched) I went for a lighter variety. I agree, you don't want your swooge to dry out (heaven forbid!), and it thickens quickly so you have to work fast. I'll try to find a link to the show I watched since I'm fairly new at this and don't want to pretend that I'm any sort of expert. All I did was sand down to raw finish with a final sanding at 360 grit, remove sawdust with a tack cloth and a brush I use for that purpose, apply shellac with what I now know is a swooge, allow to dry completely (a few hours or overnight), sand lightly with fresh 360 grit, and repeat about five times. For some reason I thought it would be good to use slightly thinner coats as the process went on.

[Wardsweb]

Very nicely done. Another nice finish is Liberon Finishing Oil. You just wipe it on. The more coats, the higher the gloss.

[JeffW]

Inspired by the OP, I just bought a pound each of 3 different shellac flakes. Might as well give it a whirl.

[Goldjazz]

Yeah a swooge is just a ball of fine cotton wool. You tuck it under on one side to get a smooth face on the other. We were told to strip the timber back to a raw finish with paint stripper first, then sand with steel wool and sandpaper, then stain. I think stripping doesnt work if the previous finish was an oil, so unless all the oil is dried out i wouldnt try it. Most jbl's were oiled so be careful. You apply the liquid shellac to the swooge and wipe it onto the wood. Initially you apply it in long continuous stokes, and you don t overlap the previous strokes. You dont overlap then initial wet strokes cause you can drag the stain. The shellac dries in 20 secs or so. Once you've got one layer of shellac you dont have to worry about the dragging and you can overlap strokes. Dont apply it to thick or it can streak. After each dry layer you can sand with very fine 00 steel wool. Keep applying layers and sanding until you get the level of finish you like. You polish with liquid beez wax every now and then. Obviously dont attempt it on a precious pair of speakers until youve done it elsewhere, and as i said be careful if the cabinets were oiled as it may not work, try a little on the bottom first etc. Finally, never touch another man's Swooge. Swooge on!