L220 restoration

[transducergeek]

Thank's for a great tour! I feel like I worked on 'em myself... Did you get all the transducers with that buy? I think you did, because you mentioned replacing a diaphram in an O76. What amount of total time did it take you? How much were materials? Especially the veneer cost? I would like to know for future projects I may undertake. I am not a woodsmith, but my virtual "brother" and best friend from childhood is a finish carpenter. ("Carpenter to the stars", I call him, He has done cabinet work for Johnny Carson, and David Geffen, and John Williams among others. He is one of the best in the business... Needless to say, He does not work cheap! But I can "borrow his tools" and "pick his brain" And I am getting deeper into this speaker thing all the time.... Like a primate on my spine... Thanks again for the great story, we all like to hear the Saga's of the Speaker's...Later, Rolf Erickson.

[Steve Gonzales]

Thank you for all the nice comments and questions!!

First off, these enclosures are not re-veneered, I just SLOWLY & CAREFULLY sanded them with 100 grit first and wipe down the surface with a damp towel to "raise the grain", then, finish with 220 grit. Do NOT wipe them down with the damp towel after the 220. I then patch all the damaged areas with walnut lacquer putty. This putty has real walnut dust in it and takes the stain just like wood. These cabs had alot of damage so I let the putty dry over night but in the summer, it would dry in 1/2 an hour. After the putty dries, I sand and clean prepare for the WATCO finish. Here is what it looks like with the WATCO "soaking"

[Steve Gonzales]

Most of us cannot afford and/or apply new veneer (yet!) and as you can see, the figuring and QUALITY of OG JBL veneer is hard to beat if you can save it. Once the WATCO has had an hour to penetrate, I take an old dark T-shirt and wipe it down in a swirl motion while "pushing" to get the last bit of material "into" the grain. I then take artist pens of different tip diameters and colors (dark, med brown and med gray,black.05 tip) and carefully "follow the grain figuring" to continue it onto the "blank" spots caused by the lacquer patches. I want to STRESS THIS : the following picture does a good job of capturing the natural look that this "faking the grain/figuring", notice how the grain continues onto the lighter area BUT this picture IS NOT indicative of how that puttied area looks in REAL LIFE LIGHTING!!! The intense flash of a camera seems to make these areas look very light but in reality, a MUCH BETTER result is true.

[Steve Gonzales]

Sorry about that, but trust me, the grain looks natural with the "pen work". After that is done I use Miniwax Conditioning wax in a liberal coat, letting it sit for and hour. I "push" it into the grain with the same type movement as the WATCO step. I "buff" it off, leaving only what's "in" the wood. Usually, the next step is to apply 3 coats of satin DEFT but since these are going to England, I left that step out because of the ease of which it scratches, luckily, the new owner is an expert finish man and can choose to do that himself if he wants. One thing I like about the Deft is that is VERY forgiving. The wax is the KEY to achiving that "old 3D patina" that is so beautiful to see in a very well maintained pair of originals. I like a matte luster, so, after the Deft has dried, I take a fine Scotchbrite pad and slightly dampen it, then, with ULTRA LIGHT pressure, "burnish the surface WITH the grain. This is a tricky stage as the amount of pressure to achive the desired "even" sheen would not damage a butterfly's wing! It also dramatically evens out the laquer putty's color to a point were if done in conjunction with the "penwork", you have to really look hard to see that there is any patching! there was a question about whether this is a pair seen in my avatar. This is my third pair. I really had fun tracking down all the original drivers. MAN! are those 076's HARD to find!! I actually found some lenses and old Alnico motors and made them up. I had never installed diaphagms before so that was cool. I refurbished the motors and polished the the ring too. I do not own a signal generator so I had to use a CD of test tones and just put them in my other L220's and played music with alot of HF program material and they sound as good as my badged originals. It took me three days to refinish these enclosures and countless hours tracking down the drivers, it was NOT cheap, I paid $163.00 just for the L94's recently. the materials cost about $25.00. Again, thank you for the positive comments and like they say on "My Classic Car"; "Don't crush em', restore em'!"

[Earl K]

Thanks Steve !

I love these tutorials !

Earl K

[yggdrasil]

Impressive work.

Congratulations on a new pair of 220's.

Thanks for sharing.

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Some damned fine work Steve. They are lookin good!

Ken

[F350SD]

Hey Steve, outstanding job! You have a passion for those L-220's. As do I. I owe ya one!

[Audiobeer]

Great job! Looks fantastic!

[Aaron]

Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but what are the particulars on the WATCO and walnut lacquer putty products?

I'm assuming this WATCO stuff is danish oil, but is it walnut flavored or natural?

And what brand is the putty?

[Earl K]

Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but what are the particulars on the WATCO and walnut lacquer putty products?

I'm assuming this WATCO stuff is danish oil, but is it walnut flavored or natural?

And what brand is the putty?

Others may know the answers to those questions / but be aware that this thread is over 5 years old .

Steve is no longer an LHF member and won't be answering your query here.

<> cheers