Refinishing Vinyl Clad Enclosures: Help

[Titanium Dome]

The current crop of upper end JBL (and other brand) speakers does a pretty nice job of providing well made cabinets with almost believeable fake wood surfaces. As long as it remains in good shape, it's fine. When it gets old, worn, or roughed up, it's not so nice.

The pair of SVA2100s I recently got are in pretty good shape, except for the vinyl surfaces. They have lots of scratches, as few small dings, a few slightly peeled edges, and a nice, sloppy, shiny coat of black spray paint where some moron "touched them up." This was probbly to cover up the white latex paint spatters that appear on the cabs.

The idea of applying contact cement over this surface gives me night sweats, because the vinyl is likely to react to the solvents and do weird things like shrivel, bubble, and lose its structural bond. Any veneer I'd apply over this could end up a mess, even separating and coming off over time.

The thought of trying to peel the vinyl off is insane, and stripping it off will likely damage the MDF due to the chemicals required.

Painting it is absurd as long as the vinyl remains. There are so many reason why this is senseless, I won't even list them.

So, what to do? What to do?

[Titanium Dome]

I thought I'd strip all the components out and take the enclosures to a cabinet shop or mill and have the craftsman mill about 1/32 to 1/16 off the sides and top. The front and rear are in pretty good shape.

Then I'd apply some ash veneer and stain/paint it black a la L7 or L5.

Unfortunately, the first place I took it the guy said he wouldn't risk f@#$ing up his equipment by putting a vinyl clad piece in it.

:bash: I was willing to pay him to do it, at least $50. Why wouldn't he try it on his stupid $11,000 cabinet planer? :dont-know

[pelly3s]

could you use a heat gun to loosen up the glue and allow you to peel it off and refinish them. i dont really know if it would work or not never tried it but its the only thing that comes to mind

[pelly3s]

or a belt sander and a lot of belts

[Audiobeer]

I'd heat and peel. You can't get it planed off due to the blades cupping the MDF. You could find in that same shop a sander that uses abrasives in the setup rather than planing knives. I see no reason why you couldn't heat and peel. The glue left behind is going to be very thin based on the thickness of the vynil. If the glue was thick it would be noticeable in the appearance of the vynil material and i think you'll agree you cannot feel any lumps or thickness. GO FOR IT!

[Zilch]

Torch it off. :flamer:

[O.K., maybe try other ideas first.... :p ]

[duaneage]

Personally I would make new cabinets but then I have a great selection of saws. Wallpaper remover may help, depending on the adhesive. It's gonna be a real Hillary no matter what you try. How about laying wood veneer right on top?

[Uncle Paul]

How 'bout sheeting them with 1/4" MDF and veneering over that?

Gorilla glue and fasteners might be enough to hold the MDF in place

[Michael Smith]

Think out side the square Dome!
There seems to be a movement in the decorating circles ( I'll be careful here ) that MDF with a coat of clear over it appears to be the ducks nuts, I saw some cabinets a la Hi Fi blah blah and they looked great.
Use a heat gun (not on nuke setting five ) and see what is underneath and sand back accordingly.
They could look A OK if they have used all the same MDF.
I hope this may help.
Regards
Michael

[rockin'rushmore]

3 M makes a product used to take vinyl stripes off of auto body panels,maybe this would work?

[Titanium Dome]

Thanks for the suggestions, but at this point I'm going to guess no one has tried this yet?

Does anyone know first hand how the vinyl is bonded to the MDF?

[jim3860]

IS it possible to take some sort of wood planer and set it for whatever thickness is needed and slowly and im sure painfully remove the vinyl? Probablly not a good idea:banghead: the planer would gum up quickly im sure. I did refinish a coffee table once. The vinyl was glued on, it actually peeled away quite easily. it was real wood underneath. How about finding a woodworking forum and asking the real experts? or maybe even finding out from jbl how it was applied? Wish i could help you more TI. REGARDS JIM:)

[Titanium Dome]

Jim

I've emailed JBL. We'll see if I get an answer.

[Robh3606]

Why not just get some new vinly and go right over it??? No compatabillity issues and your no worse off as far as looks are concerned. Sounds a lot easier than trying to remove the old.

Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

The current crop of upper end JBL (and other brand) speakers does a pretty nice job of providing well made cabinets with almost believeable fake wood surfaces. Is that true? I haven't seen vinyl speakers except for the real cheapos at Best Buy and the like.

I'd agree with the advocates of heat. Re-skinning them with 1/4" plywood with real veneer would be easier if you have the equipment the cut tight miters.


Widget

[Titanium Dome]

Got a reply last night from a JBL/Harman rep who said basically glue what you got back down: no strippee; you'll regret it. Also, don't glue anything over the top, cuz if it's too hot, the whole thing turns into a mess.

So it looks like chemical bonding is out and mechanical bonding is in.

This will take some thought.

I smell innovation!

[vettedrummer]

I talked to a refinisher who was selling a set of L100's on the bay. I asked him this same question about putting pre-glued wood veneer over the vinyl. ( I have a set of SVA 1800's with same problem) He said to use the heat gun and take your time cause it will take awhile, but the results will be so much better. The MDF will be a great subtrate to put the new covering on. I have his email some place or other cause he gave me the name of a supplier to get Rosewood veneer for the L36 decades I also want to refinish. These have the blue grill cloth and would look so cool in the Rosewood veneer. I think if you use contact cement over the vinyl it will eat it and cause the job to be a total waste of time and money. I may try putting veneer right over the vinyl on a set of Boston A-40's I have with no problems on the covering at all, but wood would look better than black vinyl1 Cheers, Frank

[bigyank]

I have a pair of Polk Model 10's I will be stripping over the next 2 weeks using the heat gun method to remove the old vinyl. I will let you know how I make out.

Yank

[Mr. Widget]

I have a pair of Polk Model 10's...Why?


Sorry, I couldn't resist.:D


Widget

[Titanium Dome]

I have a pair of Polk Model 10's I will be stripping over the next 2 weeks using the heat gun method to remove the old vinyl. I will let you know how I make out.

Yank

I look forward to your report.

[duaneage]

Why?


Sorry, I couldn't resist.:D


Widget

They are fine speakers and were highly acclaimed when they came out. I've owned mine for 20 years.

[briang]

I have a pair of Polk Model 10's I will be stripping over the next 2 weeks using the heat gun method to remove the old vinyl. I will let you know how I make out.

YankI too look forward to your report.:)

[Mr. Widget]

They are fine speakers and were highly acclaimed when they came out. I've owned mine for 20 years.Agreed...

I've had very little audio gear that I've kept that long... my Zerostat and... some of the stuff that now lives in my shop....


Widget

[Bob Oliver]

most vinyl was laminated with epoxy-- time may be on your side since the cabinets are older -- try the heat gun -gently -try taking the glue off with a sturdy paint scraper the kind that you pull towards you -you may have to put a good edge on it though --there are epoxy solvents but not worth the hassle--

[Audiobeer]

I really believe that this is going to be a lot easier than you think. I wouldnt use anymore heat than you would on a hair dryer. I just don't believe there is that much glue on that model holding the vynil. C'mon.....just do it!

;)

[Nightbrace]

I am building my own speaker cabinets out of 3/4" MDF and was going to use a wood veneer, but it will be quite expensive. Can I get a vinyl "wood" veneer for much cheaper similiar to what JBL used?