Background
A forum member requested a makeover on a recently purchased set of Yamaha NS1000 speakers.
It looked easy and I was keen to see what outcome could be achieved?
Quality of finish required
?It had to be pleasing on the eye?.
A quick assessment indicated that:
A section of top panel of one speaker was rotten and had to be replaced.
Some of the corner joints were pulling apart. Not water damage but simply old age..?
The enclosure walls were veneered chipboard whilst the internal bracing was plywood. (DIY speaker builders - take note !)
The internal wiring seemed to be nothing special.
The internal stuffing was as if new- no sagging detected.
The Big question- How to quote for the work to be done?
Everything looked easy to fix and and the owner is a forum member so profit was not the primary agenda.
Action taken
1. Removed 3+mm of rotten wood on the top facia. I considered adding a wood panel but decided against it as it will be problematic to hide the joint on the top panel. I routered a little box frame into the top panel
and leveled it out. Initially my thoughts were to use a plastic epoxy filler but a small trail run proved it was non viable. It was rock word and very difficult to sand. I then settled on a mixture of three equal parts of
wood filler, sawdust and cold glue. Once hard, it was sanded down to the box frame levels.
2. The open edged box corners were routered out and a 6 x6 mm wood strip was glued in to provide a smooth edge.
3. An orbital sander was used to remove the paint on the outside side panels which was then doused with wood filler to hide dings and holes.
4. I replaced all the loose fascia veneer with woodfiller. Hint: To identify loose veneer- slowly drag your finger across the facia and when the sound changes, a loose area will have been identified.
5. Before painting commenced I used sanding sealer to seal the box and once dry, three layers of spray paint was applied.
6. The entire above process was documented with regular photo updates to the owner.
Difficulties Encountered:
1. The woodwork part was easy.
2. Loose veneer at the most unexpected places.
3. Dust- sanding wood filer creates a very fine airborne dust- despite the best of efforts to suck it up, it l filtered into the house and settled on nearly everything.
4. Spray painting: Despite the warm weather, the paintwork took long to dry.
Consumables (This is the invisible part of the work- not always recognized when looking at the end product.)
Four cans of wood filler.
Six cans of spray paint ( I expected to use 3 !!) .
8 corner strips were cut from scrap Marine Ply and Baltic Birch.
200 ml of sanding sealer.
250 ml of glue mixed with the wood filler.
250 ml volume of saw dust.
10 sheets of sanding paper.
Time ? It took about 10 working days- due to having to wait for glue, wood filler and paint to dry.
Machines Used
Router to rebuild the corners.
Orbital Sander to remove paint from the side panels.
Table saw to cut corner strips.
Lessons Learnt
Even with simple work, be prepared for surprises.
Fixing is easy- but when you have to start rebuilding broken sections it becomes very time consuming.
Be prepared that very old enclosures (36+Yrs) are super brittle- they need to be treated with care.
Any old speaker can be restored to near mint condition.
Pictures to follow:
A forum member requested a makeover on a recently purchased set of Yamaha NS1000 speakers.
It looked easy and I was keen to see what outcome could be achieved?
Quality of finish required
?It had to be pleasing on the eye?.
A quick assessment indicated that:
A section of top panel of one speaker was rotten and had to be replaced.
Some of the corner joints were pulling apart. Not water damage but simply old age..?
The enclosure walls were veneered chipboard whilst the internal bracing was plywood. (DIY speaker builders - take note !)
The internal wiring seemed to be nothing special.
The internal stuffing was as if new- no sagging detected.
The Big question- How to quote for the work to be done?
Everything looked easy to fix and and the owner is a forum member so profit was not the primary agenda.
Action taken
1. Removed 3+mm of rotten wood on the top facia. I considered adding a wood panel but decided against it as it will be problematic to hide the joint on the top panel. I routered a little box frame into the top panel
and leveled it out. Initially my thoughts were to use a plastic epoxy filler but a small trail run proved it was non viable. It was rock word and very difficult to sand. I then settled on a mixture of three equal parts of
wood filler, sawdust and cold glue. Once hard, it was sanded down to the box frame levels.
2. The open edged box corners were routered out and a 6 x6 mm wood strip was glued in to provide a smooth edge.
3. An orbital sander was used to remove the paint on the outside side panels which was then doused with wood filler to hide dings and holes.
4. I replaced all the loose fascia veneer with woodfiller. Hint: To identify loose veneer- slowly drag your finger across the facia and when the sound changes, a loose area will have been identified.
5. Before painting commenced I used sanding sealer to seal the box and once dry, three layers of spray paint was applied.
6. The entire above process was documented with regular photo updates to the owner.
Difficulties Encountered:
1. The woodwork part was easy.
2. Loose veneer at the most unexpected places.
3. Dust- sanding wood filer creates a very fine airborne dust- despite the best of efforts to suck it up, it l filtered into the house and settled on nearly everything.
4. Spray painting: Despite the warm weather, the paintwork took long to dry.
Consumables (This is the invisible part of the work- not always recognized when looking at the end product.)
Four cans of wood filler.
Six cans of spray paint ( I expected to use 3 !!) .
8 corner strips were cut from scrap Marine Ply and Baltic Birch.
200 ml of sanding sealer.
250 ml of glue mixed with the wood filler.
250 ml volume of saw dust.
10 sheets of sanding paper.
Time ? It took about 10 working days- due to having to wait for glue, wood filler and paint to dry.
Machines Used
Router to rebuild the corners.
Orbital Sander to remove paint from the side panels.
Table saw to cut corner strips.
Lessons Learnt
Even with simple work, be prepared for surprises.
Fixing is easy- but when you have to start rebuilding broken sections it becomes very time consuming.
Be prepared that very old enclosures (36+Yrs) are super brittle- they need to be treated with care.
Any old speaker can be restored to near mint condition.
Pictures to follow:
