[ebag4]

Jim,
Would you mind sharing what type of finish you used on the gorgeous Silk Tower in Pepperwood Burl found in the gallery on your website?  I am currently building a speaker using a plane tree burl finish and am playing with tints.  I happened upon your gallery and saw the finish on your towers, it is clear, beautiful and really lets the burl shine through.  I won't be able to replicate it but would like to give it a try .

Thanks,
Ed

[jsalk]

We use ICA poly sealer (FP272), spraying multiple coats until we are able to sand it flat without sand-throughs or grain showing.  Sometimes this can be 12 - 15 coats.  For our standard topcoat, we use about 5 coats of M.L.Campbell high gloss Magnamax pre-cat lacquer sanding out dust particles between coats.  We then shoot a final coat of satin Magnamax.  We then take a very fine sandpaper and remove any remaining dust particles we find and shoot straight lacquer thinner with a retarder added.  This re-melts the surface to remove any sanding marks left over.

I hope this helps.

- Jim

[ctviggen]

We use ICA poly sealer (FP272), spraying multiple coats until we are able to sand it flat without sand-throughs or grain showing.  Sometimes this can be 12 - 15 coats.  For our standard topcoat, we use about 5 coats of M.L.Campbell high gloss Magnamax pre-cat lacquer sanding out dust particles between coats.  We then shoot a final coat of satin Magnamax.  We then take a very fine sandpaper and remove any remaining dust particles we find and shoot straight lacquer thinner with a retarder added.  This re-melts the surface to remove any sanding marks left over.

I hope this helps.

- Jim

Holy crap, that seems like a lot of work.  How long do you have to wait between all of these coats? 

[jsalk]

We shoot about three "wet" coats at a time (45 minutes apart).  Then wait a day or two and sand.  Repeat...repeat...and repeat until they are ready for final topcoat.  Yes, it takes a lot of labor and time (about a month total in the normal swing of things). 

Most speaker companies shoot conversion varnish and do it all in a single day.  But the results are not at all the same.

- Jim

[Folsom]

No, they are not! If you've seen Salk's in person they're Hella nice finish.

[ctviggen]

I have Salk HT3s, fronts and a center. 

[ebag4]

We use ICA poly sealer (FP272), spraying multiple coats until we are able to sand it flat without sand-throughs or grain showing.  Sometimes this can be 12 - 15 coats.  For our standard topcoat, we use about 5 coats of M.L.Campbell high gloss Magnamax pre-cat lacquer sanding out dust particles between coats.  We then shoot a final coat of satin Magnamax.  We then take a very fine sandpaper and remove any remaining dust particles we find and shoot straight lacquer thinner with a retarder added.  This re-melts the surface to remove any sanding marks left over.

I hope this helps.

- Jim

Thanks Jim, it does help, unfortunately it means I need to be looking another direction as I am not set up for that type of operation  (BTW, that pepperwood is really gorgeous, I assumed some type of tint was used).  I do appreciate the information.

Have a great holiday!

Best,
Ed

[Miney]

You mean these?  Here they are at Jim's shop next to their big brother



And yes, what they say so often in this circle is true... the pictures don't do them justice.

[daven3871]

Just a question what is about average final dry film thickness and why precat after polyester and not a 2k poly