[HT cOz]

Jim, I have been admiring your work tremendously and respect your opinions.  I have seen incredible picture after incredible picture of speakers come out of your shop and wonder if you could give a little advice to a young blood?

I am going to be starting my own speaker project soon and have purchased 8’ x 16’ of paper backed veneer that looks like this

 it is Lacewood and I have enough to work it into my entire setup. 

I recently used Transtint mixed with denatured alcohol to stain my room’s floors and got a good idea of how it works during that process. 

I also finished the floors using Waterlox Sealer and Satin Finish.

I am struggling between leaving the wood natural or using Transtint and making them black.  Regardless, I am thinking of using Waterlox to finish them as it seems like a foolproof product.  What happens if you dye the speaker then lightly sand it back?  Will the woods texture still be prominent after it is dyed? 

If you want to keep all the secrets, well secret I totally understand.  I have enough veneer that I will be able to experiment first and figure out what I really like. 

Kind Regards,
Robert

[jsalk]

Robert -

If is difficlt to say what you would get by spraying black dye and then sanding it back.  Different woods take up dye differently.  If you look at the HT2-TL's we will be bringing to RMAF, I first sprayed a brown dye and then sanded the surface.  Where the wood is softer, the dye soaks in deeper.  Where it is harder, the dye stays on the surface.  So when you sand it down, you basically can remove dye from the harder surfaces.  We then sprayed the speakers with a amber dye.  The result was dark bown with amber highlights.

About the only thing I can suggest is that you try it on a sample.

My guess is that the results will not be anything you'd like.  You are starting with a medium dark veneer that is somewhat orange in color.  Black and yellow make brown.  So you would likely end up with a muddy reddish brown and I have no idea what would happen when you sand it as I don't know, off hand, how the dye might penetrate the veneer.  On the other hand, you might end up with dark reddish brown in some areas and a nice orange in the sections of the wood that are harder.  Who knows, you might end up with something very interesting.  Try a test sample and see what you come up with.

One other note is that you do not have a great deal of veneer to sand.  Backed veneers are very thin (unlike the raw veneers we use).  So you will have to be a little careful not to sand through the veneer.

I hope this helps.

Great job on the floor by the way!

- Jim

[HT cOz]

Jim,

Thanks for the post.  Sounds like experimentation is going to be key.  Great point about the paperbacked, I think I need to skip thinking about sanding it! 

[turkey]

Jim,

Thanks for the post.  Sounds like experimentation is going to be key.  Great point about the paperbacked, I think I need to skip thinking about sanding it!

You might not even want to stain this at all. Just apply a clear finish and that should do it.