Ex Studio Tannoy LSU/HF/3LZG refurbishment!

[Pac1]

Had an interesting pair of ex-studio Tannoys (LSU/HF/3LZG/8's) which had the main panels doubled in thickness internally with the front panel doubled externally (a bit of a mess with roughly screwed in ply front baffles!). I've had these completely stripped, then removed the front baffles, routed the inside face to rebate them so that they sit flush with the inside edge of the edge panel bevels, and screwed/glued them back into place.

The owner wanted a painted front finish in an off-white, to mimic, yet contrast with the main drivers....a little like some JBL's I guess. Well, even with filling screw holes etc, it would have been seen through paint layers so I had the opportunity of trying out a new laminate finish which is a sort of high quality Formica. Very stiff, and very scratch resistant, available in a wide range of colours. I selected one that I thought would tick the boxes. It has a slight textured finish which isn't readily apparent from the photos. This was cut to size, and routed to take the driver opening into account before bonding in place.

The cabinets were tidied up and re-waxed using a high quality Carnauba and Beeswax finish.

The crossovers and switches were removed, rivets removed from crossover casings and crossovers completely overhauled and some very choice components selected to upgrade them before re-assembly. Switches were taken apart and properly cleaned and lubed with electrical lube before reassembly.

Finally, the cable connections were attended to. From the studio, this pair has simply had a captive cable pulled through a hole drilled in the back of the rear panel and terminated in a block connector. I cut the rear panel for some nice sunken gold plated binding posts, re-soldered connections internally and tried to leave the rear as original as possible besides this, partly as the labels and serial numbers were all on the rear.

These shots are of the finished result. See what you think. Any colour for this Formica can be provided and even whole speakers done in it!

 

[Copperjacket]

While the front panel may not be to my taste, the overall quality of the refurbishment looks excellent - a very nice job.

What wax did you use please? I thought carnuba wax was usually used on car bodies?

 

[Pac1]

Thank you.

The best fine furniture waxes tend to be low solvent base blends of Carnauba and Beeswax. Carnauba is a very hard wearing wax and when the mix drys, is buffed, it lends a deeper shine and tougher, more durable wax finish than high solbent base waxes or straight Beeswax finishes.

Carnauba quantity is rarely much more than 5 to 7% because it is very difficult to buff the higher the percentage, and requires heat to help melt it in, hence a lot of elbow grease!

I have a wide variety of waxes and oils for finishing, some of which are my own blends (as with many who do their own finishing work) but one of the better commercial offerings is Ercol Wax polish because it is a low solvent base and contains Carnauba. We have Ercol furniture here, some of which is 60 years old, and the finish is amazing, having been polished with their own blend of waxes.

Going up the solvent base content a little, there is Mylands Classic polish. This needs each coat to be left several days at least after buffing before another coat is put on to oxidise and harden slightly, as fresh coats can strip some of the original finish off due to the solvent base.

Needless to say that nothing in a spray can gets anywhere near this sort of work.

To complete a wax finish, I also use a synthetic blended wax developed by the British Museum, called Renaissance wax. If you Google that, you'll see what makes that a worthwhile final coat sealant.

 

[Tony L]

My family had Ercol furniture, a rather nice late-50s or early-60s styling to it (which would have been when it was bought). My dad still has it in his smaller retirement place. Beautifully made stuff.

 

[Copperjacket]

Great information thank you.

 

[-alan-]

The cream on wood colour scheme looks not unlike my long serving Mission 700s - which I always thought works well.

The treatment and finish brings out the grain wonderfully - esp on the section on the front face. Good job.

edit - out of curiousity, is the formica hard to work with ? I have a brute ugly set of Isobariks, and would dearly love to do something to change the look of the front face.

 

[Pac1]

Hi Alan.

It's not too hard to work with providing it's given proper support when working it, but yes, is different to working with a wood veneer and requires as much care. To do a baffle like this, it has first to be cut to size then bonded before routing or cutting using a very sharp tool for the job. In this case, it was routed out after bonding once a starter hole had been cut from the router.

 

[-alan-]

Ah - so not a case of cutting/routing to size and then bonding afterwards, not something you can just shape and then bond to the cabinet with drive units in situ. Back to the drawing board for me

Thanks for the info tho - appreciated.

 

[Pac1]

Ah - so not a case of cutting/routing to size and then bonding afterwards, not something you can just shape and then bond to the cabinet with drive units in situ. Back to the drawing board for me

Thanks for the info tho - appreciated.

You probably could do it that way Alan, but in this case, the front baffle had been deepened by an additional panel, so that was removed and it was bonded first. If you chose to do it without pre-bonding you'd have to be very careful that it was clamped and supported properly.

 

[Milton]

You probably could do it that way Alan, but in this case, the front baffle had been deepened by an additional panel, so that was removed and it was bonded first. If you chose to do it without pre-bonding you'd have to be very careful that it was clamped and supported properly.

Hi Pac1, I have a pair of H1 Horn speakers that need reconing/ new drivers and therefore maybe new crossovers. Are you able to do this still. Saw your email on H2’s back in 2015!!
Hoping you can. Milton