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Update 4/15/07
Finally, I'm getting to do another update. The heating system in
my house crapped out on Thursday, so I spent the entire day until midnight and
then almost all of the day Friday replacing the boiler. Saturday was
taken up with a conference that I had to speak at.
I made some real good progress Saturday night and today though.
All of the veneer is now installed, including all the edgebanding, and the
initial sanding of the veneer is done on all ten of the top horn pieces.
They are all masked off and ready for paint. The painting
process takes some time because of the waiting involved between coats, so I'll
be doing the grill work that I have to do while the painting is being done.
Putting the veneer on before painting, means that the edges of the veneer will
be painted too.
It takes about 20 minutes to mask off each of the six large top horn pieces.
The bass bins are in the paint room getting a touch up of black paint. Once that's done, they'll get a final sanding of the veneer and I'll install the woofers. I purchased really nice wire for the internal wiring of the Khorns. I'm also using nice banana binding posts for the woofer connections.
Update 4/18/07
All the pieces are painted now.
Next, I'll do the final sanding on all the veneer.
Other materials or items that I used for this project, continuing from the list on page 3 (someone asked): Cleanwoode, which is a mixture of solvents, I bought new filters for my respirator today for $30, sanding sponges, blue tape, polyurethane glue, dust masks, cleaning rags. That's all I can think of right now.
Update 4/21/07
Not much to say on the Khorns today. I've been working on a pair
of Heresy's for the last couple of days and I've got them in the paint room
right now. Tomorrow I'll be starting the finish sanding on the Khorn
pieces. Wish me luck, there's always the risk of sanding through the
veneer. UGGGGGGHHHH!
Here's a couple of pictures of the Heresy's. I had just enough veneer left over from the Khorns to do three sides of each of these. I don't usually do Heresy restorations because they don't sell for enough money to cover the hours that it takes to do the work. But I decided to do these ones because I had the veneer and this particular pair came to me in pretty rough shape, just calling to me for help!
The Heresy's have all the veneer on now and they're getting painted tomorrow, so they'll be caught right up with the Khorns.
It's getting exciting, I'll be putting finish on the Khorns and Heresy's next week!
Update 4/26/2007
SOLD!
Money has not changed hands just yet, but it looks like they are sold to a gentleman from Moscow, Russia.
I will continue with the updates though, right through the finish and crating
of the Khorns. I have been extremely busy with the house building
business, so not much has happened. I do have all the painting done
on the Heresy's and all the masking and tape is off all the Khorn and Heresy
pieces awaiting final sanding. I've got to pack up some custom
Khorn tops and grills that I was making for another customer and then the shop
will be free to do the sanding.
Update 4/28/07
Money has now changed hands, so the sale is final.
The sanding is done, I've cleaned the shop thoroughly, and I've got all the speakers and parts set up and ready for finish. Sorry there's no new pictures, I didn't see the sense since they don't look any different. I'll take pictures after the first coat of finish goes on.
I'm going to put urethane on all the various pieces of the Mkhorns, the rosewood Heresy's, a pair of Walnut Heresy's that I refinished recently, and another pair of rosewood Khorns (Tkhorns) that I restored about two years ago, all at the same time.
I originally put an oil finish on the Tkhorns but I didn't like the way the finish came out, so I've been letting them dry in my dry house for the last two years and it's now safe to put a urethane over them. The Tkhorns have also been sold to a gentleman in Boise, Idaho.
All of these speakers and parts
will get various levels of cleaning and prep for the urethane and I should be
able to get the first coat on tomorrow. For the next 4 days, my
shop will be
very "still", to keep the dust down while doing this finish work.
I'll sand with
400 grit between coats and put a coat of urethane on once each day.
Update 4/29/07
I cleaned all the parts and cabinets and put the first coat of finish on
today.
The pictures today aren't very good because of the lighting, but I think
you'll get the idea. The grain really POPS now with the finish.
There's just nothing like Rosewood, it's formal, rich, tasteful,
interesting, and just plain beautiful.
Update 5/1/07
Rain the last few days and the finish wasn't drying good. But today
things dried right out and I got the second coat on. I use 400 grit
sandpaper to lightly sand between coats, then use my hands to
rub and clean the wood before the next coat. They really are hand-rubbed.
The TKhorns made it into the shop today and got their first coat.
These really have some beautiful veneer. This is raw wood Brazilian
rosewood, and I did have issues with bubbling veneer. The paper-backed
veneer with the Heatlock glue really does work a lot better.
Glare from the lights, but notice the wonderful grain pattern.
5/2/07 update
Just to clarify, I have two sets of rosewood Khorns for sale. One
set is the "M" Khorns that have been talked about all the way through this
web photo essay. These have been sold to a gentleman in Moscow, Russia,
and he is very excited about buying these. He's having me upgrade the
components with the best of what's new for them before I ship them out.
The other pair of rosewood Khorns that I have for sale are the "T" Khorns, that I have mentioned very recently here in these pages. These are finished in Brazilian rosewood, raw wood veneer. I restored these two years ago, the last project out of my old shop. I've been enjoying them in my living room since I restored them, but it is time for them to go to a new home to make room for a new set that I'm restoring for myself. I thought I had these sold, but it didn't work out. So I'll take a few more photos of these and put them up for sale on ebay. The price is $3,995.00 plus crating and shipping if necessary. They have all original components except for the upgraded new crossovers.
Please note, as of 7/2007, the TKhorns have SOLD!
I think the finish is done now. I'm going to make a close
inspection this weekend and if they need one more coat I'll wrap it up this
weekend. Next is the assembly of parts. We're waiting for
the new mid horns, new tweeters, and new crossovers to be delivered, which could
take a few weeks.
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