Need a simple satin finish for stained speaker cabinets

I renovate vintage Hi Fi equipment which often involves speaker cabinets. Most of the cabinets I come across are veneered, lacquered and have many fine scratches. My normal approach is to sand them back with 350 grit and mineral turps which removes any grease and breaks the "glaze". I then rub them down with a suitable Feast Watson Prooftint colour and when dry this leaves me with a nice matt finish with most of the fine scratches now hidden.

Until recently I have then been coating them with two coats of satin polyurethane lacquer but this a relatively tedious process if I am to avoid dust issues and the result is glossier than I really want.

Is there a good polish or oil that I could just rub over the stained veneer to get a nice lustre. I know they exist I would just appreciate some recommendations.

Thanks in anticipation

Options that come to mind are:

Wax Filler Sticks Wax Filler Sticks - Lee Valley Tools
Known as wax beaumontage, these sticks are made from beeswax, resins, and powdered colors. They are used to repair scratches, cracks, gouges and dents in furniture.

Lacquer Sticks Lacquer Sticks - Lee Valley Tools
Used to repair dents, gouges or scratches, these sticks are melted onto a hot burn-in knife and then applied.

Touch-Up Markers Touch-Up Markers - Lee Valley Tools
felt-tip markers are charged with wood-tone dyes for fast and easy repairs to furniture, panelling, leather, plastic, and vinyl.


I'm sure there are suppliers other than Lee Valley, it's just that I have the LV site bookmarked

I use "Minwax Antique Oil Finish" for some record player boxes I make for a client of mine. Always solid timber, mostly Blackwood, and fresh unfinished timber or sanded back to fresh bare timber. The oil is a dark brown coffee colour, and it does darken the colour of the timber more so than other oils I have used which have more of a honey colour. I believe the antique oil is just another variant of a 'danish oil'. resin/solvent/oil blend.

The directions for use are much the same as any other danish oil. wipe on, let it sit for some time, wipe off again. This works but requires many coats to get a decent result. To get fresh unfinished timber completed with a nice satin lustre quickly, I do as follows.

- Sand to 800grit (sand higher for a higher finished sheen level if required)
- Wipe on one thin and even coat using a french polishing rubber/pad/fad, in the direction of the grain.
- Let that dry overnight (or about 10hours)
- lightly sand with the last grit paper you used before oiling. This just levels any imperfections and removes dust nibs. The finish does self-level quite well so it should be pretty good, and is very forgiving with bad wiping technique.
- apply another coat same way as the first and let it dry overnight

Thats about it, the only other step I might do is dry sand with #3000grit to remove any dust nibs if there is any. I find the second coat attracts much less dust nibs than the first.

more coats = more gloss.

Give White Knight crystal clear lacquer a try. It's in a rattle can, and is virtually idiot proof in its application. Flashes off so fast that dust is not an issue, and can be re coated in 1 hr.

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the info - I'll keep the products you mention in mind as they may be very suitable for cabinets with more severe scratches
Cheers, Malcolm

Hi Kuffy,
I'll give the antique oil a trial on a sample piece that has been treated as I described
Thanks for your input, Cheers, Malcolm

Hi chrisb691
I'll give it a try and see how even the finish is.
Thanks
Cheers, Malcolm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chrisb691

Give White Knight crystal clear lacquer a try. It's in a rattle can, and is virtually idiot proof in its application. Flashes off so fast that dust is not an issue, and can be re coated in 1 hr.

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I'll second that. I'm building some Aust Cedar speaker stands. I couldn't be bothered messing around with the spray gun on such a small job, so I bought a can of the WK Crystal Clear. It dries to a nice satin finish (on cedar). 3 coats was enough.

If you go with a spray can, try to get Spraylac from Mirotone. It's MUCH better than anything I've used from Bunnings

Mirotone is great stuff. I didn't know it came in an aerosol can. Where do you get them?

BTW I just checked my can of Crystal Clear. I thought I had gloss. Turns out it's satin. That would explain the satin finish I'm getting. :rolleyes:

Not 100% sure, I believe we buy direct from Mirotone, but there are places that sell it online:
https://www.timbecon.com.au/brands/mirotone
MIROTONE

Thanks. Mirotone are close to me. I'll try them.