I am back in the USA for a visit and my B&O needs some cosmetic work.  I have a pair of S-80 speakers in teak and BG 4002 in rosewood/pallisander.  The local Do-It Yourself/home hardware center has three types of wood oil:  tung oil, teak wood oil and Danish oil.  Can anyone advise which type of oil I should be using?  Also, if the teak on the speakers feel a bit rough, should I hand-sand the wood with superfine sandpaper before applying the oil?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Danish oil seems to be the choice of many of Beoworlds speaker restorers Stephen. You need to keep up with it though, re-apply annually I believe.

Personally I always French polish my speaker restorations but this is quite intensive to get right finish. Well worth the effort though.

Teak has quite an open grain for a hardwood so it isn't unusual for it to feel slightly rough, especially when compared to rosewood. If it bothers you you can apply some grain filler & smooth off with fine steel wool before oiling & polishing.

Chris.

I use Danish oil, which in fact is a boiled Linseed oil, if the teak is lacquered or varnished before, you will have to sand of all the laquer, start with a 180 grain paper, then 220 and at last very fine with 400, then oil, wipe of excess after 1/2 hour, let dry for 24 hours,  sand lightly with 400, oil, wipe of excess after 1/2 hour, let dry, done. After this, once every, or every 2nd year, clean lightly with thinner, oil, wipe of excess, let dry, done. Use lint free cotton rags for the oil (old well washed T shirt or the like).

And do it outside or in the garage, linseed oil stinks.

Another question. I have here a BM1001, which I totally recapped etcetera. This master has a black aluminum top, which I've taken apart and cleaned thoroughly. Now, the problem is, that touching the switches leaves traces from your (greasy) hands. Do I have to oil them with a thin layer of any kind of oil, which makes them shiny of course. Or should I paint them with a special photo lack? This wouldn't be my first choice, as it isn't done with the original parts. Any thoughts?

Beobuddy:

Or should I paint them with a special photo lack?

I would try with a Polyurethane clear satin matte spray

Did you do this before?

I'm slightly frightened if spraying the paint fails. It's not mine.

I use it for Brass and copper pieces, to keep it from oxidizing and showing fingerprints

You can also try with Pledge for forniture, will damage nothing and can easily be cleaned of again.

For all my wood and aluminium part I'm using "HG meubelfinish spray".

Works like magic and cost 5 euro!

This one?

Beobuddy:

This one?

 

 

Same sh1t, I use pledge even for acrylics, covers small scratches

Søren Mexico:

Beobuddy:

This one?

 

 

Same sh1t, I use pledge even for acrylics, covers small scratches

 

Same ***? Are you mister magic himself. I'm having good results with this and that's a fact!

@Beobuddy, you even took the effort taking a picture to let us see were talking about the same product!

YES it is

I've used it for the BM1001 cabinet. That worked great. But I didn't use it for aluminum. For the next BM900K is will use a different oil (also from HG), but then I also will use some steal wool. Don't know if that's the correct spelling.

Let me know how it works with the other HG product,

Steel wool is correct and if that works?

I let you know. Steel wool opens up the structure of the wooden cabinet. First use a piece of glass to take of the upper layer with dirt etc. Then use the steel wool and oil together to rub the oil in the structure.

I see, thought you wanna use that on the aluminium

Leslie:

Søren Mexico:

Beobuddy:

This one?

 

 

Same sh1t, I use pledge even for acrylics, covers small scratches

 

 

Same ***? Are you mister magic himself. I'm having good results with this and that's a fact!

@Beobuddy, you even took the effort taking a picture to let us see were talking about the same product!

YES it is

I mean Pledge and the product you use are probably more or less the same, and yes I get good results with mine too

Returning to the original query, thanks Chris and Soren [sorry, a horizontal line is the best I can do; can not easily re-create the diagonal line for the "o"].

I will give the Danish oil a try.

Chris, how does one "French polish"?  I have not heard this phrase before.  "French kissing" yes, "French polish" no. 

The beauty of French polishing is it really enhances the natural grain & figuring of wood & gives a tough long lasting & easy to maintain finish.

It requires stripping off any old polish & varnish back to bare wood - use the finest grit sandpaper you can get a way with, it saves effort in the long run. Some woods such as rosewood may need some staining to attain the original colour & vibrancy (B&O rosewood speakers are stained a little redder than natural rosewood, mahogany stain seems to give good results). Then apply however many coats of button (French) polish as you feel neccessary. You must apply it in the direction of the grain using single strokes and not be tempted to go over it again until you have "kocked it back" with steel wool in between each coat. French polish dries very quickly so you can repeat the process every 20 minutes or so. Button polish will fill the grain & the more open the grain of the wood, the more coats are needed - even grain filler may be needed if the grain is very open. I never use less than 4 coats depending on the wood in question. The last coat of button polish is also knocked back with steel wool & the final polish is done with beeswax. After care is much easier as you can simply use spray & wipe furniture polish.

Chris.

My polish cleaner of choice. Good for wood metal plastic and vinyl. sure put a nice restorative sheen on my BM1600 tractor belts.

Medogsfat:

The beauty of French polishing is....

With all respect and off topic, but why is it french polishing? My dad did this almost 40 years ago with the rosewood from B&O telly's back then.

Just here in The Netherlands....

Leslie:

For all my wood and aluminium part I'm using "HG meubelfinish spray".

Works like magic and cost 5 euro!

@ Leslie, welke BM hangt daar boven het (theepot) vrouwtje, Een BM2400(-2)?

Ja Andre! Een BM2400. Why?

Wings:

Returning to the original query, thanks Chris and Soren [sorry, a horizontal line is the best I can do; can not easily re-create the diagonal line for the "o"].

I will give the Danish oil a try.

Chris, how does one "French polish"?  I have not heard this phrase before.  "French kissing" yes, "French polish" no. 

French polish is the absolute top line of wood finishing, and have been used for hundreds of years, pianos, violins and other first class instruments are still finished this way, and yes in my opinion and as I see, Chris's too, the best way to get your wood perfect.

But as I'm lazy, and want a satin finish, I use boiled linseed oil, the problem with French polish is that you will see all nick and damages if you dont work properly. I like French kisses too., Less work and the result is pronto.

Leslie:

Ja Andre! Een BM2400. Why?

First bought Beomaster in the early 80's.

By coincidence I bought a BM 2400-2 with remote almost in mint condition for 2-3 weeks ago. It has only one fault.

The previous (first) owner told that all the new placed fuses blown within a second, that's all.

So, if I have some spare time, I'll look at it. But with the memories in mind, it will probably be a full recap. The same as I just finished a CD5500 with faulty (shortcircuit) caps and fried resistors. 

Søren Mexico:

 I like French kisses too., Less work and the result is pronto.