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I tried to do it the poor man's way, but it was exhausting without some power tools. And frankly, I believe it would be a waste of time and effort (at least for me). After watching this video http://youtu.be/BgCmrGMhvss , I ordered myself a Porter Cable 7424XP, the appropriate pads, attachments, and chemicals. I can't say enough how much of a valuable investment this was. Saved me hours of time and you can't beat the results. At first, it might all seem a steep price for painting, but it's well worth. One could do it with less, but trust me, your time is worth the investment. I'd reckon you'd save 20-30 hours on a speaker set this size.
For sanding
I used the PC 7424XP and the appropriate backing pad. Here are the ones I bought:
Porter Cable 7424XP polisher http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Astro Pneumatic 5in Velcro Backing pad http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mirka Abranet sanding discs 600 grit (well worth the price) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Sungold Abrasives 1500 grit http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mirka Abralon 4000 grit http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Finishing/Polishing
Orange Lake Country foam cutting pad http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
White Lake Country polishing pad http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Meguiar's M105 Mirror Glaze Ultra-Cut Compound http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Meguiar's M205 Mirror Glaze Ultra Finishing Polish http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Surface Prep
The surface needs to be absolutely flawless. I seriously mean that. FLAWLESS. The pimer and paint coats won't show everything, but the gloss will. So do the usual...fill the seems and seal. I had some really crappy sealer from HD that wasn't what I'd recommend. I'm sure one of the more experienced guys can chip in with the best sealer for MDF, but from what I have heard, an epoxy mix or wood glue + water mix would probably be best. I had a few problems with the edges absorbing, so my method didn't work that well.
But first step is to sand smooth and get your surface as flat and uniform as possible. Next, seal the wood. Pay extra attention to the corners and edges. They are rougher, so they need a little extra sanding care.
Painting
Next, I shot 3 coats of the Rust-Oleum automotive primer/sealer http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...64cf1d_400.jpg
As you can barely see with this photo, I had seams appearing at the edges
I fought these as best as I could by wet sanding with 600 grit and then adding 3 more primer coats. This is where the better sanding sealer method should come in handy. After you're fairly satisfied with the primer foundation, start with the black.
I used Rust-Oleum black lacquer http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...434461_400.jpg
I put on 5-6 coats of this. I forgot to take pictures of this stage, but it looked fairly normal - Some orange peel, but very black speakers. After letting it dry for a week, I wet sanded with 600 grit.
While working this to get it smooth with 600 grit, I ran into the primer. Yup, with 5-6 coats I still hit the primer. Looked liked this:
No worries, I added two really light coats of black after I was happy. Then I went to the clear coat of enamel. http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...176a44_400.jpg
This is where the meat of the finish is. As long as the base coat is solid, you really only need a 2-3 coats of the black. You'll build up clear and that's ultimately what you'll work with to get the piano black polish. I put 7-8 light coats of this on over the course of a few days. Once I was happy with the coverage, I let dry for about 10 days.
Here's what it looked like:
Final Sanding
So now it's time to start your final sanding round. As you can see below, the sanding will remove all of the gloss and "color." No fear, this is right. You'll want to make you don't have any of these black spots. They're low spots that need to be sanded smooth. They're bad. Also, notice the swirl marks, that's because I was using 600 grit. For the start of the final sanding round, I recommend not going below 1500. It's really only going to cause you more problems as it scratches the paint more than 1500 will. And since you shouldn't need to aggressively flatten the surface out, it should be no problem.
Speaking of sanding, this is what it will look like after you've just wet sanded and before you wiped it off.
After you've done all your surfaces in 1500 grit, go over the entire thing again with 3000 or 4000 grit. After, it'll look like this:
Swirl/Scratch removal and polish
Now it is time to apply the Meguiar's ultra cut compound. This will remove the swirls/scratch marks and do a pretty damn good job at polishing. Make sure you are using a cutting disc/foam. I did test the difference, they do a much better job at fixing swirls than a polish disc. One thing I didn't believe the first time is how MUCH you need to use. Use a lot. and I mean it. I did passes with it per side. Each time I used this much roughly.
After first pass, it'll start to get glossy, but you'll see a ton of scratches still
Second pass it'll get quite a bit better
3rd pass you'll be good to go:
Now bust out a polishing pad and Meguiar's Mirror Glaze What speakers do you use with your Rotel? Ultra Finishing Compound
It'll look like this after one pass before you wipe
Wipe with microfiber and then polish with a wool pad
Then boom....sexy!
I have captured the core parts of Kevin's guide to a Keynote presentation; I will follow up next week and see if we can't promote it to an article, or if necessary I'll copy and paste and create an article.
Overall, the method takes some work, though that can go much, much faster with the right tools and material approach. When I look at how many have struggled with various issues and challenges in veneering, doing a good automotive style finish seems like a pretty good alternative, if you find it esthetically viable or desirable.
How did that piano white project turnout? Gauder Akustik got me thinking about that approach, after seeing their speakers in Munich, and of course that's Mike's favorite- I think he'll use it again on his new build upcoming.
OTOH, I have a hunch we'll see another take on this process pretty soon in the darker version...
I should be able to pick it back up in August.