Finisher/Painter Wanted to finish speaker build - Brisbane - Paid

[smal]

Hi guys, I have a set of speakers I made nearly 10 years ago, in their life they have been sanded and painted a number of times and I have never gotten around to giving them a good finish. I have finally conceded that I will never finish them off myself so i'm looking to pay someone to finish them for me.

I have the undercoat, white and clear paint and they would need some filling (doesn't have to be perfect as they are barely square anymore). I was planning on doing a very high gloss piano finish, but will settle for just a high gloss finish.

There are 2 speakers around 1000-1200 high, 500mm deep and 200mm wide with bases.
I also have 2 speaker stands (roughly 500mm high, 15cm square) that I would get finished off too.

They currently have a couple of base layers of paint (I think undercoat and 1 layer of white top coat) but would need a brief sand and some filling to start. Again, I don't expect these to be perfect but some general smoothing would be great.

How much would you charge to pick them up from Kedron, Brisbane and finish them off for me?

Just fyi each speaker weighs about 45 kgs (made from 1 inch mdf).

Cheers
Shaun322644322645

[Evanism]

If they are a bit crappy, it is best to start again.

I work with MDF daily and there is nothing worse than trying to repair stuff like this.

If its just for fill and painting, Polyfilla Trim and Doors works very well as it dries fast and sands super smooth. 2 or 3 goes with this to ensure everything is found and some very fine sandpaper gets you a long way. Then several coats of good thick undercoat for MDF (using a spray gun) - Haymes TriCoat is best. Sand dead flat, then 3 dust coats of Haymes high gloss enamel*. Wet sand, shoot one more over, presto.

You will have a lot more luck if you wanted new boxes to spec made. I'd be happy to help. Courier is about $60, but there are heaps of woodies up there.

* use this: http://www.haymespaint.com.au/products/product-information/view/Haymes-ultra-premium-enamel it will make it look like a Steinway concert paino...asuming you do the grunt work first.

[smal]

Thanks for the tips. They aren't terrible so would be happy if someone can just paint them with the paint I have (will check tonight and post info) and with some minimal prep work.

I plan on making a better set at some point so just wanted these looking "ok" with as little work as possible for me :)

[Evanism]

So, you come to a board of artisans and creatives - and try to offload a low cost/free alternative to doing a job yourself - on some project you fully intend to replace ASAP? Honestly? To save yourself a bit of effort and time. Burden the cost to others?

I don't mean to be rude, but do you think we work for love-money?

Seriously. You need to rethink a few things before someone takes offence.

[smal]

Hold up, you seem to be reaching quite a bit there. When did I say I will replace them ASAP and when did I say love money? When/if I do replace them it won't be for years and this set will still take pride in my office/computer room.

Someone who knows what they are doing could probably do a better job in half the time it would take me and as I said I have had these for 10 years and have never finished them. Seeing as though I don't have the time to finish them, I thought I would come here and offer money to pay someone to do something they are good at and enjoy doing. Also since when is paying someone to do a job such a bizarre and offensive concept?

I'm a photographer and I get asked to do a lot of jobs for 'exposure'. I would never ask or expect anyone to do anything for free. As a photographer I'm working all day and all night trying to find my feet and just don't have the time to finish off the many projects I have around the house.

Weirdest response I've ever had to offering paid work :S

[smal]

So again, anyone who is happy to accept money in exchange for finishing/painting these speakers, please let me know your price.

[rod1949]

So, you come to a board of artisans and creatives - and try to offload a low cost/free alternative to doing a job yourself - on some project you fully intend to replace ASAP? Honestly? To save yourself a bit of effort and time. Burden the cost to others?

I don't mean to be rude, but do you think we work for love-money?

Seriously. You need to rethink a few things before someone takes offence.

:)(:punching::screwy:

[LGS]

Fortunately you don't speak for the forums in general As it happens I aspen person on the forums would be happy to belp out. Speak for self in future!!

[Christos]

One of the things that I enjoy is painting. These two speakers should be pretty straight forward to complete.

But a little bit too far away from me.

[ian]

Shaun, this


they would need some filling (doesn't have to be perfect as they are barely square anymore). I was planning on doing a very high gloss piano finish, but will settle for just a high gloss finish.rings alarm bells for me in respect to expectations

what I've found is that because of the reflective surface, high gloss finishes are a very good way to detect surface blemishes.

if your MDF boxes are 10 years you may want to settle for a satin or even a no sheen finish

if I were taking on the task I'd be looking at following Evanism's advice -- 2 to 3 coats of Polyfilla, sanding between coast, then several coats of undercoat, then the high gloss top coat. The last project I finished to a high gloss required 7 coats of finish on top of the grain filler and sanding sealer, followed by sanding back using soapy water and 2000 grit wet and dry

[smal]

Thanks Ian, yeah my expectations aren't for a perfect finish. I know what you mean about gloss showing up all of the imperfections.

Originally when I made them I was going to go piano finish and wet sand and clear coat, 10, 12, 15 times or whatever it took. As the boxes are now not perfect I do not expect a mirror, blemish free finish. I would just like a bit of filling prep (again don't expect it to be a perfect mirror) then painted gloss so that from a couple of feet back they look ok, maybe a couple of coats of clear. Doing them white should hide the imperfections a little better than doing them black.

I had started smoothing out with the polyfilla and even though it was taking a while with my skill set, I think I was getting them to a decent level (and was learning a lot!). But then I had to reassemble the speakers for a party and I never got around to pulling them apart again and continuing.

Anyway I think someone who has done this sort of work before could get them to a satisfactory level with one or 2 more layers of polyfilla & undercoat, then top coat and a couple of clear coats. :)

[dalejw]

Satin would be much more forgiving than gloss but a fill, a sand and a number of coats of a high build primer or spray putty blocked back to flat before the gloss will come out quite well I reckon.

With the right gear it wouldn't take long but I'm in Perth.

I'd be talking to a couple of small auto smash repair shops around your area. You may get it done for beer. I'd be talking to people who paint cars for sure. They'd be better set up for this job rather than a bunch of woodworkers.

[Master Splinter]

If spraying, ideally they should be sanded back to bare MDF. There's nothing worse than starting to spray and finding that the undercoat/primer/putty is incompatible. Actually, there is something worse, and that's finding out that there's an unwanted reaction with something under the finish a week after you've rubbed out the topcoat!

I've always found that oil based enamels are a pain* when trying for a smooth gloss finish. On MDF especially, car fillers/spray putty/primer/topcoat seem to work much better; BUT the solvents in them will react strongly to many other finishes.

*Everything just gets sooo sticky when spraying enamels, and they attract every gnat and mosquito from miles around!

[dalejw]

Yup. I wouldn't touch it with anything other than 2pak. There are some pretty nice hi build epoxy primers that'll go over pretty much anything. Protec epotech seems to stick to everything and doesn't seem to react to much.