[Hallicrafters] R46-B speaker cloth

[Peter May]

I eventually obtained some of this fabric dye in a spray can as recommended,
from an auto parts store.
It's called "VHT Penetrating Color Dye" SP-941-A Gloss Jet Black.
It did a reasonable job of restoring the color back into the old R46-B
speaker cloth, which had faded a brown colour with age.
I would recommend this idea to anyone else attempting the same restoration.
As you may realise, the R46 speakers have a metal mesh woven into the cloth,
so restoration is not all that straight forward.

Regards
Peter
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Ward" <spencer4488 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Peter May" <peter_may at optusnet.com.au>; <hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] R46-B speaker cloth


> Several years ago when I was heavily involved in restoring classic cars, I
found spray cans of fabric dye which were perfect for re-coloring the fabric
on door panels and headliners without removing them.  This stuff also worked
on the speaker grill cloth of a couple of old radios I had, too.  Can't
remember where I bought the stuff; either at an auto paint store or a well
stocked arts and crafts store, like Hobby Lobby or fabric/art store like
JoAnn's.  Yep, it can be done, provided the cloth is still in relatively
good condition.
> Bill Ward
> W5QI
>
> Peter May <peter_may at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> Has anyone tried redying speaker cloth? The speaker cloth on the R46-B is
quite different in that it has a metal mesh sandwiched inside of two layers
of cloth.
> The speaker cloth on the front of my R46-B is pretty faded.
> It's gone a dark brown colour. I thought reversing it would be a good
trick but did not look quite right (you can see the previous impression of
the speaker).
> I thought maybe I'd get some black fabric dye and have a go at redying the
cloth. I'm a bit worried that it might be a waste of effort.
>
> Regards
> Peter
> ______________________________________________________________
> Hallicrafters mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hallicrafters
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net
> ----
> List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF **for assistance**
> dfischer at usol.com
> ----
> Hallicrafters Collectors International: http://www.w9wze.org
> ______________________________________________________________
> Hallicrafters mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hallicrafters
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net
> ----
> List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF **for assistance**
> dfischer at usol.com
> ----
> Hallicrafters Collectors International: http://www.w9wze.org