ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hi all,
I only recently (finally !) acquired some B&O equipment, of which one is a Beolab 2 with some “battle scars”.
I found a service manual, so dismantling should not be any issue, and the idea is to refurbish the housing.
Questions are :
- is it “blasphemy” to paint the housing ? Since the current damage cannot just be cleaned off.
- does anyone have any experience doing so ? Tips and/or tricks ?- if painting (spraying) is accepted, what colors in your opinion would look interesting ?
I believe B&O themselves had painted some in red and other colors. If anything, I think a good paint job (spray paint) would improve the look over the standard grey industrial look. Go for it.
B&O in my life 😊:
look here as an example ....
https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/17911.aspx
https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/3691.aspx
https://archivedarchivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/3736.aspx
https://sound-affair.com/beolab-2-ferrari-red-carbon-fiber
https://www.gumtree.com/p/speakers/bang-olufsen-beolab-2-/1320539619
Thank you for your replies, I had a look : they all look pretty, one more special than the other one ;)
I cam across a painted one in “chrome”, like polished (resembles the BL8000 shiny housing), looked nice too ! Imagine the elbow grease that would go into polishing ... ;)
Is the housing cast aluminium ? Is there standard a coating or paint layer on it ? Looks like bare metal, but I can be wrong of course ...
here you can see a mirror finished case ....
http://timeless-av.co.uk/refurbishment/
Beovision 7 40 mk 5 ,beovision 6x3, beosound 3000, beogram 3300 , 2 x lc2, 2 x beocom 1401, beocom 6000 x 2, 5 x beo4,
, 4 x beolab 4's, form 2, h2, a2,a1 and a beolab 2 😀😀
I changed the topic title, since I decided to refurbish the beaten up Beolab 2 that I recently picked up.
I hesitated between painitng (spray paint) or sand it down and see what it gives, so I started sanding : 80 grit, 120, 240, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000. As from 500 grit I wet sanded.
After 2000 grit I used metal polishing cream, then 2 stages of Monello compound (car polish) with different pads.
You can still see some "battle scars" from its past, but I think it will look nice next to my Beolab 8000's (they need new covers, soon ... )
"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"
Thank you :)
It took me a good 20 hours of sanding, by hand. The hardest part is the 80 grit, the finer the grit, the easier it goes, and wet sanding is pretty satisfying, as you can see some shine coming through.
For the last steps (polishing compounds) I used a polishing machine and different pads (hard/soft)
Beautiful.
Did you manage to keep the Band Olufsen marking on the top or did it disappear with the sanding?
Thank you
I tried to keep them, but it was too difficult, so they went away. The idea is to put small printed "Bang & Olufsen" letters on it, I need to look where I can find someone who can.
What about oxidisation? I thought non-anodized aluminium was highly prone to oxidisation?