Up/Re Secondlifeing

[Joeboy]

My old hifi broke last month. CD player wouldn't any more and advised that it is beyond economical repair. The fm tuner is fine so it will become a garage system for Classic fm.

Went online and found a nice wee vintage Onkyo combined unit (amp, radio, receiver, cd). Hooked it up to my old speakers and it's great but a little overbright. This gave me the chance to buy a set of Teak bookshelf Bang & Olufsen speakers from my birth year (69).

I enjoyed the process and during it the thought arrived as to how I try to secondlife EVERYTHING in the true Wombles style, especially the incoming. This set of 54 year old speakers is my best to date.

Hand-built in Denmark in 69 and still in use today., I love that idea. Anyway that's me for today in my Womble life, you?

[Moxi]

I was built in 69 too and I bloody well hope I am still in use for at least another 54 years!

that said 1969 was clearly a classic year for good things

Moxi

[Bugtownboy]

Think we’ve second life’s the majority of stuff we’ve got

Quite a bit of the kitchen is Iroko lab benching from my last workplace. They were 1940’s

We bought a job lot of ‘African Teak’ that came from the stables of a minor royals stately home. Been used for decking, shelving, furniture. Any of the offcuts burn like stink.

Still got 2m3 ish left - projects already identified.

Bought bedroom furniture contemporaneous to the house (1929) - quarter sawn Walnut veneer. Beautiful. Still have the original bill of sale. Sad thing, cost less than the IKEA equivalents.

DS is a drummer - he’s into vintage percussion stuff. We used to buy and renovate - some of the drums from the 1930’s (he has several) are far better (if you get a good one) than a modern equivalent.

Some reckon it’s the old growth Maple that was used in their construction.

List goes on - I do think a lot of quality stuff from ‘before’ is still better than modern equivalents. It’s well worth considering reusing from an aesthetic and environmental perspective as well as financial.

[richbee]

I was built in 69 too and I bloody well hope I am still in use for at least another 54 years!

that said 1969 was clearly a classic year for good things

Moxi

Hear hear - definitely a good year '69

[Joeboy]

I was built in 69 too and I bloody well hope I am still in use for at least another 54 years!

that said 1969 was clearly a classic year for good things

Moxi

U2 eh? I'll post a photo of the speakers next week. I've been promising myself B&O for years. Looking forward to oiling my speakers.

The second life upcycle idea is insidious. It permeates everything in our life. Plus the gear you can find can be really, really cool.

We found a pine chest of drawers last week from around 1860. I'll be working on it next week. They are damaged on two drawers but have another century in them! Cost a tenner and 100 miles in EV. Sold the current pine top and front either faux sides for £40.

[Moxi]

My favourite place for reuse and rescue (other than a skip) is good old freecycle - its been great for getting stuff I didn't know I needed and for getting a new loving home for stuff we no longer require, with babies and toddlers in the house that does equate to an awful lot of gear.

Later this year I need to use a low pressure high volume paint sprayer which I got from Freecycle to paint the upstairs solid pine doors (4 off) as SWMBO has a feeling that white doors would be nice and I tend to agree although I also kind of fancy thyme green or duck egg blue but before I shell out (get it ? shell - duck egg ?? ) for shades I will give white a go.

Got the sheets for an outside spray "booth" and on a calm day it will be a case of set up outside, remove a door, spray, dry, final coat dry, re hang

If it goes well I can then consider using it for painting sections of the exterior walls of the cottage as traditionally with a brush that's a week long 12 hour day type of job so if I can eat in to the bulk of the gable ends with a sprayer and just paint the edges "so to speak" that would be a massive win.

Moxi

[Mr Gus]

If the speakers are really old, & have been exposed to sun / fag smoke etc, then the grilles, if not perma-fixed & with front fascia grommets will probably scare the hell out of you.. I used to come across this on archival age speakers that people banged on about, behind the grille the foam surround for the foped paper cones had tuned to dust / flaked away, the speaker still worked (ish) if the ferrofluid coil was still centred but lets just say the owners felt a bit daft (I was gentle) when I told them what had been found.

Ditto rubber, light & fags, bad ju-ju over time, likely the glue could have come unstuck to a degree or altogether after 20+ years ..if not a bit of feed delicately applied with the lightest of touches.

& yes, i've seen mould on the inside of speakers (if it's on the grilles it is likely inside too) just be aware.

If the speakers have been treated well, carry on, so many folk just turn a wooden veneer speaker & scape its underside, all counts with vintage kit value & perception, a bit of felt underneath may keep them pristine. B&) obviously have a following, some of it deserved, (before they got really lazy with plastic BS zeppelins for instance)

I was a big proponent for aerogel cones in 90's speaker design, ..I remember talking to one of our guys about how they were holding up, chassis etc, ..funnily enough I thought of him this morning & looked him up on youtube, ..extolling the virtue of aerogel cones in his partnered Hi-fi brand based up in Lanarkshire.

[Joeboy]

My favourite place for reuse and rescue (other than a skip) is good old freecycle - its been great for getting stuff I didn't know I needed and for getting a new loving home for stuff we no longer require, with babies and toddlers in the house that does equate to an awful lot of gear.

Later this year I need to use a low pressure high volume paint sprayer which I got from Freecycle to paint the upstairs solid pine doors (4 off) as SWMBO has a feeling that white doors would be nice and I tend to agree although I also kind of fancy thyme green or duck egg blue but before I shell out (get it ? shell - duck egg ?? ) for shades I will give white a go.

Got the sheets for an outside spray "booth" and on a calm day it will be a case of set up outside, remove a door, spray, dry, final coat dry, re hang

If it goes well I can then consider using it for painting sections of the exterior walls of the cottage as traditionally with a brush that's a week long 12 hour day type of job so if I can eat in to the bulk of the gable ends with a sprayer and just paint the edges "so to speak" that would be a massive win.

Moxi

We have went white doors in a couple of rentals. It looks good. One set I got away with foam roller and white eggshell. Spraying sounds better!

[Joeboy]

If the speakers are really old, & have been exposed to sun / fag smoke etc, then the grilles, if not perma-fixed & with front fascia grommets will probably scare the hell out of you.. I used to come across this on archival age speakers that people banged on about, behind the grille the foam surround for the foped paper cones had tuned to dust / flaked away, the speaker still worked (ish) if the ferrofluid coil was still centred but lets just say the owners felt a bit daft (I was gentle) when I told them what had been found.

Ditto rubber, light & fags, bad ju-ju over time, likely the glue could have come unstuck to a degree or altogether after 20+ years ..if not a bit of feed delicately applied with the lightest of touches.

& yes, i've seen mould on the inside of speakers (if it's on the grilles it is likely inside too) just be aware.

If the speakers have been treated well, carry on, so many folk just turn a wooden veneer speaker & scape its underside, all counts with vintage kit value & perception, a bit of felt underneath may keep them pristine. B&) obviously have a following, some of it deserved, (before they got really lazy with plastic BS zeppelins for instance)

I was a big proponent for aerogel cones in 90's speaker design, ..I remember talking to one of our guys about how they were holding up, chassis etc, ..funnily enough I thought of him this morning & looked him up on youtube, ..extolling the virtue of aerogel cones in his partnered Hi-fi brand based up in Lanarkshire.

Fortunately these are in good condition as are the grills. Hopefully just isolate them on the bottom. They won't be hard worked!

[nowty]

SWMBO has been hassling me for ages to buy some sort of moveable base for her laptop so she can watch stuff lying on the bed. She was using a chair with a box on it and everything I looked at she did not like or it was not the right dimensions as it has to fit under her dressing table.

She has a good eye for things in charity shops, and she found this,

100 year old oak sewing box on wheels and not a scratch on it. Perfect height and size for her laptop, plenty of space inside for her makeup and a low profile pull out drawer for her fashion accessories.