Speaker grilles

[Biskit]

I'm currently looking at having some new front grilles fabricated for my Meyer UPA-1As and USWs. The originals are plastic (LDPE) coated and this has got chipped and has gone sticky over the years. They also have velcro attached for fitting of foam (which won't be going back on) and trying to remove the velcro has made even more of a mess of the plastic coating... anyway it turns out that stripping off this old coating to have them re-done is very difficult, so I have obtained a price for new ones to be made.

 

My dilemma now, though, is whether to have the new ones plastic coated, probably in Nylon which apparently is a bit harder wearing than LDPE, or whether to just paint them. The latter option would make future touching-up much easier, but wouldn't be as hard wearing from the start. Any comments/suggestions one way or the other? The plastic coating isn't expensive so cost isn't really a factor.

[Chappie]

It wouldn't cost very much to have them sand blasted and then powder-coated, which would look smart and be hard wearing. The modern UPA/ USW grills have a mesh on the inside, rather than foam on the outside, which you might be able to replicate if you wanted. Meyer also sell modern grill upgrade kits, if you wanted an easy (but more expensive) option.

[Biskit]

It wouldn't cost very much to have them sand blasted and then powder-coated, which would look smart and be hard wearing. The modern UPA/ USW grills have a mesh on the inside, rather than foam on the outside, which you might be able to replicate if you wanted. Meyer also sell modern grill upgrade kits, if you wanted an easy (but more expensive) option.

Thanks for the reply, powder coating had just occurred to me too, that would probably be the best option on reflection. I've seen the current UPA-1P with the mesh inside but I think this could be difficult to replicate neatly. I'd initially discussed like-for-like replacements with the fabricator, but I am going to change the design slightly so it is 20mm wider (removing the allowance for the foam to wrap round each side) and probably also a slightly different grille pattern which I think will look better overall.

[Dave m]

Every powder coated will also sand blast

[Jivemaster]

When you find a powder coating company, expect them to have a surface preparation plant too -quality of finish is related to quality of surface preparation.

[LIGWA]

hi did you get grills sorted or powder coated?

[Biskit]

hi did you get grills sorted or powder coated?

Hi,

Things got delayed as I decided to change the design slightly to be more similar to the current UPA-1P type (with seperate brackets fixed to the speaker front, and countersunk screws top and bottom to secure the grille itself, rather than the original one-piece design which needed large holes in the front for the fixing screws), currently waiting for a prototype from the fabricator to check for fit. My intention is for them to be powder coated.