Speaker Cone Dye

[FrankRoss]

I have rather aged woofers that still are in excellent condition, but over the years extreme fading has occured.

If I wanted to dye or color the paper woofer cone, what is recommended?

I know that it will probably alter the sound, but how much would it do so?

What do the manufacturers use in production before they're put on the showroom floor?

[Timn8ter]

Surely someone has had to do this and I'm very interested to know also. I'm thinking that Dammar is used quite often to tame paper cones and that it usually takes several coats to have an effect. What if Dammar, turpentine and a few drops of dark pigment were used? Or maybe just highly thinned paint?

[pinkmouse]

I suspect that the material is coloured during production, before shaping. The problem is that spirit based dyes may destroy adhesives used in cone construction, and water based dyes may damage the paper cone structure...

Hmm, let me think...

[kelticwizard]

There are places that paint cones with DayGlo type paint for customers. However, I have not come across any type paint recommended for painting cones.

Perhaps this is not surprising, since there are so many cone material types and treatments that what works for one type might be disaster for another.

Planet 10 has reported success treating his cones with a coat of Puzlzecoat, a product with which I am unfamiliar. However, I get the impression that Puzzlecoat is in essence yellow carpenter's glue thinned with water slightly.

If yiou are determined to do this, I would get that Puzzlecoat if available, or thin some carpenter's glue. After it dries, I would apply some water based paint. The dried Puzzlecoat/thinned carpenter's glue should shield the woofer paper from the paint.

Under no circumstances should you take this as a safe go-ahead to do this. I have never tried this. But if I was bound and determined to paint my speakers, I would feel that this was the method most likely to yield success.

[sreten]

For faded paper the easiest material to use is a bit of
black shoe polish or similar - very minor effect.

I did this on my very vintage 15W valve bass combo dusty
looking Alnico 15" driver, came up looking a treat.
I used black car paint on the faded black open weave grill.

Any coating, even clear will make the cone look darker,
a thin spray on flexible varnish is an option. Or a thin
layer of black car paint. For both cases keep the layers thin.

Stencil off the surround if rubber/PVC or treated and
find a tube to mask off the dust cap if its the open cell
type.

sreten.

[Lusso5]

Originally posted by sreten

Any coating, even clear will make the cone look darker,

I can attest to the above statement. I've used ModgePodge, which dries clear, and it will darken a shade or two.

I think acid-free inks, combined with ModgePodge would work well for adding color.

I bought a bunch of the 0.87 cent 4" drivers from PE for experiments. I plan on doing various coating experiments on some of them: dyes, inks, gold/silver leaf and other mettalics, etc.

[Timn8ter]

I get the impression that Puzzlecoat is in essence yellow carpenter's glue thinned with water slightly.

I've been told that thinned Weldbond is perhaps the best.

[ThomasW]

THIS might be what you're looking for.........

[Timn8ter]

Seems like the "protective coat of armor" would change the tonality of the cone. Good or bad?

[ThomasW]

Adding anything to the cone will change some of the T/S parameters. These include; but are not limited to, increasing the Ms, lowering the Fs, and lowering the efficiency. The impact of the changes depend on the amount of the material applied.