Help with torn cone

[mdelrossi]

I will cross post this in the full range forum as well

Ok, I was lucky enough to come across an old Scott radio console complete with radio and speaker ( the phonograph was replaced).I took out the radio and speaker to get the cabinet into my crv. i placed the radio and speaker into the car and promptly hit a bump in the road.
Not till the next day did I realize I really messed up and put a hole in the cone.
I feel like an a$$ the speaker is an Altec 604 Duplex from 1946 and was in perfect condition. Damn. I searched the web and came up with a few possible ideas
get it re-coned
http://www.thespeakershop.com/home/speakerrepair.html
or
http://greatplainsaudio.com/
The other idea would be to repair it my self with tissue paper and glue.
what should I do all constructive suggestions welcome I feel horrible enough as it is.
Here are a few photos of the victim

[pinkmouse]

What a pain! That looks like a fascinating driver

Can you get to the back of the cone where the dent is? If so, you could try a little steam and pressure to iron out the creases, then if if the paper knits back together well, just apply a little resin based varnish, (nail varnish works well) over the tears and creases to hold them together in use. You don't want to use anything thin or water based, as it will soak through to the front and mar the appearance.

[poobah]

Second PM on the nail varnish.

Another thing you can use is "silkspan" and dope from a model airplane shop. Silkspan is a very thin tissue made from... well, silk. If you tear a round patch, instead of cutting, you can create a nearly invisible repair. you could even purchase white & black dope to mix a dark grey. To this day these are still very strong and light materials.

Whichever way... follow PM's tips and then tape one side with SCOTCH tape... repair the other.

[sreten]

Hi,

Not as cosmetically pleasing, but PVA wood glue will fix it easily,
and the whole process is slower / more flexible than nail varnish.

Done correctly it works very well, I've not tried an "invisible" repair.

/sreten.

[Klimon]

Wood glue works very well (just don't use the kind that expands but classic milky PVA)... I would be surprised if there are any alternatives that do succeed in camouflaging the former dent/ hole.

Simon

[Scottmoose]

Good suggestions all. Personally though, I'd look into getting it re-coned. There are a few people out there who can do a stunning job, using original materials, and this is a driver that's worth spending the money on IMO.

[mdelrossi]

Thanks to all that replied.
Pinkmouse sorry for cross posting but I just wanted to get as many eyes on this as possible.
Thanks for closing the other thread and pointing to this one.
I think I'll go to a hobby store and get some of that silk and glue from behind for now.
On a side note the Crossover says 20 ohms.
How can I incorporate it into an HT setup as the Center speaker?
add a resistor to lower the resistance to 8 ohms, or will my Yamaha 2600 receiver be able to handle the 20 ohms?
Thanks to all for your help.
mdr

[moray james]

not to worry about the 20 ohm impedance. The higher value will actually make your amp happier. While you will get a reduction in available current into a higher impedance load the driver is very high efficiency and you will only need a few watts to make the Altec sing loud and clear. So at the end of the day it will not be an issue at all.
As an aside you should check into the T/S data for this driver as I suspect that the Qts will probably be upwards of 1.0 which would mean that you would have the option of running it in an open baffle which would sound very good (zero box colorations). Regards Moray James.

[tom1356]

Let me know if you would rather sell it than fix it.
Regards
Tom

[Zen Mod]

milky wood glue ,and little patch of Gauze underneath (from bottom side of cone) as armature.
after some time you'll even forget that cone is ever damaged;
reconing that is same as changing engine in 911 because one spark plug is dead