Serves me right for not paying enough attention! I think I read some comments here recently about softening up stiff and brittle speaker cones. So of course this month I have two stiff ones staring me in the face! Did someone here say Neatsfoot Oil is good for paper speaker cones?

Daniel: Go to the search button at the top of the page and you can find the postings about this. Thomas Dermody was talking about the use of NEatfoot oil. Here is one posting of his:
http://www.nostalgiaair.org/forums/messages/194/m0089194.htm

You can copy and paste it to your browser. Mark from Kalamazoo

Thanks very much Mmakazoo,

Next time I'll pay more attention.

:Daniel: Go to the search button at the top of the page and you can find the postings about this. Thomas Dermody was talking about the use of NEatfoot oil. Here is one posting of his:
:http://www.nostalgiaair.org/forums/messages/194/m0089194.htm
:
:You can copy and paste it to your browser. Mark from Kalamazoo
:

I cannot guarantee results, but so far it's the best method of softening brittle paper in a long-lasting way that I have come up with. One speaker I own, which is from my DeWald BT-100 television, I treated quite a while ago. When first treated the detergent softens it greatly, but then, once that dries, it becomes more rigid, say, in a few days. ...But as time goes on it softens a bit in a more permanent way. I can now gently push against the corrugated edge and it doesn't crack as easily as it once did. Hopefully at some point it'll become softer still, though it sounds fine as-is. Other speakers I have softened up even more nicely in the long-term.

I may experiment with other agents in the future.

While various glues may strengthen the cone, they add weight to it, which is why I opted for this option. The oil adds very little weight to the paper, and improves its flexibility, where-as the glue stiffens the cone. In the past, however, I would coat brittle cones with a very thin mixture of flexible craft glue, which prevented cracking, but didn't necessarily make the cone more flexible. If thinned enough, the glue will soak deep into the paper, but, again, it will not make the paper more flexible.

T.