Lifted veneer

[MordEth]

I've actually got a can of granules here, but I think it's from the 1950's or 60's. It looks alright, but I doubt it would be any good now.

I assume that hide glue has an expiration date, then? (Out of curiosity, having never used it, how long does it usually keep?)

I’ve mostly used more ‘modern’ glues, where the only concern is it drying up on you, usually after it’s half-used.

— MordEth

[maginter]

I had heard that you can remove vaneer by using a hot iron to melt the glue and then lift it. Could I use this technique to melt the glue on the lifted part then weight it down until cooled?

RJ -

APPLY NO HEAT TO THE VENEER!!!! This will damage the finish and it will never be right. Do not use white, yellow or super glues to make the repair. White and yellow glus will result in addition veneer lifting around the repaired area. Super glues are not permenant and will eventually break down. There is a product I use in my woodworking business that is absolutle geat for this application. I use it for all my furniture restorations. It is made by Titebond and it is a Liquid Hide Glue. Here is the weblink.

http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB.ASP ... ?prodcat=1

Pull down to the "Liquid Hide Glue" and click.

It is inexpensive and you won't be disappointed. On a repair like what you are describing I inject the glue into the repair area after I have removed the dust and debris from the repair area. Press the repair area with your finger to get good coverage of the glue. What ozzes out wipe off with a paper towel saturated with warm water. DOn't get the surface to wet, but you want to remove as much of the glue that has ozzed out to make clean up easier later. Then tak a pice of wax paper and weigh or clamp the repair. After the repair is dry remove the clamping, remove the wax paper and clean glue residue with a paper towel saturated with warm water. Work the area gently as to not reflow the glue or rub through the finish.

[larryh]

You can purchase Hide Glue in a container like Elmers or something comes in. Its made to set very slowing where the others grabs instantly and your done. But for a repair like this where you want to weight it down or clamp it down, then the pre melted version will work without the drawbacks of the vinyl glues.
I would be very cautious of ironing over the old finish. Only a tiny bit too much heat might leave you with marks in the finish. I fixed veneer by lifting gently with something thin like a small screw driver or kitchen table knife, then carefully running a thin object such as the knife with some glue on the blade under the veneer to try and get it as evenly under the surface as possible. After that I either clamp it tight if its near an edge using a flat board to press it evenly down, or if is not where a clamp will work I lay the board on it put very heavy objects on it to hold it secure till it dies well. If you find and use the liquid hide glue it is very slow to dry, so read the full instructions first.
After it is pressed in place take a lightly damp cloth and carefully remove any glue that has squeezed out from under the veneer. I wouldn't take the veneer off unless it is already tone free. I had a strip along the edge of my London Edison Console that was torn mostly off about two inches in to the cabinet lid. Try as I might I couldn't get the place where the veneer was pieced not to show as a raised bumpy area. If I were going to redo the whole top, which it wasn't worth to me, I would have refinished and sanded smooth the whole thing and re stained. That would have hidden it pretty well. As it was I opted to draw about a three inch border around the whole lid and sanded the area where the cracks were flat and filled with very fine body filler till smooth. Then I painted the whole top edge with a semi gloss black. It actually adds a bit of interest to an otherwise dull cabinet.

good luck
Larry

[richardh]

Thanks guys for all this advice. I though I might get one response on this if I was lucky but this has turned out to be great. I will look into the gluing and clamping solution as I really dont want to do any damage to the finish. I'll post a picture of the lifted area so that you can see what i'm dealing with here.

Thanks again

RJ

[saxymojo]

I had heard that you can remove vaneer by using a hot iron to melt the glue and then lift it. Could I use this technique to melt the glue on the lifted part then weight it down until cooled?

RJ -

APPLY NO HEAT TO THE VENEER!!!! This will damage the finish and it will never be right. Do not use white, yellow or super glues to make the repair. White and yellow glus will result in addition veneer lifting around the repaired area. Super glues are not permenant and will eventually break down. There is a product I use in my woodworking business that is absolutle geat for this application. I use it for all my furniture restorations. It is made by Titebond and it is a Liquid Hide Glue. Here is the weblink.

http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB.ASP ... ?prodcat=1

Pull down to the "Liquid Hide Glue" and click.

This is the one I use when I only need a small amount.

Shane, your hide glue should be ok if it has been sealed and stored in a cool dry place.

Marcel

[RJSoftware]

When you want to minimize damage to veneer that is lifting in center (maybe forming a bubble) you use a razor and slit a small slit with the grain.

The hypodermic syringe I have is really a meat flavor injector that happened to have a large metal needle tip.

Inject it in the razor slit and work the glue arround underneath by pressing the veneer. Then when happy, put a heavy object on it (use wax or celophane as suggested so it don't stick when dry).

In an hour or so, then take weight off and wipe residual clean with warm damp cloth.

On mine, I flatten the metal needle with a hammer just enough to make it thin and yet it still passes fluids. I use this on clocks with thinner much more delicate veneer.

After I'm done injecting I wash the needle out by drawing and expelling water a few times.

Your hide glue if dry is perfectly acceptable. Trust me you'll like the results if you follow my directions.

Note: I will have to find the link on different grades of hide glue.

RAJ

[Guest]

Hi all,
To add another element to this topic-I use a heat gun in my art restoring field and have found that I can use thsi gun to help lift pannels as well as to reactivate the glue. I use the low heat setting and keep the gun moving over either the pannel or the repair area I test the area with my hand and when it gets to feel like it will burn my fingers its ready to press down. I use a lint free cloth to do this. I have done 2 cabinets and worked on hundreds of frames and have not hurt the finish.
For general use you can get a heat gun at Home Depot that will do the trick and it is not expensive. Go so and keep the gun moving

Abe