How Do You Guys Deal with Veneer Issues?

[bobb]

Hi Guys,

It seems most of the less than perfect cylinder an disk machines always I run across always have some form of veneer issues with either the case or lid, depending on the model. Not knowing how to deal with veneer that's lifting or missing entirely I usually just put a little Old English Scratch Cover stain on and call it a day. That makes it look presentable from 10 feet away, but when you get up close you can see it's not a great solution.

So how do you guys deal with wood veneer issues? I'm not a woodworker by trade, but like most have built a cabinet or two and have access to a fairly nice woodshop. But I've never messed with veneers. Do you guys attempt this type of restoration yourself or do you know people who restore veneers? I would assume finding oak or mahogany veneer wouldn't be an issue and nor would cutting it perfectly square.....but the color matching is downright scary if you want the restoration to look vintage and not brand new.

You guys must run into this problem too, unless you only purchase pristine big buck machines....so what are your recommendations?

Thanks in advance,
bob

[Brad]

Bob,

If there are small chips missing, I usually will just color in the base to match the color as best I can. These small areas tend to disappear to the eye. (I personally prefer the look of some age to my machines).

For replacing larger pieces, you will have your best luck if you can harvest some veneer from the same piece, usually from the back of the cabinet where it will not be seen.

For the case of loose veneer, you will need to reglue. I would recommend hyde glue (available in a bottle these days). You will need to apply even and consistent clamping pressure which may require you to fashion a jig. Search for a thread of a Herzog cabinet restoration on this board. You will see there was extensive veneer issues. I did not need to harvest any veneer for replacement, but there are several small missing divits that, as the pictures show, a difficult to detect. Careful regluing with good clamping yielding pretty good results.

There are many sources of how too veneer repair available. I think the key here is when to replace and how to color match. Utilizing material from the target cabinet will provide your best chance of color matching.

[frenchmarky]

So far I've only done one veneer replacement on a Victor XXI and the lid top on my vv-210, went pretty smoothly and match very well. Truthfully, veneer replacement is probably the only woodworking stuff I'd ever actually be any good at! The lid was easy to shave/sand the outer edges down to meet the wood under it. I don't think I'd ever be able to do a decent veneer repair of one that had some obvious problems so I've always opted to replace it.

[squeeker7]

[I've done a few pieces requiring re-veneering. Did the sides and top of a C-250 which turned out very nice, and other smaller machines. I just removed the veneer on the top of a B-19 I bought. It had large pieces missing. First I used a rasp plane and took roughed up the factory top coat, soaked a heavy towel in water and placed it on top of the lid for 2 days. The veneer and substrate it was part of all came off as one piece. All I need to do is some minor sanding and lay the new stuff on. I use 1/16" wood backed veneer from Bob Morgans catalog.

For small veneer chips I usually fashion a plug from some old veneer, trim it to fit, then use a Burn-in kit with lacquer sticks to make it virtually invisable. On repairs to non-veneered parts I use wood filler, prepare a lacquer/dye tinted mixture and air brush it on the repair.- very very hard to see once the dye tinted shellac and lacquer top coats are sprayed on, sanded and hand rubbed.

[edisonfan64]

Veneer issues well if its repairable I use professional cabnit glue and use wax paper & wood and good clamps to hold it down.
I did over an Amberola 30 . PS Ill post pics to this as soon as I locate them.
from will

[Zeppy]

I have dealt with veneer issues in the past, with mixed results. I've had more problems with oak than mahagony. Matching the color and grain of oak is just more difficult in my book, particularly if you don't have vintage veneer (new veneer just won't take stain the same way). One little trick I was taught was to avoid making perfect square patches. Avoiding straight lines when cutting a patch will make it less obvious. Another thing someone mentioned on this board, when patching mahagony, you can always use a little paint (I believe I've used burnt umber) to hide some of the edges of the patch. It can be made to appear dark area of the grain.

The final issue is if you're not refinishing the whole machine, you have to shellac the patch, and some of the original, and try to sand it to blend with the rest of the machine. Thus far, the machines I've had to patch have been so far gone the whole machine needed to be restored, so I haven't had the problem...but I can see just a small patch taking a delicate hand to lightly finish, sand and blend to not be noticeable.