Replacing a Missing Section of a Credenza Grille (Part 1)

[Cody K]

When I got my Credenza, it had a few problems, including a broken grille. It came with what I thought were all the pieces in a ziploc bag. Nuh-uh. One little piece was missing, doggone it.

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I could look for a whole new grille (in fact I did that, and found one, but the guy sold it the day before I was supposed to pick it up to someone who paid him ten dollars more...but that's another story). The break was pretty clean, so I figured I'd repair it.

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I took photos of the process, thinking I'd share them here in case they might help someone who has to make a similar repair.

Take a block of modelling clay -- the non-drying, sort of waxy kind, and square it off with a cleaver to approximately the thickness of a 2x4 (or whatever you'll be using as blocks to raise the grille during repair). The thicker you leave your block of clay, the less likely it will be to twist or bend while in use. Don't use the "good" cleaver -- you'll get in trouble!

With the grille frame up on blocks, press the existing, matching piece that you need to copy flush with the surface of the clay. I used the blade of the cleaver with a fair amount of pressure from the heel of my hand to assure a flat surface.

Turn the grille over onto a flat surface, and lift the clay from the section you're copying. This should leave you with a crisply-defined mould for the replacement section.

Take a roll of epoxy filler, cut off the amount you'll need to fill your mould, and knead it thoroughly as per the manufacturer's directions.

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With the grille up on blocks, arrange the existing, corresponding pieces so that they fit tightly into the ends of your mould. Use a straight edge to be sure that your lines are true, as they can't easily be corrected once the epoxy has set.

Press the epoxy firmly into the mould, taking care to be sure that it's meeting the ends of broken wood quite strongly, since the durability of the repair will depend on this.

Shave off any extra epoxy with the blade of the cleaver.

This will leave you a nice, flush surface on the backside of the repair, and it will also make it easier to unmould.

Let the epoxy set for an hour, or according to the manufacturer's directions.

[Continued in Part 2 due to limit of ten attachments per post...http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =7&t=16245]