[jayoungs]

Hello,

I'll apologize in advance for no pics to accompany this plea...

I have a cathedral that's, yet another, shipping casualty. The shipper didn't pack well and sent with the speaker in position. The grille was broken into a couple dozen pieces and a bulge in the very peak/curve of the top created where the speaker evidently came loose and impacted the inside of the top. I've rebuilt the grille, but the impact of the speaker to the top was enough to cause a 3" diameter bulge outward of the cabinet top & veneer with a line of splintering across the mid-section of the bulge. The impact didn't break all the way through or cause any pieces to break loose. The damaged spot is in the middle on the very top exterior, so the most curved portion of the top.

Any experts run into this and have suggestions on how to best repair? It appears the bulge could be clamped tightly and forced back into perfect position, but am positive it wouldn't stay flush without extra intervention. The finish on the cabinet is toast, so no worries about hurting the finish. So, have considered heating it with an iron, glueing the fracture and clamping really tight for a few days?? Any other suggestions?

[Steve Davis]

Jay, It's not too hard to replace the complete wraparound. I have done it on a couple of my cathedrals. I had a local lumber yard order a sheet of 1/8 inch Lauan plywood. Just take the cabinet apart and use the old piece as a pattern.
Steve

[jayoungs]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I had thought about re-wrapping completely and have done a couple in the past. The veneer on this cabinet,though, is in good physical condition except for this issue. I may have to resort to a full re-wrap, but hoping for a more targeted "fix" on just this spot if possible. I wasn't thrilled with results of my past re-wraps.

Since posting, I've had an idea of maybe using a Dremel w/thin cutting wheel to cut out the 3" damaged area (but of just the deck and not veneer) from inside the cabinet, repair it -- as well as repair the veneer still in place on the cabinet -- then replace the deck piece from underneath. May be impossible, and still would have to "soften" the glue to separate the pieces, but considering if no better alternative.

Any more thoughts/advice are appreciated.

Joe

[radiomikee]

Sadly this happens all too often, I'm afraid that eventually all the nice radios will end up damaged. Having been a restorer of "basket case" cathedrals for many years, I'd say you have a few options. First, you can try to salvage whats there already. One way to try initially would be to try to steam it back into shape. This may or may not work. Use a wet washcloth on the bulged area, and an iron on low to moderate heat----I usually try to stay on "Silk" or the first heat setting. Sometimes steaming it and then using a little dry heat allows you to shrink settle things back into place. If that doesn't work, I'd bite the bullet on re veneering the body after removing all the bulged parts, repairing with some veneer on the underside, veneer filling in the hole on top of the underside repair, then filling in with a wood patch material, then veneer over everything. If you want to be more adventurous ( I always am) remove the original veneers off the body without disturbing the underside. This is accomplished strictly mechanically with a wide chisel (1 and 1/2 to 2 inches wide), and gentle and repetitive prying, coaxing and cursing. It always works, go perpendicular to the line of grain of the top layer

Mike Schwartzman

[jayoungs]

Hey Mike,

Thank you for the advice. After a good bit of thought, I'm going to take the adventurous route and replace the veneer while leaving the original underside intact. By doing so, I can remove the veneer - repair the deck underneath - and then replace with a good veneer. I think the end result will look a lot better than patching. From my previous remove/re-wrap experience, I've got the cursing part down to a science. Now, I just need to work on my prying and coaxing!

Joe