06-05-2013, 07:45 AM
Arran, thanks for the advice. While working on other projects I go back to the 14 MX and stare at it, ponder it, try to understand as much as I can about the structure of the cabinet and the wood. The side panel cores are made of some light colored board, perhaps beech?. I'm not a wood expert. The inside veneer, painted dark brown, has came unglued about about halfway back from the rear edge...probably due to the cupping...on both sides so I can see the surface of the core wood about halfway back. It is a light color, can't tell what. I really want to keep as much original wood as possible so I think (for now) here's the approach I'll take when I'm ready.
I will strip/sand the mahogany veneer on the outside and moisten the wood. (I moisten the board on the CONCAVE side correct?) Re glue all the joints. Then I'll clamp it again, maybe putting some sort of braces on the inside just slightly longer than a perfect fit, side to side, in order to very slightly "over bow" the boards in order to compensate for whatever "spring back" I may get. Then let it set for several days. Even thought of putting some sort of low level heat source inside to warm things up a bit. Maybe a 100 watt lamp or something. Cover it with a blanket to keep the heat in possibly. As for the gaps in the seams where the sides join to the front, One side is gapped enough so that a piece of the old veneer will slip snugly into it. The other side is slightly tighter. If they don't close up with the above procedure I thought of 2 options so far. First if they get real close to being closed up, complete the re-finish and fill them with a colored wax stick. If I feel the gap is still too wide to look right, prior to applying finish, maybe I can slip glue covered pieces of old veneer into the seam, and carefully sand it to a proper pointed seam. (If all that makes sense?) I want to be able to do this stuff myself, but alas, my current cabinetry skills and tool inventory are about the kindergarden level right now. I can do a fair strip/refinish job and I have been getting better with patching chipped veneer, but this is new territory for me. Would wetting the outside veneer cause issues with the original hide glue underneath?
Again thanks to everyone.
I will strip/sand the mahogany veneer on the outside and moisten the wood. (I moisten the board on the CONCAVE side correct?) Re glue all the joints. Then I'll clamp it again, maybe putting some sort of braces on the inside just slightly longer than a perfect fit, side to side, in order to very slightly "over bow" the boards in order to compensate for whatever "spring back" I may get. Then let it set for several days. Even thought of putting some sort of low level heat source inside to warm things up a bit. Maybe a 100 watt lamp or something. Cover it with a blanket to keep the heat in possibly. As for the gaps in the seams where the sides join to the front, One side is gapped enough so that a piece of the old veneer will slip snugly into it. The other side is slightly tighter. If they don't close up with the above procedure I thought of 2 options so far. First if they get real close to being closed up, complete the re-finish and fill them with a colored wax stick. If I feel the gap is still too wide to look right, prior to applying finish, maybe I can slip glue covered pieces of old veneer into the seam, and carefully sand it to a proper pointed seam. (If all that makes sense?) I want to be able to do this stuff myself, but alas, my current cabinetry skills and tool inventory are about the kindergarden level right now. I can do a fair strip/refinish job and I have been getting better with patching chipped veneer, but this is new territory for me. Would wetting the outside veneer cause issues with the original hide glue underneath?
Again thanks to everyone.