07-06-2017, 10:36 PM
Progress report...
Front panel stripped
Interesting that the center strip (which is opaque black) is so much lighter. Maybe the wood got stained from the grain filler? Or chalk it up to wood darkening with exposure to light?
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4096/3572...f51b_z.jpg]
Side veneer removed
Boy this took a lot more effort than I thought given that the veneer was lifting so badly to begin with. I tried a few different techniques:
The heat gun and steam cleaner on their own didn't have much effect. And I found it way too easy to gouge the structural wood underneath with the chisel. I've seen that Fred Taylor uses a chisel to remove veneer - but I readily concede that his chisel skills (and maybe his chisel) are infinitely better than mine.
In the end the clothes iron worked best for me. I put a damp cloth on the veneer and the clothes iron on top of that, set to high. After letting the iron steam on it for 30sec or so I was able to lift it with a scraper. The veneer won't be reused so I didn't have to worry about damaging it further. The iron is a bit the worse for wear though - got pretty dirty even with the cloth.
It turned out that where the veneer had been later reglued that glue would only budge with heat. I was able to pry off the veneer and then used a scraper and the heat gun to remove glue as much as I could.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4290/3559...bcb2_z.jpg]
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4008/3576...e52e_z.jpg]
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4261/3559...b07b_z.jpg]
New veneer
I'm now tracking down replacement veneer. Based on this earlier thread on the 14MX, the ad copy describes it as mahogany.
I initially tried ordering from Contantine's - but they were out of stock with no estimate from their supplier. This has happened to me several times when trying to order veneer from them - some types of veneer are out of stock seemingly indefinitely yet they still list them on the website.
Front panel stripped
Interesting that the center strip (which is opaque black) is so much lighter. Maybe the wood got stained from the grain filler? Or chalk it up to wood darkening with exposure to light?
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4096/3572...f51b_z.jpg]
Side veneer removed
Boy this took a lot more effort than I thought given that the veneer was lifting so badly to begin with. I tried a few different techniques:
- heat gun
- steam cleaner
- chisel
- clothes iron
The heat gun and steam cleaner on their own didn't have much effect. And I found it way too easy to gouge the structural wood underneath with the chisel. I've seen that Fred Taylor uses a chisel to remove veneer - but I readily concede that his chisel skills (and maybe his chisel) are infinitely better than mine.
In the end the clothes iron worked best for me. I put a damp cloth on the veneer and the clothes iron on top of that, set to high. After letting the iron steam on it for 30sec or so I was able to lift it with a scraper. The veneer won't be reused so I didn't have to worry about damaging it further. The iron is a bit the worse for wear though - got pretty dirty even with the cloth.
It turned out that where the veneer had been later reglued that glue would only budge with heat. I was able to pry off the veneer and then used a scraper and the heat gun to remove glue as much as I could.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4290/3559...bcb2_z.jpg]
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4008/3576...e52e_z.jpg]
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4261/3559...b07b_z.jpg]
New veneer
I'm now tracking down replacement veneer. Based on this earlier thread on the 14MX, the ad copy describes it as mahogany.
I initially tried ordering from Contantine's - but they were out of stock with no estimate from their supplier. This has happened to me several times when trying to order veneer from them - some types of veneer are out of stock seemingly indefinitely yet they still list them on the website.
