[dconant]

Hello, This is my first post about cabinet repair. I have a 37-116 with some bad spots that I am not sure what to do about them. The veneer is rough in the shown areas. My goal is to strip/sand the original finish. How would I go about repairing the damage?

Thanks,
Dan

[klondike98]

First, there are folks more skilled than I am that may have other opinions but for what it’s worth…

Repair of cracked veneer on a curved surface is difficult. One option, the one that gives the best look, is to remove it and put in a new piece. In this case that’s even more challenging because of the two strips of inlay.

I would probably try to repair by ensuring any lifting veneer is glued back down and then I’d try filling cracks with wax sticks or some wood filler. This approach then has the challenge of staining or toning the repair to match the surrounding area (it rarely will.)

A third approach, also one that I have taken at times, again ensure lifted veneer is glued back down and then leave as is. After you refinish, the cracked areas will remain but may not be a prominent as before.

[dconant]

The wood filler idea does not work worth a crap when it comes to staining. I filled in a few spots on another radio and then stained the whole cabinet. The filler stuck out a sore thumb. At least it was in a spot not too obvious. I am terrible at veneer patching so that is a no go here. The other side of the cabinet is the same way. I might try the crayon idea but will wait for others to chime in.

Dan

[RodB]

The way it is cracked, all up and down the corner, suggests the veneer has been in a dry environment for a very long time or alternately dry and not so dry. This causes the veneer to move, but the glue wants to hold it in place. I'm not an expert, and others can chime in, but I think if you can remove the veneer from the corner, work on the repairs, then glue it back you might have a decent result. It looks like it has released from the glue at the top, so maybe some steam might make the rest of it loose enough to remove it. Some people will just re-glue the loose area then fill in the gaps, sand down the cracks and refinish. All depends on how you want it to look and how much work it takes to get there. How to clamp a curved surface is another question.

[klondike98]

Yep, there is no question that the wood filler stains a different color than the surrounding wood. You can try toning lacquer rather than stain. I’ve had better luck with that and toner was what was used back in the day for the most part for coloring the cabinets.

[dconant]

That was my thinking on why the splits. I had to remove some old badly damaged (water) from a cathedral (91) with bookend veneer. There was a split at the top of the cabinet so I covered the split with the new veneer just a bit. Sun got to it and the veneer separated. Put a wet sponge on split and the crack closed up. Still a tiny bit of cracking but nothing real noticeable. In hind sight I should not have covered the split. Big mistake.

Dan

[poulsbobill]

In cases I've had like this i just clean the cracks out and get them close to the veneer color. (Stain or dye to darken maybe in that one upper crack that is the largest and try to lighten that upper crack on the other side) Then i would lay the radio on its side and fill the cracks with gloss lacquer with a small brush until they were filled ( many coats, the lacquer will shrink considerably) . You are trying to just fill the cracks in and not the surrounding veneer. Sand etc and then a top coat and call it good. You will be surprised at how good this looks...imo. The eye will pass over the "imperfections" as they are no longer lower than the rest of the finish and keeps the radios character.

Bill

[Arran]

It looks to me like the structure under the veneer may have expanded from humidity cracking the veneer on the surface. What is interesting is that it didn't crack so much on the curved part, because that is where the wood is normally under the most tension, it seems to be a common fault for these cabinets to do that on the curve above the control panel. In the photos it looks like someone may have had a go at refinishing the cabinet before as it's looks matte and the original finish was glossy like a piano. I think that no matter what you do the original veneer is going to crack again, exposing any fills you may make, the only permanent fix is to replace it, the top section with the bands is stump walnut, the bands are zebra wood, and the part bellow is quarter cut French walnut. The easiest option would probably be to find an empty cabinet without this problem, other then maybe Russ not too many of us would attempt to re-veneer those corners sections ourselves.
Regards
Arran