Veneering

[Bushbaby]

Hi All,
Now that I have my 'new' Bush VHF62 it is in need of a wee bit of restoration. Some of the veneering is need of some attention and it has made me think (especially with the superb work that Col does!) that at some point I would really like to be able to undertake patch veneering or perhaps in the future even marquetry.

Without going bonkers in terms of spending lots of dosh at this stage, has anyone has a real go at this and what sort of tools are the minimum that a beginner needs?

I have added a couple of pics (before you ask - I do think that it has been used as a guitar amp with the 1/4 socket) to show the sort of work that I need to do and I will post some 'patch' pics from a VHF64 shortly.

Regards

Rob

[attachment=964][attachment=963]

[Mark R]

Rob
just a strip back and polishing by the looks of that.

cheers Mark

[Joe]

If that were mine I'd set about it with a plastic pan-scrubber (or, even better, a bit of one of the pads that go on floor-polishing machines) with linseed oil on. This makes a sort of stain out of the dirt and whatever that's on the surface which will darken the light bits. Leave it for a few hours and then wipe the excess off and then wait for it to properly dry before waxing it. You'll be surprised how well it comes up and if it still isn't up to snuff you can always take a more radical approach.

[Retired]

Hi,

On face value I'd agree with Mark and strip back and re-finish but knowing you Rob I believe you want to go further and have a go at some veneering hence your references to patching and marquetry?

The veneer strip around the top would be easy enough to completely replace as a selection of pre-glued iron veneer strip is readily available. The edges of the top panel veneer look poor; is this just missing finish or is it actually damage to the face veneer?

I would initially strip right back using a freshly sharpened cabinet scraper then decide a plan of action. The top panel and top edge veneers look to be your main problem and if you want to experiment this cabinet would be an ideal candidate to learn veneering techniques on. The top veneer would be easy enough to replace as would the strip and the tools required are few and quite cheap.

I would use hot hide glue and this requires a double container for heating but the container can be home made costing nothing with a little thought. A veneering hammer could be home made. A new electric clothes iron costs very little from places like Argos. Craft knives are available from Poundland in packs of assorted sizes and I only used one of these knives to cut veneer for an entire TV cabinet. Veneer can be bought from eBay and it pays to surf eBay for best prices as they do vary.

Once you have the basic tool kit and become familiar with using it veneering is not expensive but very rewarding in personal satisfaction.

My veneering kit is shown in the picture. Cast iron traditional double glue pot £20 from eBay; electric clothes iron Challenge 1400W JOS around £5 a few years ago from Argos; cabinet scrapers; quite cheap; 1" paint brush for applying the glue, cheap; selection of craft knives £1 the lot from Poundland; veneering hammers home made from oak offcuts with brass blade, offcuts cost nothing brass strip for blade about £3. Plastic fridge scraper supplied with fridge costing nothing but used successfully for laying veneer before new hammers were made. The glue pot; cabinet scrapers and veneering hammers will last a lifetime.

The only other expense is the hide glue which is readily available and quite cheap and the new veneer which can range from cheap to very expensive for the exotics such as top quality burrs.

Veneering as with French polishing are very expensive to have done professionally and it is the labour which is the expensive part and I can fully understand the prices charged but working from home once the basic kit is obtained both become quite cheap and there is an immense amount of satisfaction in doing the job oneself once the techniques are learned.

For veneering and marquetry Rob please visit "you tube" as there are now many free excellent tutorial videos shown on the subjects.

Whatever you decide to do with the cabinet good luck and enjoy yourself.

Kind regards, Col.

[Bushbaby]

Hi All
Thanks for your valued replies.

Col,
Yes, I would like to reveneer to bindings as in some places the binding has been ripped off. Cabinet scrapers (eek!) are these easy to use, I would be frightened that I would gouge the surface??

Chris,
How much was the veneer cutter and are these easy to obtain?

Regards

Rob

[Yorkie]

Very interesting thread guys.

The veneer cutter looks a tempting project, and Colin's advice on cabinet scrapers is very sound. the veneer on radio cabinets is quite thin, and it's all too easy to cut right through it if using sandpaper, especially on bends and corners. The finish obtained with a cabinet scraper is incomparable, and the finest shaving are removed. Very satisfying to run your fingers over the smooth finish. Many people make the mistake of believing that several coats of varnish will cover any imperfections, but that simply isn't so.

With all the helpful advice you've had Rob, you'll have to launch forth with the cabinet, and post some pictures of the end result. We have high expectations

Best of luck!

David

[Bushbaby]

Hi David/Col/Chris,
Thanks you for your support and I do hope that i live up to your expectations. I'm probably going to work on a couple of other old woodies that i have that i consider I little less valuable that my VHF62 (having said that, I have great respect for all my radios given their age).

I'm currently working on a restoration of my very first ivory DAC90a (I know - yawn!!) which I shall post shortly.

Regards

Rob