Re-veneer A25 cabin door

[kerrye]

Veneer on the bow cabin door was pretty beat up after 43 yrs. It was exacerbated by the fact there was a vertical joint in the veener, but even if it had been a single piece the edges were damaged enough that re-veneering would have been the best option. I originally tried removing the worst pieces, staining and poly'ing but it didn't look good. Removed door and all the hardware, pried up all the loose veneer with a razor blade. Filled in all the voids with Bondo wood filler from Home Depot ($13. Working life about 5 minutes. Dries to sand in about 15 minutes) Sanded and then applied the veneer which I ordered pre-glued. $90 for a 2x8 piece of mahogany veneer from Veneer Factory Outlet. Pictures should speak for themselves. I'd never re-veneered anything before. I have installed some formica. Two stains in the picture are Red Mahogany 232 on left and Natural on the right. Not a huge difference in appearance. Looks like it will be close to the original. I'll post some more pictures once I get the veneer trimmed and hardware installed.

[Jeremyvmd]

Looks good on there! Great job. I've been doing some veneer research cuz I want to redo my table, how did the pre-glued stuff work? Just peel and stick? Heat? Water?

[kerrye]

Peel and stick. No instructions with it. I'll let it sit with the books on it for a while. Seemed tight when I put it down. Like contact cement. Glue cost about $10 in addition to the veneer itself. Gets pricier the larger the piece of veneer. At some point just using contact cement would be much more economical. In my case it was just a few bucks difference.

[kerrye]

I used the 3/64" wood backed veneer.

http://www.veneer-factory-outlet.com/us ... k-veneers/

[kerrye]

trimmed

[Jay Knoll]

Kerrye

Get yourself one of these

http://www.rockler.com/j-roller-for-ven ... isting+ads

put the door on the floor, get on it, and really put your weight on the roller. Hopefully there will still be some "stick" on the glue. I'm concerned that the books haven't provided enough pressure to create a real tight bond.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if the veneer starts to bubble over time, you can strip it off and have another go,and making sure that you applied enough pressure to assure a good bond

The door looks great! Did you do laminate on the other side?

[kerrye]

I used a wallpaper roller on it in addition to the books. I don't think it's coming off. I didn't do the other side. It wasn't as bad, just some looseness at the bottom. Doing the other side is a little trickier since if you put the veneer on top of the original like I did here, it will bind at the hinge side on the stop.

[Northern Spy]

Good Work! How does the red mahogay finish compare to the red chestnut? Quarter sawn Sapele veneer is also available but the price is up there. The mahogany looks really good!

[kerrye]

I didn't try the Red Mahogany finish. There was very little difference between the Red Chestnut and the Natural even though the stain itself is quite different. The natural was closest to the existing color on the Mahogany. Just stained it.

[kerrye]

Stained.

[kerrye]

Poly'd, hardware attached and ready to re-install. One thing I hadn't anticipated is that since I used the wood backed thicker 3/64" veneer the handle on the door which is held in place with a pin was misaligned. The holes were drilled exactly for the thickness of the original door. I supposed a person could cut out the veneer for the exterior trim plate and resolve the problem that way but I just drilled a second hole in the knob shaft to accommodate the new thickness.

[kerrye]

Re-installed. It's doable in a day if you have the materials on hand and a plan.

[DesertAlbin736]

Looks very nice! Good to know that can be done & turn out so well. Something to do to keep busy while watching the snow fall.

[DesertAlbin736]

PS, added the link to the Veneer Factory Outlet to my Albin favorites list. Thanks!