Replacing a veneer that was glued down with PVA glue

[Dennis Peacock]

I have a very old sewing basket furniture piece that the top veneer was severely wrinkled and the owner wants it replaced and refinished. I got the old veneer off as it has previously been replaced by someone else that put the veneer down with standard yellow glue......so the veneer was easy to get off with a heat gun and some tugging by hand.

I've managed to scrape off a lot of the old yellow glue, but I'm wondering how far I need to go in order to reattach a new veneer to this top without the new veneer not adhering well to the old surface area.

Any pointers, ideas, suggestions on this? Please?

[Shawn Pixley]

A couple thoughts. Depending upon the piece you are trying to re-veneer, I would try scraping, sanding or use solvents (warm vinegar). The main thing I have found is get the surface as flat as possible to minimize air pockets. I used warm vinegar as my de-assembly technique on antique furniture. If you are only trying to piece something in, that can be another level of frustration.

Could you describe the piece or provide pictures? Is the part flat or curved? What is the substrate? What is the piece finished with? Depending upon the substrate and the adjacent parts, I might do any one of these. But if other veneer pieces are adjacent, I wouldn't use warm vinegar for fear of further damage.

[Dennis Peacock]

Let's see if this works...since work prevents file uploads:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150959802553097&set=a.10150233254518097.316281.681088096&type=1&theater

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Let's see if I can help Dennis.

This is Dennis' project:

237223

[Shawn Pixley]

Thanks, the picture helps a lot. With this project, you have two challenges:
1.) How will you re-veneer (clamps, vacuum bag or veneer hammer)
2.) How do you prepare the substrate?

Keep in mind the hypocratic oath, "first, do no harm"

If the top can be removed without damaging the piece, you could uses any option to re-veneer. With this piece, I would first try to take the top off. If you can, I would start by using warm vinegar to remove as much of the old pva as possible and the sand or scrape to make the surface flat. Use a wooden sanding block rather than ROS. Then I would use clamps to re-veneer if you dont have a vacuum bag.

If the top cannot be removed without damaging the piece, I would not use vinegar as it could cause some unpleasant surprises in the balance of the piece. I would probably scrape what I could and then fully block sand (hard wooden block again). Be careful when sanding or scraping as you can put a lot of racking force on the piece. (remember the hypocratic oath) You want the substrate as flat a possible. To re-veneer, I think you may need to Hammer Veneer the piece. I suspect that you can't put enough pressure on the top without doing unpleasant things to the carcass.

Good luck!

[Dennis Peacock]

Shawn,
Lots of good info there. I do have a vacuum press. I do believe that I can at least get the top off of the antique sewing "basket". The substrate is Poplar. I used heat and a sharp putty knife to get "most" of the old adhesive off of the surface. However, there still feels like there is some residue left in several places that I fear will not all the new veneer to adhere to the substrate.....which is my biggest fear...all this work and still not a good solid veneer job. ;)

Oh...and thanks Ken..!!!!!

[Shawn Pixley]

Dennis,

Happy to help. I'm glad the top comes off. A little vinegar and scraping and you should have a good substrate. Let us know how it comes out.

[John Coloccia]

Wet down the top with rag dampened with mineral spirits. Any residue will stand out like a sore thumb. This is SOP for me in my shop before I finish a piece. Before moving on past 80 grit, I make sure that there is no more glue, and when I think I'm done I test with mineral spirits...sometimes naphtha. Then I go back and fix all the little spots I always seem to miss! I usually hit it with a scraper because the glue is harder than the surrounding wood, and it's easy to leave a hump. The scraper shears it right off.