Suggestions needed for furniture repair

[Nelson]

My daughter still thinks "Dad can fix anything" even though she is in her 30's now. I'm trying to keep my image up and not let her in on the real truth just yet, so I need some helpful ideas and opinions. She sent me this picture of damage to a dresser that she would like for me to "fix" next time I come to Georgia. It is supposed to be a Thomasville cherry piece, but from the picture & her description, where the damage is looks more like a composite underneath laminate. Any suggestions? Thanks!

View image in gallery​

 

[Glennbear]

I do not have any repair suggestions other than tinted epoxy and I agree with your material assessment.
BTW, both of my daughters who are now in their 30's remember Dad's immortal words from when they were kids "Daddy can fix anything except a broken crayon" :gar-La;

 

[Nelson]

Thanks Glenn. I will check out the epoxy.

 

[gator]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but could that be a separate board that could be removed and replaced. With all the dye and tint options out there it wouldn't be too hard to match the finish.

George

 

[Mike Davis]

Do something really nice for your daughter and make her a solid wood dresser.

 

[Nelson]

Thanks for the reply George. I haven't seen it yet, so not sure if it is separate piece that can be redone or if it is part of the case, but I will be down there in couple weeks to check.

Mike, Don't give her any ideas just yet. I have enough projects going on right now, but a nice solid, REAL wood dresser would be nice down the road. I would have thought if it was Thomasville furniture, it would have been real wood, but I guess that was before all the plants shut down here.

 

[CrealBilly]

If the finish was not waxed prior with pledge... Dress patch sight with a razor blade / burn-in with background colors (mix of french yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and a little van dyke brown / belndall powders (Vandyke brown and black) laccover or flat lacquer and fine horse hair bush - mix and paint the grain back in / lightly tint with cherry toner / Distress with dark walnut by tapping the can valve with a hammer handle to get specks / lay down a couple light coats of sanding sealer / hit with a heat gun / spit sand with 600 grit wet dry paper / top coat with clear satin lacquer / hit with heat gun / rub lightly with 0000 steel wool. Shouldn't take but about 10 mins.

Your right it's not real wood it's composite under laminate and supper thin at that.

All you need to do the repair can be found here ---> http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp

 

[Nelson]

Jeff, Great info. However, you severely underestimate the time it takes me to complete a task. It took me 10 minutes just to read the directions! :icon_scra
But they are great directions and thanks for the Mohawk link.:icon_thum

 

[jhreed]

furniture crayon

 

[Howard Acheson]

If the finish was not waxed prior with pledge... Dress patch sight with a razor blade / burn-in with background colors (mix of french yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and a little van dyke brown / belndall powders (Vandyke brown and black) laccover or flat lacquer and fine horse hair bush - mix and paint the grain back in / lightly tint with cherry toner / Distress with dark walnut by tapping the can valve with a hammer handle to get specks / lay down a couple light coats of sanding sealer / hit with a heat gun / spit sand with 600 grit wet dry paper / top coat with clear satin lacquer / hit with heat gun / rub lightly with 0000 steel wool. Shouldn't take but about 10 mins.

Your right it's not real wood it's composite under laminate and supper thin at that.

All you need to do the repair can be found here ---> http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp

Yup, that's the way to do it and end up with a professional result. The damage is in a spot that should not be that attention getting so just getting close should be good enough.

 

[Nelson]

Jeff or Howard;
The instructions look like a great way to match the finish. Does this finish go directly onto the epoxy, or do you recommend filling the damaged area with something besides epoxy? Also, what does it mean to "Dress patch sight with a razor blade" ?

 

[CrealBilly]

Jeff or Howard;
The instructions look like a great way to match the finish. Does this finish go directly onto the epoxy, or do you recommend filling the damaged area with something besides epoxy? Also, what does it mean to "Dress patch sight with a razor blade" ?

Well you want to take a razor blade and cut off the loose veneer and also carefully cut the veneer edges at a angle so the burn in will stick. Burning in is by far the fastest way to go on something like this. it'll take longer for the burn in knife to heat up than it will to do the burn-in and level it. I have built up busted corners before with bondo, a razor blade knife and sand paper, but this is a flat surface with no fancy contours to follow, besides it's just a small chip missing at the bottom right hand side of the case. It should be pretty simple to patch without drawing any attention to the patch.

If you do go with bondo (which I think is way over kill) get the white colored cream hardener - the lighter the background the easier it is to paint over to match the surrounding backgorund colors. The pink hardener will make the patch a light pink color instead of light gray and will make it a pain to blend in. Also bondo can be worked pretty easy with a razor blade if you catch it before it sets up hard, this will save a lot of time sanding when it does get hard.

Dispite how you fill and level the missing veneer, you'll need at least the basic 12 powder artist colors and a assortment of small artist brushes, a few rattle cans of lacquer so you can mix up the right hues and paint the grain back in. With the basic 12 you can mix them to make any color you like.

Also there is a white sticky substance in between the veneer and MDF make sure you get all that out of the patch area before you patch or the patch may fall out later.

I just remembered I don't know if you ever used Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty before but the stuff is awesome. It dries a bone white which is ideal to paint over to blend the background hues.

 

[Nelson]

Great info, Jeff. Thanks for the detailed explanation and links. I can tell you have great knowledge & experience in the repair of furniture. :icon_thum

 

[Nelson]

View image in gallery

View image in gallery​

Before & After photos of furniture repair. Thanks to all who made suggestions. I ended up going with Jeff's recommendation of "Durham's Rock Hard Putty" to fill in the damaged area and just got "close enough" with the color match with furniture markers. Good enough that my daughter still thinks "Dad is awesome":eusa_danc Again, thanks to NCWW's for your help:icon_thum
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[Glennbear]

View image in gallery

View image in gallery​

Before & After photos of furniture repair. Thanks to all who made suggestions. I ended up going with Jeff's recommendation of "Durham's Rock Hard Putty" to fill in the damaged area and just got "close enough" with the color match with furniture markers. Good enough that my daughter still thinks "Dad is awesome":eusa_danc Again, thanks to NCWW's for your help:icon_thum
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Nicely done :icon_thum I forgot how handy Durham's was, I used a lot of it in my former house. :wsmile:

 

[CrealBilly]

Nice patch - nobody will ever know it's there unless you point it out - Super dad to the rescue :thumbs_up