Bush SUG91 Cabinet Restoration

The old damaged veneer came off easily. After using a heat gun to gently soften the glue, I was able to peel the damaged veneer off with a craft knife blade. A quick sanding removed all traces of the old glue and left a smooth surface ready to accept the new veneer.

Damaged veneer removed

One large piece was fixed onto the top surface using PVA glue. I then clamped another piece of wood on top to keep the veneer flat whilst the glue dried.  For the two curved surfaces I used contact adhesive, as clamping these in place while PVA dried would have been very difficult. The glue I used allowed a small amount of movement before bonding firmly, and I cut the veneer to shape as closely as I could before applying the glue.

Top and one side complete

I allowed the glue to dry overnight before carefully removing the excess veneer with a very sharp craft knife blade. The rough edges were then sanded down using fine sandpaper on a wooden block.

This was my first attempt at applying veneer, but on reflection it went better than I had expected. The finished result looked pretty good, although I didn't get a perfect clean edge between two joining pieces on the top surface. A lot of sanding was required to get a smooth surface ready for lacquering

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After staining

The cabinet sides and bottom panel originally had a very dark brown lacquer finish. Unfortunately the new veneer is a different shade than the original, so to reduce the final  number of colours I decided that a new colour scheme was needed. The front and control panel were just sanded and re-lacquered; all other surfaces were treated with dark oak stain before lacquering.

Once the lacquer has hardened I will give it a polish and then start re-assembling.  I'll post more details and photos later.

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