Restoring chewed up oak

[Dan White]

So last night at about 3 am our formerly cute chinchilla langinera, aka "Hershey the chinchilla" escaped from his minimum security cell and managed to leap from a window sill to our antique oak card catalog in basically mint condition. Please see pics here:

one is the perp. Pic two is the card catalog, and Pic three is some of the damage that the perp inflicted on an innocent victim. Anyway, on a more serious note he gnawed off less than 1/8th inch of wood from the rounded edge of the catalog. There is about a 2 inch damaged area, plus some other smaller damaged spots. We are trying to find someone, or some method, where we can restore the damaged area to near original appearance, if possible, without refinishing the whole thing and destroying it. I would need to build back some of the wood height to match the rest of the edge line, and then make it look like the rest of the oak.

Any suggestions where to go from here?

Thanks, dwhite

[John Grossbohlin]

In the 18th century shark skin was used like sandpaper to smooth wood. I understand that chinchilla skin is an acceptable substitute.

John

[Nick Bozovich]

Shoot the rat?

[Robert Bonomi]

First recommendataion: "chinchilla hide glue."

something about "making the crimminal fit the problem" comes to mind. ;)

[Stephen M]

Since evryone else seems to have the "what to do with the perp" angle covered, here's what *I* would do: (not really for the tru newbie, but as I said, this is how *I* would handle it.

Get some quarter sawn white oak (what it appears you have there) and go to work experimenting with finishes expeimenting on your new oak to replicate the color and grain pattern.

My guess is that the original finish is shellac... that would be a goods thing because ot is easy to blend/repair.

You can veryfy this by wipng denatures alcohol on a hidden spot. Enough alcohol will soften and eventially dosolve the shellac.

The "dirty" pores of the wood can be created with a seal coat of shellac followed by a pigment glaze wiped away from the all but the pores. The orangy color can come from (only) the shellac. I suspect that you will not find that color of shellac over the counter. some button-lac with the bug parts still in there is the stuff for the job (see shellac.net)

Read this:

101:

Once you can replicate the color and grain, try practice a mechnical repair. cut cone of the white oak thick enough to replace the missing material in an

*irregular* shape like an asymetric trapazoid. Trace the shape of your patch onto the work piecewith a marking knife. set a router to the exact depth of the patch thickness. Using a straight bit, route out the material within your marked lines. Come close to the line but not right up to it. The will give you a clean level bottom. Finish to the line with a chisel.

Finish per samples, blend last coat of shellac into the top of the piece (here's you change to learn french polishing).

In the end you will still have a visible patch, but done well, it will look like a repair executed by a craftsman with skills long since forgotten. It will have "character".

Not really an approach for the faint of heart but....

[Hax Planx]

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

That would be my first impulse as well. However that doesn't get the furniture repaired.

If you can pull off the damaged strip without major surgery, you've got it made. Cut another strip to fit, first to length and then run it through the jointer until it's the proper thickness. If you need to round it over, use the router for that. Then stain with Provincial stain, and coat with some wipe on poly. It ought to look like the original if you have any skill at all.

Of course, it that isn't a trim strip along the leading edge, forget I said anything.

[SonomaProducts.com]

Ouch!

Where are you located? In my experience, repair work is not something you want to learn on an important piece. If you are in the SF Bay Area I know "thee" guy you need to call.

BW

[Pounds on Wood]

Taxidermist?

--

******** Bill Pounds

[Andy Dingley]

Fortunately this is a decent quality piece of solid oak furniture, but it's not quite Duncan Phyffe.

- Be brutal. Re-cut the whole front edge (block plane and shoulder plane) and just move the thumbnail moulding back by 1/8". It's a drastic step, but it's easiest and it leaves a good result, with some loss of originality.

- Bandsaw some thick oak veneer and apply it as an inlay. Refinish as necessary,

- Buy some thinner oak veneer (1/16" should be available) and use it double-thickness as an inlay.

Use a strap of thick canvas or leather clamped around the edge front-to-backand pulled tight as a caul to hold the inlay down while the glue cures. I'd recommend hide glue as best choice, hot as best, cold hide glue (Titebond sell it) as second best.

Oak varies in colour, so this might need some tweaking. Yours looks pretty light though, so a simple coat of finish will probably bring it close enough.

Refinishing will depend on what the original finish was. This could be hard to match, so something simple like a wipe of Danish oil might be just enough (easy, looks OK, hides in the camouflage of the front edge). If it's an early sprayed lacquer (likely) then they're pretty awkward to match up in small areas - we'd have to see it close up.

Any book on furniture restoration (Bennett's is the best I know)

will cover this sort of repair. Zachary Taylor's "Decorative Inlay" is good too.

[Baron]

Since you are concerned about "...refinishing the whole thing and destroying it...", I will assume that you have not done repair work like this before. Bring the piece to a professional who can do restoration work. Given that the damage is on the front edge of the piece, any spot repair is going to be noticeable, especially to you, from six inches away from the piece. It may look okay from six feet, though. It appears that the front edge piece can be completely replaced and then finished in a way to match the existing finish. Again, bring it to a professional who can do that kind of work.

Good Luck.

"Dan White" wrote in message news:iVNpe.70718$ [e-mail]...

[Dan White]

It is a solid oak top, nicely dovetailed to the sides. :(

dwhite

[Dan White]

Wow. No kidding! It might be easier if I just turn the card catalog upside down and not worry about it! One thing that could be difficult is that the chewed bits may not be deep enough to attach a new piece. But, the gouges are deep enough that just sanding and staining without building up the wood somehow wouldn't look good. I suppose with enough practice I could attach a piece that could be sanded down in place. Hmm...maybe when I retire in 30 years I can tackle this one! Thanks for the reply.

dwhite

[Dan White]

Good point. You make me consider something tho' that I may be assuming. I BELIEVE that this piece has never been refinished, but I don't know for a fact. My brother bought it originally in an antique shop in New England, and I eventually acquired it from him. I'll have to ask him for sure if the piece has its original finish. The brass door pulls and patent labels inside all look original. I wonder if there is a visual test to see whether the piece has been refinished? Looking underneath the piece might reveal something?

thanks, dwhite

[Dan White]

Thanks, but I am in New Jersey.

dwhite

[Dan White]

No, you're right, this kind of thing is out of my league. I would probably have to bring it to a pro, but wanted to see what some thought the options were. I've got some idea now from this and other posts in this thread. I did a bit more investigation and found another small bite patch on the back, and one on the side. Grrr. I suppose the other option is to do nothing so in another 100 years the chin marks will be an interesting part of its history. lol.

dwhite

[Hax Planx]

There may be tell-tale signs like finish buildup in corners, splotchy color where the old finish was removed more in some places than others, or little dents and gouges that were finished over but not sanded down. A pro would be able to tell you a lot more, and I wouldn't think it would cost you anything to get an opinion. The hardware won't tell you anything about whether or not it was refinished, and I would think a refinisher would leave the insides of the drawers alone.

[Dan White]

OK, thanks.

dwhite