Burn Damage

[Vicboduk]

I have a cabinet with burn damage on the top - what is the best way of tackling this problem? The burn is relatively deep at 2-3mm.


The subject of my first restoration project is a Braun S44. I know it's not British but I found it lying in the road whilst on my way home one night and had to pick it up.
The valve line up is; ECH81 EF89 EAF42 EL41 and a selenium rectifier.
The Chassis is in remarkably good condition there is a date stamp of
16 Feb 1957.
I was stunned to find inside not only a circuit diagram (dated 8-12-55) stapled to the bottom service plate, but also a spare fuse in a small paper packet!
I have no problems with the electrical side of things but cabinet repair is new to me.

Any suggest are welcome...


Vic

[Nickthedentist]

My gut feeling is to remove any charred wood, fill the resulting depression and sand flat, and then re-veneer the entire top surface.

If it had been on the side, you may have got away with less drastic treatment, but the top is very visible.

A nice little radio, and presumably a lot less bulky than the usual, big, "bells and whistles" Grundigs and Telefunkens that turn up.

The fuse and circuit diagram are nice surprises, but are quite typical of German sets from that period.

Nick.

[paulsherwin]

I also think you will have to reveneer if you want to do a really good job. The two alternatives are to sand down the burn area then stain the cabinet a very dark brown, or spray the whole cabinet with dark brown paint.

Painting is least work and can look surprisingly good.

Paul

[zebedee]

I'm sure Nick has got it dead right on the method but after removing the burnt wood I would paint on some Ronseal wood hardener which will soak into the wood and strengthen the burnt fibres.

The wood hardener will give you a much better key for the filler than the dry burnt fibres and prevent the filler from lifting in the future.

Ronseal also make a wood filler that is fully compatible with their wood hardener.

Ron

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist;

The fuse and circuit diagram are nice surprises . . .
Nick.

Too right! And so is . . .

Originally Posted by Vic;

. . . but I found it lying in the road whilst on my way home one night . . .
Vic

I wish I could find lorries around here that shed their loads like that!

Al / Skywave.

[Vicboduk]

Thanks everyone, I guessed that re-veneering was probably the way to go. Can anyone give me an idea how much that would cost? I don’t think my skills are up to it.

Paul – Hadn’t thought of giving it a total “re-spray” I suppose if you’re not too interested in keeping it original that’s a good way to go.

Ron – wood hardener first, then filler. Nice tip!


Vic

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Vicboduk

Paul – Hadn’t thought of giving it a total “re-spray” I suppose if you’re not too interested in keeping it original that’s a good way to go.

Dark brown spray paint looks very like the very dark varnishes used on many 1950s radios. There's no visible woodgrain of course, but the difference is only obvious on close inspection.

It's not as satisfactory as a proper restoration though.

Paul

[Radio_Dave]

I'd be tempted to strip the cabinet and see how much of the burn can be sanded out.

Personally, I'd fill the damage with a, suitably, coloured wood filler. Then I'd use water colour paints to, firstly, match the colour with the surrounding wood, then use a fine paint brush and different shades of brown to try and replicate the grain (a bit of wet finger smudging helps )

Regards
David

[chipp1968]

I suspect the burn has destroyed the veneer as it will be quite thin .Strip cabinet re veneer top after filling ,and re polish , that would make the best result . cost more than its worth , but thats always the way .

[Vicboduk]

I think I'll have a go at Radio Dave’s suggestion, if it all goes horribly wrong – It’ll be a total re-spray. But before I commit myself though I’m going to make sure that the radio is actually working! I don’t want to spend hours sanding only to achieve a piece of furniture that looks nice but doesn’t do anything!

Thanks all,

Vic

[Station X]

In most cases electrical repairs are simpler than cabinet repairs, but they require more technical knowledge. I always do the electrical work first which seems to spur me on to do any cabinet repairs.

[Aerodyne]

After stripping and levelling - using two-part filler such as Ronseal high performance - you might find a self-adhesive veneer much the simplest method of making good. there are several sources on the net, such as this one:

http://www.valeveneers.co.uk/iv.html

There's little skill needed with this method. Alternatively you can use impact adhesive to bond veneer, another simple way to do the job.
-Tony

[Vicboduk]

It looks like I've got to get my sander out - I spent a "few" hours having a go at the chassis this weekend. Only had to replace one O/C and one high value resistor and all caps checked OK. Slowly wound up the AC - Nothing!
No heaters visible in the EL41. Oh "bother" I thought. On removing the valve I noticed the pins were badly tarnished - cleaned them up and replaced it.
Tried again - life - what a wonderful moment.
Spookily I hadn't set the tuning to anything specific and this German radio's first noise in many a year happened to be a German station!
Just a little work is needed on the wave band swithbank as the Longwave and one of the Shortwave bands failed to give any results.

So now I know it works... On to the cabinet.

Vic

[jgj6331]

Vic,
Not much to add - but since the chassis is stamped with my exact birthday, I might as well comment... I think you have plenty of good suggestions on the top. There should be several websites that cover veneering - it's not that difficult if you take a bit of time with the surface preparation. It looks as though the radio is beginning to clean up nicely. Good luck..

Bill