dry/splitting plywood

majikalex32

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hey

i was wondering if anyone (or everyone) has this problem also? i have an old upright midway space invaders. the ply is very dry and brittle after all these years, especially around the edges of the cab. have had some success with some cream furniture polish and carnauba wax from gillystephenson.com, the furniture polish seems to work a treat and nourishes the wood, beeswax among things apparently. the carnauaba wax gives it a slight sheen back.

what have you guys been using?
 
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Dunno if this will help you, but I restored a Robotron cabinet that had plenty of chips and slight separation on some edges - more minor than it sounds. There would be tiny spots where an outer ply was slightly lifting, and chipping and stuff at the bottom edge.

I would push Titebond wood glue into the gap, getting it in there with a toothpick or razor, if necessary, then cover with wax/parchment paper and clamp til dry.
 
Is your plywood separating, or is the top layer drying and starting to pucker in spots? Yellow Wood glue works the best for this if it is separating, but if you get it on the surface you will have to remove it or paint over it. If you are looking for touch up/ spot repair advice, it will never look right no matter what you use. Wood Hardener will give you a glossy surface, as will spar varnish, satin poly and clear coat. Yellow glue will leave a yellowish haze. Your wood conditioner idea would be great for bare wood, but not painted surfaces. The wax idea is a good one, but you'll have to buff the entire side to make it look uniform.
 
I've had a couple of cabinets where the wood on the bottom was splintering and separating - usually games where the leg levelers had gone missing... The plywood comes apart and spreads out.

To repair, I flipped the game onto it's back on some saw horses so I could get at the bottom easier. Then I squirted regular wood glue into the delaminated layers of plywood, and clamped it together with a board on either side. This reshaped the bottom of the wood and held everything together, so it dried back to it's original thickness. Then, once the glue dried, I installed aluminum edge channeling on the bottom of the game. It may not be original, but it looks a heck of a lot better than chipped and splintered plywood, and keeps anything from separating more. Also, it hides the missing chips and chunks, and tends to level out the bottom of the cabinet. You can get aluminum edge channeling at Home Depot or Lowe's - it's not expensive and cuts easily with a hacksaw.

-Ian
 
The Joust cab that I am turning into a Multi Williams had the outer layer separating along the bottom.
I tried to glue it and it worked good to keep the bulk of it together but I ended up having to remove a lot of parts that wouldn't stay down.
It was like a bunch of little fingers that kept poking out every time I primed it.
I finally just removed the parts that were still soft and showing through the primer.
I filled them with bondo and then re primed.
 
i had splitting of the wood on one side of the bottom my cab due to someone using a sack truck or a fork to move the machine. i flipped the cab and used plasti bond to fill the hole and to hold it together, used g clamps and some greaseproof paper on some 2x4 worked a treat. sanded it flat not a problem. can highly recoomend the plasti bond. its a two part workable plastic putty /filler.

the sides of my cab i think i will try the glue trick suggested by joey. not alot else i can do really. the ply is very dry and is bubbling/lifting from the chipboard in places yes,, i dont think these cabs were originally made to last 30 odd years... especially in south australia where i am where temperatures regularly get to over 100f in summmer for weeks on end, worse is the 30% humidity levels. this is why i used the wood cream as it nourished the wood nicely.

touch ups never look quite new. ive lost a fair bit of paint from the edges of my cab and think i will leave it battlescarred rather then touch up with an airbrush.

thanks for your replies :)
 
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