Repairing laminated woodwork

retroshaun

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Hey guys

Soon I will start restoration on a cab thats in a bit of a state, but very repairable. The only bits I am wondering about are the sides. There has been some obvious water damage to the top which has made the top of each side swell and break away a bit. I can use wood hardener to get a better structure and then sand it, but the wood itself has a thick laminate applied, which has also broken away with the wood.

So how would one go about repairing this? I was hoping not to laminate the entire side... would it be possible to bondo the broken areas and then simply repaint the entire side or will paint not take well to the laminate?

The current laminate has quite a textured feel to it, but its plain, mid brown colored so matching should be very simple. The only other complication would be that I will then apply a new sideart sticker over the top if the finished sides, so again - would the combination of paint and artwork take well onto laminate?

Any advice would be appreciated - before I go and make a complete mess of it! :)

Cheers!
 
I have a generic cabinet that I am fixing up. I have been using bondo to fix the corners and found a laminate paint at Menards that seemed to match my gray cabinet. It looks pretty good to me.
 
Basically, if it's smaller chips, like the ones in the pics, you can use Bondo or the Minwax epoxy wood filler, which looks and smells like Bondo. If you have some really major chips or breaks or missing chunks, may need to use a combination or gluing a piece of particle board in (like material), then fill with Bondo. Wish you could show some pics of the worst issue and we could work backwards from there.
 
Don't have any picts yet. Just got the front painted but dont have the coin doors fixed yet. Unfotunately I didn't take pictures of the before, but I will get pictures in the next day or 2.
 
I have one of those... what is it with people letting their BRUR's get water damaged??

Personally I'm just going to just a heat gun to peel off the laminate since the side art is trashed anyway, and I'm probably going to replace the entire side which was water damaged, although I may try splicing in replacement wood.
 
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I have one of those... what is it with people letting their BRUR's get water damaged??

Personally I'm just going to just a heat gun to peel off the laminate since the side art is trashed anyway, and I'm probably going to replace the entire side which was water damaged, although I may try splicing in replacement wood.

Mine isn't so bad but I am toying with removing the laminate and trying to find a suitable replacement. When I bought it it had been a in a damp basement for a long time.

If you are interested by the way I have new BR CP overlays and sideart all ready to go - I spent a lot of months reproducing them!
 
Basically, if it's smaller chips, like the ones in the pics, you can use Bondo or the Minwax epoxy wood filler, which looks and smells like Bondo. If you have some really major chips or breaks or missing chunks, may need to use a combination or gluing a piece of particle board in (like material), then fill with Bondo. Wish you could show some pics of the worst issue and we could work backwards from there.

The worst part probably isn't a lot worse than this, so these pics are fairly representative.
And to replace the missing chunks of laminate - just paint?
 
To be determined but I think around the $80 for both sides. CP will run maybe $40 or so.

By the way can you do me a favor? The sides of my cab have a sort of "texture" to them - by that I mean the laminated wood isn't 100% smooth, its got a fine "bumpy-ness" to it - is this the same on your cab? It sort of looks like water damage but as its the entire surface of both sides I am doubting it and wondering if its "as intended".

Can you confirm?
 
To be determined but I think around the $80 for both sides. CP will run maybe $40 or so.

By the way can you do me a favor? The sides of my cab have a sort of "texture" to them - by that I mean the laminated wood isn't 100% smooth, its got a fine "bumpy-ness" to it - is this the same on your cab? It sort of looks like water damage but as its the entire surface of both sides I am doubting it and wondering if its "as intended".

Can you confirm?

In what appear to be untouched areas mine has perhaps a tiny, and I mean VERY TINY bit, certainly not enough to be called an orange peel finish. I'd say the difference between it and sanded completely smooth is so slight I'd aim for sanded smooth, it's probably more due to the particle board underneath than deliberate texturing.

I may go for it with the artwork eventually but it may be a while before I can justify the expense, and besides I need to see how good the my cab comes out before I spend the money, it needs some real serious work done. Have you done any runs yet or is it just something you're planning on doing in the future?

P.S.
If you're ever interested in taking a shot at reproducing Monaco GP mini side art I think I'm going to try to scan mine in, it's almost entirely intact though the cab needs work, and this time unlike my BR I'm not going to try to peel it off first before doing so.
 
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In what appear to be untouched areas mine has perhaps a tiny, and I mean VERY TINY bit, certainly not enough to be called an orange peel finish. I'd say the difference between it and sanded completely smooth is so slight I'd aim for sanded smooth, it's probably more due to the particle board underneath than deliberate texturing.

I may go for it with the artwork eventually but it may be a while before I can justify the expense, and besides I need to see how good the my cab comes out before I spend the money, it needs some real serious work done. Have you done any runs yet or is it just something you're planning on doing in the future?

Hmm. Man I am kinda confused - it looks, I guess, like I have more water damage than I thought, but its so weird that its the entire surface area. Maybe this thing was just stored in dampness for a long time. Like you I have a crap load of work to do on my cab, the thing was/is a wreck and when I fired it up at the weekend the red has gone too.

I have a run of the CP overlay, looks beautiful. Didn't do the sideart yet but I did run the art at full size on a "poster" print (so not on vinyl) and it looks fantastic.
 
You know that is vinyl not laminate right? Same as Atari Cabs

Your particle board is bumpy and textured from decomposition of the particle board/glue

Best bet is to remove the vinyl sand smooth, make repairs and re-vinyl or paint. Paint will be cheaper and easier
 
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