Replacing / Repairing swollen particle board

hindered

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Hope this forum is the place to ask questions about restorations and not only for posting about your current / past restoration projects...

Anyway, I have a dynamo cut corner cabinet, and the cabinet has swollen on the left hand side of the control panel, so it's about an inch thicker than it should be, and it'll no longer hold the t-molding in place. I was told I could hot glue the t-molding into place, but the wood would still be swollen and ugly. Given that this is a generic cabinet, I have no real interest (nor access to the required tools) to do a full restoration on it, but I was curious what the options were, if I wanted to repair it.

I've come up with:

1: Cut a replacement side panel, route grooves for t-molding, sand, paint, etc.
2: sand down the existing panel until it's flat, use wood hardener, repaint, etc.
3: Paint over the swollen parts so it's less noticible, and then post a picture on thereifixedit.com

Any other options? Anyone have any tips and tricks for doing this kind of repair? I have a big blue Capcom cab which could benefit from the same repairs, and is equally unlikely to have the repairs done due to its genericness.
 
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Hope this forum is the place to ask questions about restorations and not only for posting about your current / past restoration projects...

Anyway, I have a dynamo cut corner cabinet, and the cabinet has swollen on the left hand side of the control panel, so it's about an inch thicker than it should be, and it'll no longer hold the t-molding in place. I was told I could hot glue the t-molding into place, but the wood would still be swollen and ugly. Given that this is a generic cabinet, I have no real interest (nor access to the required tools) to do a full restoration on it, but I was curious what the options were, if I wanted to repair it.

I've come up with:

1: Cut a replacement side panel, route grooves for t-molding, sand, paint, etc.
2: sand down the existing panel until it's flat, use wood hardener, repaint, etc.
3: Paint over the swollen parts so it's less noticible, and then post a picture on thereifixedit.com

Any other options? Anyone have any tips and tricks for doing this kind of repair? I have a big blue Capcom cab which could benefit from the same repairs, and is equally unlikely to have the repairs done due to it's genericness.

#2, winner
 
Ahhh phet your quote has my grammar error that I ninja edited out of the original. :)

#2 seems to be the "easiest" solution but still more work than I'm willing to put in at this point.. especially since I live in an apartment and my best bet would be a hand-drill with a sandpaper attachment...
 
Ahhh phet your quote has my grammar error that I ninja edited out of the original. :)

#2 seems to be the "easiest" solution but still more work than I'm willing to put in at this point.. especially since I live in an apartment and my best bet would be a hand-drill with a sandpaper attachment...

Actually a wood rasp would make much shorter work of it. Especially swollen particle board (I almost typed "Swollen Wood", that would have brought out the comments :eek:).

ken
 
Actually a wood rasp would make much shorter work of it. Especially swollen particle board (I almost typed "Swollen Wood", that would have brought out the comments :eek:).

ken


I am not sure why you would think that?

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i soak the area with wood hardener from home depot for 2 days. then i shave off flat with a hand plane the swolen part. sometimes i build up the back part with some new wood and even give the cab a whole new "foot" to stand on. fill the groove with some putty or wood glue and let it dry and re-rout the molding groove for new molding.
 
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i soak the area with wood hardener from home depot for 2 days. then i shave off flat with a hand plane the swolen part. sometimes i build up the back part with some new wood and even give the cab a whole new "foot" to stand on. fill the groove with some putty or wood glue and let it dry and re-rout the molding groove for new molding.
I have a cabinet that has some severe swelling. Does the wood hardener act as a glue to bind it all together, so the top layer can be shaved off? Does it required repeated application until the cabinet piece if flat again? You have piqued my interested.

Scott C.
 
I have a cabinet that has some severe swelling. Does the wood hardener act as a glue to bind it all together, so the top layer can be shaved off? Does it required repeated application until the cabinet piece if flat again? You have piqued my interested.

Scott C.

On my Q*bert cabinet I took a utility knife and sliced a 45% cut (about 1/4"-) slice down the sides... Then applied wood hardener along the bottom edge (lots). Then I painted the sides quickly with wood hardener before sanding. Then do your bondo work. When done only wipe Q*bert cabinets with denatured alcohol or it will swell again.
 
I have a cabinet that has some severe swelling. Does the wood hardener act as a glue to bind it all together, so the top layer can be shaved off? Does it required repeated application until the cabinet piece if flat again? You have piqued my interested.

Scott C.

the wood hardener does act like a glue kinda. hardens up the wood nice anyway, might have little glue qualities but whatever, probably not. i repeat application many times depending on how severe swelling is. i repeat after shaving too depending on how the hardener is soaking into the wood. rarely, do i not add a box of 1"x2"'s to the bottom of the cab as a "foot" to reinforce the bottom. i install the box "foot" about 4 millimeters lower so you cant see it but you still get the benefit of the reinforcement, holding up the machine.
 
i found that removing swollen particle board when its dry, tends to come off in clumps and create holes that arent level with the surface. then you have to use filler etc. to make it look good. i find when you use the hardener(depending on the swollen damage and ability of the wood to absorb a lot of hardener) the suface comes out nicer with less work to get it flat.

now, ive been toying with the idea of adding some sort of large sand particles to my cabinet paint. i figure it would hide imperfections and even add a nice "sandpaper" quality to the cabinet. even different size particles might look good. what do you think?

i could tell the customer its there to help move the cabinet.
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When wood has had rot set in whether it's pressboard or plywood you need to get all the loose wood off. scratch at it until no more flakes come off easily. Wood rot doesn't stop, you have to get rid of it like gangrene. only AFTER you clear the cab of wood rot apply the hardener. Then use bondo to get the surface contour back to where it should be.
 
When wood has had rot set in whether it's pressboard or plywood you need to get all the loose wood off. scratch at it until no more flakes come off easily. Wood rot doesn't stop, you have to get rid of it like gangrene. only AFTER you clear the cab of wood rot apply the hardener. Then use bondo to get the surface contour back to where it should be.

Yeah, what he said. ;)

On Q*berts it's usually just swell but you still cut out the "swell" at the bottom edge and then add tons of wood hardener!
 
am i the only one who thinks that cutting off a corner then replacing it with a new piece is better? use biscuits or dowels to aid in holding the two together. if the new piece isnt as thick as the old, then just bondo on top to level it out.

if the board is truely swollen an inch larger than normal, then obviously any strength properties have disappeared.
 
am i the only one who thinks that cutting off a corner then replacing it with a new piece is better? use biscuits or dowels to aid in holding the two together. if the new piece isnt as thick as the old, then just bondo on top to level it out.

if the board is truely swollen an inch larger than normal, then obviously any strength properties have disappeared.

Every case is different really.. no way to say the generic right answer is to cut it off. If the damage is bad enough yea, I do that too. However,if it's just a bit of swelling or a corner is chipped up there's no reason to go through all that. Swelling does not mean the strength is gone, that's what the hardener does. Of course there are extreme points where the damage is really bad but those are pretty obvious :)
 
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