Methods & Items Needed To Repair & Restore Chipped Wood Veneer
Worried about your chipped wood veneer, Simply follow one of the given methods carefully to get rid out of this problem. In order to repair and restore chipped wood veneer, the user first need certain items, which are given below:
- Craft Knife Or Razor Blade.
- Medium-Grit Sandpaper.
- Tack Cloth.
- Rubber Gloves.
- Wood Epoxy Putty In Desired Shade.
- Small Bowl Of Water.
- Putty Knife.
- Gel Stains.
- Scrap Cardboard.
- Inexpensive Artist's Brush.
- Rag.
- Varnish Finish And Foam Brush (optional).
Method 1: Putty Method
- Preparation: First prepare the area by removing any loose veneer pieces so small that they may flake or chip rough up the area of the veneer using a medium-grit sandpaper, start sanding in wood grain direction then wipe the area you have to work with a tack cloth to remove any dust particles.
- Slice: Now wear hand gloves before slicing the amount of epoxy putty according to your need by using the blade or knife. Now slice the putty on both of your hands then blend the two parts of putty together.
- Flatten: Flatten the epoxy putty on the missing veneer area, dip your hands into the bowl of water to keep the putty smooth and when putty is dry then draw a blade or putty knife on the surface of the chipped veneer to remove any excess epoxy putty and flatten the patch.
- Razor Blade: The users can now use the razor blade to slice faint lines on the epoxy putty to resemble the faint lines of the wood grain around the veneer.
- Cure: Now allow the putty to dry completely before using the fine-grit sandpaper and sand the putty carefully, never apply too much pressure because this will damage the putty.
- Gel-stain: After the sanding process, pour some gel stain color on a plastic lid or on the cardboard then use a new artist's paintbrush in wood grain direction and wipe any excess gel with the help of rag.
- Varnish: Select a matching varnish and varnish the veneer by using the foam paintbrush and follow the manufacturer's directions to get the best results of varnishing.
Method 2: Heat Method
- Iron: First set a white cotton cloth (slightly damp) on the bubble, then start ironing the white cloth with a clothes iron and set it to medium heat but not on steam mode. Iron only for 30-40 seconds or until the blister seems to be flatter.
- Wipe: After the ironing process wipe the remaining moisture from the surface of the veneer by using another dry cloth.
- Heavy Object: You can also keep some heavy and flat objects on the veneer like books for few hours. Check if the bubble remained in flat condition then your repairing process is successful.
Method 3: Glue Method
- Craft Knife: Slice a hole in the center of the bubble area of the veneer using craft knife by following the direction of wood grain and remember to make slices large enough to put the glue underneath the bubbled area of the veneer.
- Wood Glue: After doing the previous process carefully now apply wood glue in the inner side of the veneer on both sides by using a long slice of cardboard for a bigger hole or flat-ended toothpick or a thin one for smaller holes.
- Press: Now, press each side of the bubble back down, rub your fingers on the bubble to force out any excess wood glue.
- Wipe: Wipe the extra glue using damp cloth.
- Wax Paper: Now, use wax paper and apply it on the bubble, followed by a woodblock then clamp wood block down.
- Dry: Now let the wood glue dry for overnight, before removing the wax paper, block, clamp, block.
Method 4: Adding New Veneer
- Sand: Remove any old glue or small veneer chips by sanding or scraping them. Now clean the area with the help of a tack cloth to make it dust and debris free. The perfectly smooth cleaning is required in order to apply a new patch.
- Scrap Paper: Keep a piece of scrap paper on the chipped area of the veneer and then trace the outlines of the hole. The other way is to rub a pencil on the scrap paper to get the missing-veneer spot.
- Cut: Now, cut out the scrap paper template along the outline.
- Template Shape: Trace the template shape on the piece of the wood veneer and be sure that the directions of patch grains are matched.
- Trim: Now trim the veneer according to the required size, use a craft knife for this process.
- Wood Glue: Apply the wood glue on the back of the wood veneer piece by using a foam paintbrush, then set the patch in the proper place, Use your hand to make the patch smoother.
- Wipe: Now, wipe any extra glue with a clean damp cloth.
- Wax Paper: Now keep the wax paper on the patch according to the block of wood. Clamp the block and apply glue on it then make the glue dry.
- Stain And Finish: If you think that staining and finishing are necessary then start your work on the patched area to match the wood veneer.