Base of Sewing Pattern Cabinet needs to be replaced. Can I do this myself?
tad729
| Posted in New To Woodworking on
Hi!
I recently acquired an old wood sewing pattern cabinet with glass front drawers. It’s very cool. Anyhow, it came with a prior repair to the front base of the cabinet. I’d like to know how difficult it would be for me to remove the baseboard piece & replace it. It’s not stained the right color & it really doesn’t fit right. Also, that wood piece was glued in place. I took some photos of the cabinet, the base and the back where it’s glued. It’s a very solid cabinet & heavy (even without the drawers in place). I just don’t want to create a bigger issue trying to remove and replace that base piece. Thanks for your thoughts!
Replies
It doesn't look like it would be too difficult to re-repair. I am assuming you don't care about saving the mismatched piece - correct? First try dissolving the glue with heat or acetone. If that doesn't work, try cutting just inside the glue lines and then clean up with a chisel.
I'd probably try hot knifing the glue joint and carefully prying as I go. I have some knives I ve made for that purpose out of kitchen utensils that I find at like Goodwill stores. Cake knives and such. The thinner the better. I purchased an electric hot knife but found it to be too thick for that purpose. I use a hot plate to heat them. Bunsen burners and torches and such are hard to control temperature and can leave black residue on the knife. I find I can better control temperature with the hot plate. Most glues will release at about 200 degrees,so this can be done without scorching surrounding wood.
I see what you mean.
I'd leave it in place and try to match the finish. You won't see the mismatch of the bead if you get the stain right. In fact, before you do ANYTHING, find some oak and see if you can match the colour. If you can't achieve that then fixing the base won't help at all.
Once you have the finish right, apply it to the board in situ - this is good practice and you'll probably find you don't need to do any dismantling at all.
If the mismatch really annoys you, then as others have said, disassembly should not be too hard. Watch Thomas Johnson on YouTube for a lot of antique repair ideas, and John's Furniture Repair for some more modern takes on the craft.