Thinning rosewood veneer+finish, restoring Denon turntable DP60L
Hi
Have to say, I am pretty new in pro woodworking so looking for your help. I have made previously some speaker boxes, veneering, etc. (they came out very elegant), but here I am stuck and do not have experience how to proceed.
I receive VERY GOOD, NICE high end Denon DP60L turntable from US, but unfortunately shipping damaged couple of corners. They look soo bad, I can glue them, but still whole turntable looks then still damaged. Bought new dustcover also, which also got damaged. Damn!! Final goal is I try to get it back into mint condition
So, turntable plinth is covered with magnificent rosewood (palisander, santos) veneer. It is very thin, so it looks almost like a thick paper. Thats results very nice sharp corners, where you do not see veneer edge. Veneer could be maybe 0.3mm thick. Most turntable corners have standard veneer overlapping and then sanded down, which gives us a bit rounded edge. Top layer over side layer probably?! But this Denon, which I really like it, has nice sharp edge. It also looks that veneer is sanded in factory, because it looks very smooth and do not show up any imperfections/creases.
So my first problem – how I can thinning down rosewood veneer into ca 0.3mm thickness. Sanding before veneering or what do you suggest?
Second problem – turntable veneer looks a bit brownish-reddish color (red), regular rosewood is more towards brown. I have top coated rosewood with acrylic lacquer and final result does not look reddish at all. So my first guess is that in factory, they have colored veneer with stain and the top coated with acryl or polyester lacquer? What do you think how can I achieve same results as in factory?
I added some pics, which gives some hints about veneer color.
Replies
You can buy commercial veneer at many suppliers.
One is: https://www.joewoodworker.com/
Anyone have good/wise idea how to thin down veneer to proper thickness?
For that turntable I really need very thin, not standard, veneer.
Are you building a new enclosure or trying to repair the damaged one?
I can not repair damaged corners, veneer is broken and I can not get it nice.
So my guess only option is to reveneer the whole turntable base.
How hard would it be to build a new one? I guess that's what I would do. Then I would apply the veneer to a piece large enough to get all the parts out and sand it to make it thinner if that's really what you need to do. After that cut out the parts and assemble.
For super skinny veneer you're really talking scraper or drum sander. Question: can you remove the existing venerr and do a re-clad instead of a repair?
New base - I probably manage to do that also. Better to have CNC cut out and from plywood. This one is from chipboard. Base is in good condition, only 2 corners got damaged, so I need to rebuild these. I think I will keep that base.
I tried - old veneer is removable. Iron and it will soften glue. This glue is nothing special, quite mediocre. So I will re-clad it with new veneer.
I though first same process - to lay down veneer and then sand it down. This I can manage in my garage. Eccentric sander is ok?
If this does not work - how this scraping works? I may also find drum sander maybe in some woodworking/furniture business. This one gives probably best results and precise?
I think the only way to get it back in mint condition and same look as from factory is to use very thin veneer. I really like that these corners are sharp and it looks like it is covered just paper thin veneer. It gives such elegant look.
Hi again
Things have improved a bit.
I decided to use easiest option first, so to restore coating. If that does not succeed I will reveneer it.
So I started sanding down old varnish, grit 120.
Please have a opinion what type of varnish this could be?:
1) first sanding dust was a bit yellow, brownish, very thin layer (added picture also from layer)
2) then sanding dust soon changed to milk-white (see pics). This was quite nice layer, took some time
3) then appear veneer and dust colored into reddish, brownish. Probably stain?
Next question:
what do you think, what type of veneer is that? It is definately palisander (rosewood), but Santos, Rio, East-Indian, Boliwian?
It looks like it could be quartersawn East Indian rosewood veneer. These are used by musical instrument manufacturers when laminating guitar backs and sides.
Exactly - I was thinking the same. Now we have at least veneer :)
Last one - do you guys have any idea what varnish is used for that plinth?
I had a similar issue with the plinth on my owned-since-new (1970) Garrard turntable. The original was just 1/2" MDF covered with a paper-thin veneer. My fix was to make a complete new one. Used African mahogany and to dress it up, added 1/2 wide stripes of curly maple surrounded by wenge. Finish is a slightly red-tinted shellac covered with layers of satin arm-r-seal. It's not a difficult build. Only problem now is that the new plinth demands a properly built record cabinet to show it off!
So, if you don't like your veneer choices, just make a new plan from your old plinth.
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