@ Kurt - Dining Room Table Problem

[Terence McCann]

Kurt:

My dining room table has developed a strange problem.

After moving a small lazy Susan, that we keep in the middle of it, I noticed a few areas that have a raised surface - almost like someone put a syringe in the wood and filled a pocket with air (a bubble so to speak). It would appear to be water damage but I can't find any staining/water marks around these areas. I'm really bummed as it is a nice table, bought 25 years ago.

Anyway, what to do? My thought is to cover the areas with a bath towel, hit it with steam from a clothes iron, dry surface quickly and put some kind of heavy weight on it for X amount of time (keeping some type of protective cover on the wood). My fear is the steam will leave a water mark that won't come out.

Thoughts?

Tanks.

[AHI in AR]

Terry--

I'm obviously not Kurt, but...

What you have there is a failure of the glue. It isn't necessarily moisture-related.

Personally, I would try a gentle heat + clamping action without moisture method before I added steam.

That worked on an old 1940's table I had with similar delamination, but your glue is probably (OK, almost assuredly) different.

[kurt]

I tend to agree with Kevin. Glue failure delam, although I always suspect moisture played some part, even if it is only vapor.

That's a mildly tricky repair, because you can't tell what's going on under the clamp.

Maybe get a small piece of 1/4" lexan as a buffer to distribute load over the area, and you could see through it while it was clamped....(?)....

If that didn't work, I'd probably try epoxy injected with syringes and thin needle with the same method. This is what vacuum bagging is made for; you got access to a vacuum bag setup?

Yeah, tricky repair without cutting out the veneer and doing a fisheye patch.

[gtblum]

Terry,

Run it by these guys too. http://www.woodweb.com/index.html

There's a lot of sharp folks there.

[Richard Moore]

And if all else fails, you can always cover the area with a lazy susan. []

[Jim Katen]

Kurt:

My dining room table has developed a strange problem.

After moving a small lazy Susan, that we keep in the middle of it, I noticed a few areas that have a raised surface - almost like someone put a syringe in the wood and filled a pocket with air (a bubble so to speak). It would appear to be water damage but I can't find any staining/water marks around these areas. I'm really bummed as it is a nice table, bought 25 years ago.

Anyway, what to do? My thought is to cover the areas with a bath towel, hit it with steam from a clothes iron, dry surface quickly and put some kind of heavy weight on it for X amount of time (keeping some type of protective cover on the wood). My fear is the steam will leave a water mark that won't come out.

Thoughts?

Tanks.

Use a syringe to inject a very small amount of slightly thinned yellow glue into the blister. Clamp it with a hard flat object and a very heavy weight or rig something that can exert very great force. After it's set, clean up any glue squeeze out and touch up the syringe hole with a furniture repair stick.

I'd be afraid to use heat because it would be easy to damage the finish or further loosen the veneer. I'd use yellow glue because it's easy to thin, it works predictably well, and, if necessary, it can be undone or redone with heat -- if it comes to that.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Chad Fabry]

I use a hypodermic syringe to inject HotShot w/o an accelerator. Make sure you use a disposable syringe.

[Terence McCann]

Thanks for the replies all.

The raised areas aren't really an air bubble that you can press then have them move. They are raised areas where the wood has just expanded - almost like metal lintel that has rusted and expanded (but you can't see any layers, just an expanded area).

There are three areas in total, two are right in the seam where the table pulls apart to install the leaves and the other is 3-4 inches from the seam.

[gtblum]

Thanks for the replies all.

The raised areas aren't really an air bubble that you can press then have them move. They are raised areas where the wood has just expanded - almost like metal lintel that has rusted and expanded (but you can't se any layers, just an expanded area).

There are three areas in total, two are right in the seam where the table pulls apart to install the leaves and the other is 3-4 inches from the seam.

Is it a solid top or veneer? Got a picture?

[Terence McCann]

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[gtblum]

Looks to me like moisture got to the MDF and blew it up. How brave are you? You may be able to CAREFULLY cut a kerf through the center, bring it back with a clamp, and fill it with epoxy to hold it. Drill a series of holes first. then take out the material between the holes with a hand saw or a dremel. I think you can fix it.

Then, urethane the rest of the exposed MDF so It won't happen again

[kurt]

I think Blum may be right. If it's MDF, it's expanded and that isn't a bubble. Expanded MDF has been the end to many a veneer tabletop. There's a reason I'll only use waterproof MDF.

Tricky mess to repair satisfactorily.

[hausdok]

Hi,

I'd use a plunge router with an inlay bit to remove that piece of veneer. Then, using a spiral bit I'd gradually remove the high area until I'd brought it even with the rest of it. I'd then clean up the corners with a chisel, go to a door manufacturer and find a matching flitch (dampen them when comparing them to get the right shade) and then I'd use my pattern and inlay bit to get the perfect fit for the replacement flitch. I'd use hide glue, fit it in place, tape the joints with some fabric sizing and then I'd clamp it with a pair of cauls and some wax paper. After it dried, I'd use an RO sander to clean it up and then I'd finish it.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike