Replacing Veneer Top on Antique File Cabinet · Sawinery Woodworking Guild

Replacing Veneer Top on Antique File Cabinet

Started out this morning to restore this antique file cabinet that my wife got from her mother's place. Restoration is going to mostly consist of re-veneering the top, which was stained mahogany. Part of the veneer had peeled off, due to water damage from cold glasses. Of course, modern veneer is thinner, so I couldn't just patch it at the seam, I've got to replace the entire top.

The normal way of peeling off old veneer is to heat it with a heat gun. Unfortunately, mine died about 10 seconds into the project. So, I'm peeling of the old veneer with a chisel. It turns out that the heat gun might not have worked anyway, as the veneer is actually the face veneer of hardwood plywood.

You might ask "Why?" I'm using a chisel to take this layer of veneer off, rather than using something faster, like a power plane or a belt sander. The reason is control. I can control the depth of cut very accurately with a chisel, even if it is slower. If I try to use either of those power tools, I'd likely end up with gouges at their edge of cut, which I would then have to repair. So, sometimes, the slow way ends up being the best way.

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