Amateur DIY Wood Refinishing/Laminating

[James]

I just finished my lamination project on my gauge cluster, and was surprised at how easy (albeit time consuming) the process was to get a nice finished product. I'm sure Bela's sets would be far nicer than what I did, but I do enjoy learning a new process and doing it myself. That being said, I still have the rest of the wood to complete...

I removed my gauge cluster from the car with ample kicking and screaming. If I hadn't had the seats out, I probably couldn't have done it, being a large person. Here is what I started with. Cracked veneer, water damaged and rusty bezels.

I removed the bezels, which popped out fairly easily, sanded them down by hand, and applied a coat of "Truck Bedliner" coating. This gave them a nice textured finish, and a little bit of sanding after two coats, and I think they look great.

I used coarse grit sand paper and a palm sander and removed the veneer down to the next layer. Its most likely important to go that far, so that the bezels will fit properly when the new veneer is laid over.

Here in San Francisco, I visited MacBeath hardwoods, where they have a great selection of veneer available (among other things). I found a helpful guy there who was interested in the project, and gave me pricing on this piece (18"x48") of zebrawood veneer based on square footage, so I received the same pricing as if I bought a full 4 foot by 8 foot sheet. I highly recommend this shop. They had many available options and many different price points, including some rather exotic and burl woods. Fun to wander around in there.

I traced the design onto the back of the sheet, leaving excess at the edges where it curves to facilitate with the steaming and bending process later. I then very carefully cut the veneer out with a razor blade. This was perhaps the most labor intensive/time consuming job. It was done sans whisky, so nearly took me two hours to make the cuts practically perfect and without splitting the wood.

 

[OLD_DTM]

I Do have a laser machine.. I can draw the pattern and cut it...

 

[James]

Next, I test fitted the gauge bezels to make sure everything lined up. Looked pretty good, and I could trim a touch here and there later.

I took the tea kettle, brought water to a boil, and steamed the edges where the bends are until they were nice and floppy. I then suspended a two pound halibut trolling weight from a cheap clamp and let the veneer dry. I did this on both sides, and when it had dried and cooled, it maintained the shape of the curve.

Finally it was time to glue. Making sure everything was clean and even/level, I used Titebond Brand wood glue, the one with the most workable time, and applied a healthy coat to everywhere on the face of the cluster that's flat, laid the veneer over the top, made sure the fit was still good with the bezels, and used a bunch of clamps and a small cutting board. Right when I still had time, I realized I should check to make sure no glue had seeped onto the cutting board. Glue, in fact, had; I removed the cutting board, cleaned it, and returned it to its roll of helping clamp the veneer down. Its important not to have a cutting board covering your speedometer and tach during spirited driving.

I let it sit overnight, and was happy with the results. No creases or bubbles and seemingly great adhesion. I then trimmed the edges at the curve to where the original veneer laid on the wood. For the edges, I used a trick a buddy of mine who restores old British cars showed me. I applied the wood glue underneath the veneer, and pressing it tight, applied fast acting superglue to the edge to hold it in place or act as a clamp. Once the super glue dried, I was able to let the wood glue cure overnight again. I lightly sanded everything, did some minor trimming, and hit the veneer with 4 coats of tung oil, with applied once a day with light sanding in between coats. I'm fairly happy with the results considering this was my first attempt at anything like this.

 

[James]

I Do have a laser machine.. I can draw the pattern and cut it...

Fancy. That sounds like fun!

 

[steve in reno]

James
Good work. I have also done this to my coupe, but used a carp. burl.
A suggestion...I would spray a satin urethane on the finished parts. You will resand during coats same as the oil
If using just tung oil it will need to be applied often in the parts life.
Where you live there is plenty of moisture And with it sealed from the urethane it will maintain the luster without fading, drying or cracking.

 

[bluecoupe30!]

Hey James, nice photos, great enthusiasm, excellent results, thanks for posting. Mike

 

[James]

James
Good work. I have also done this to my coupe, but used a carp. burl.
A suggestion...I would spray a satin urethane on the finished parts. You will resand during coats same as the oil
If using just tung oil it will need to be applied often in the parts life.
Where you live there is plenty of moisture And with it sealed from the urethane it will maintain the luster without fading, drying or cracking.

Thanks for the idea. It isn't installed yet, as I'm planning on painting the top of the steering column in the next couple of days, so I'll definitely do that before it goes back in.

 

[Aussiecsi]

Zebrano is very exotic James...nice choice if finished well . Look forward to the completed product . Dealing with the sharp curvature on the ends and not splitting the veneer is a great effort for a novice . Cheers, Simon

 

[zinz]

Nice job! All my wood needs restoration... I'm still weighing the options.

Thanks for posting!

Ed Z

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

James, super job! If I may make a suggestion on the steering column, instead of the bed liner, which tends to be rather thick, I used trunk spatter paint, it comes out grey and white but when it's dry you can sand it down and get almost the exact texture as the original, then paint it with the correct black. I'm sure we would all like to see the rest of the wood pieces done, and Ed, you'll need allot more wood on the 2000 CS

 

[zinz]

....a LOT more wood

Ed

 

[James]

James, super job! If I may make a suggestion on the steering column, instead of the bed liner, which tends to be rather thick, I used trunk spatter paint, it comes out grey and white but when it's dry you can sand it down and get almost the exact texture as the original, then paint it with the correct black. I'm sure we would all like to see the rest of the wood pieces done, and Ed, you'll need allot more wood on the 2000 CS

Ok great. I'll look into this! I'm still struggling on removing the other dash pieces/AC, but I feel like the gauge cluster will be the most difficult piece due to the compound curves, etc.

 

[dave v. in nc]

Nice work, and great looking veneer! I think that you will find the concave pieces to the left and right of the gauge cluster more difficult than the cluster itself...Clamping is a little more difficult since you need a caul (opposite curve to piece being veneered), or a sand bag method, to equalize the clamping pressure...or you might buy a Food Saver (you can borrow one for that matter) and vacuum bag the veneer on...I've done a few sets and it works great (pretty good with salmon as well...). Drop me a PM if you'd like to discuss. And I agree with Steve on the urethane...I experimented with tung oil on some samples (albeit walnut), and after ten hand rubbed coats, I gave up on getting the finish build desired.

 

[Markos]

Ok great. I'll look into this! I'm still struggling on removing the other dash pieces/AC, but I feel like the gauge cluster will be the most difficult piece due to the compound curves, etc.

James,

Take a look at my deconstruction thread (see signature) over the next week or two. I've snapped pics of the AC parts and described the removal a bit. Shipping out the AC tomorrow and finishing the dash removal this week. If you have any pic requests let me know.

 

[James]

Nice work, and great looking veneer! I think that you will find the concave pieces to the left and right of the gauge cluster more difficult than the cluster itself...Clamping is a little more difficult since you need a caul (opposite curve to piece being veneered), or a sand bag method, to equalize the clamping pressure...or you might buy a Food Saver (you can borrow one for that matter) and vacuum bag the veneer on...I've done a few sets and it works great (pretty good with salmon as well...). Drop me a PM if you'd like to discuss. And I agree with Steve on the urethane...I experimented with tung oil on some samples (albeit walnut), and after ten hand rubbed coats, I gave up on getting the finish build desired.

I take it the sandbag method is as I'd imagine it. But the food saver idea is definitely one I've been thinking about. Considering the amount of wild game, fish, and mushrooms I go through, it would make sense in many ways. I wouldn't have to give as much away

 

[James]

James,

Take a look at my deconstruction thread (see signature) over the next week or two. I've snapped pics of the AC parts and described the removal a bit. Shipping out the AC tomorrow and finishing the dash removal this week. If you have any pic requests let me know.

Thanks Markos. I'll check that out.

 

[aearch]

just allly the wood glue to each side
let dry overnite
set in water for a minute to soften
get a steam iron and cloth and heat it up
glues forever -piece of cake
cut and trim after applying ---not before!!
super simple i did all mine twice -very fast

 

[Honolulu]

Alan:

I'd want as little water as possible applied to the wood but your sequence does sound interesting. I'm concerned that if the wood is wetted you'd have to make very sure that all water was gone before going further, or it might later soften the glue (?), lead to delamination (?) or enhance mold growth(?) . If in a very dry climate this might not matter, but certainly not the case here in Honolulu.

I'd want to use medium setting epoxy rather than wood glue to minimize the moisture. Epoxy can be finicky about proper mix ratio so I generally use some small syringes to ensure the correct proportions. When the doc give me some kind of injection I to keep the syringe, and tell them my intended use, they are okay with it as long as they retain the needle. Epoxy cleans up almost as easily as wood glue, using denatured alcohol, which can also be used to thin the epoxy for better penetration.

I have a spare cluster and some veneer. The long curved bit of wood on my dash is not so good... I should attempt this.... So many projects, so little time.

To the OP, a sheet of wax paper will prevent bonding between your cutting board and the veneer. The "triple waxed" stuff is best if you can find it, otherwise use a two sheets, or some Saran Wrap or similar.

 

[steve in reno]

I also used epoxy for the glue. Used a long set timed. I am slow!
Clean the surface of the newly oiled parts with alcohol before shooting the urethane!!!
When using the urethane, a minimum of 3 coats and more if needed for flush grain fill. Sand between coats with decreasing grit on every pass.
I had 4 coats on my burl, and really needed more.

 

[aearch]

all the water evaporates from the iron
and you only dip it for 10 SECONDS AT MOST
every bent piece of wood in the world is wetted first
there is no moisture left after the iron and the glue dries
im telling you
this is the perfect way to do it
try it on the back you will see