Are these Heybrook HB3's cabinets repairable ? (Help)

[JwEs]

I will post pics later on, just wanted to ask how do I know if my HB3's, which arrived from the transport company cracked and with chunks missing on some corners, are worth repairing the cabinets or not.

Thanks a lot and BTW forum rules

[JwEs]

I'm sorry for the delay here are two pictures, I'll try to get better ones later (my digicam is broken..), I think you get the idea.
Can someone familiar with these comment on how the wood plates are held together internally ? Is it like, right after the damage there isn't anything else or what ?
Also, how long can one expect wood speakers to hang themselves, does the glue start to break with time ?

Thank you very much for any information regarding this!

JwEs

[Richard]

Hi, Sad to see They should be repairable if you can find a good joiner/cabinet maker. Look for someone who advertises furniture restoration. Heybrook used chipboard. It will stay glued for a very long time and usually only damp/water is the proplem. There may be wooden blocks inside but if the joint is still good it may just be a case of cosmetic restoration to the outside.

[Shane]

Originally Posted by Richard

Hi, Sad to see They should be repairable if you can find a good joiner/cabinet maker. Look for someone who advertises furniture restoration. Heybrook used chipboard. It will stay glued for a very long time and usually only damp/water is the proplem. There may be wooden blocks inside but if the joint is still good it may just be a case of cosmetic restoration to the outside.

There are no wooden blocks inside the corners of the HB3 cabs, just straightforward v-grooved mitre joints.

[Edwin]

Finding a good cabinetmaker may prove easier than finding the money to pay the bill, because they don't come cheap! However, the main consideration is whether or not you have good enough woodworking skills and good enough tools to do the repair yourself, assuming it's worthwhile. A few points occur to me.

1. It looks from your pic (though it may be a distortion by the camera lens) that the veneer has lifted on both sides of the corner and that suggests that damp has penetrated a considerable way into the chipboard and caused it to swell and disintegrate (or the cabinets have had some really hard knocks). You won't be able to flatten the panels without taking off chunks of the veneer.

2. If damp is the cause and the glue used for the mitred corner is a standard PVA, the damp will have softened and weakened it, so we don't know how much the airtightness of the cabinet has been affected.

3. An acceptable solution would have to keep the structure as strong as possible, make the joints airtight, and present a good appearance.

The path I would probably take is as follows, but it isn't quick.

a. Let everything dry completely.

b. Plane and/or sand the panel surfaces flat at the corners so that there is no swelling. The chipboard may tend to crumble, so sanding alone is preferable. Then apply a wood stabilising treatment or a a slightly diluted PVA glue to the rough chipboard and let it harden. Then sand it flat.

c. Repair the panel edges by cutting back with a very sharp chisel, then gluing in pieces of solid wood, to be trimmed to size when fixed.

d. You would now have a pair of rough-looking cabintes and a question remaining about the integrity of the mitred corner joints.

My solution would be to clad the whole of each cabinet with veneered 6mm MDF. The raw edges of the MDF and original panels could be covered with strips of iron-on matching veneer or strips of solid wood (which would have to be incorporated into the total width of the veneered panel). The original mitred joints would be totally enclosed within the lapped joints of the veneered MDF.

This all sounds very elaborate and it certainly isn't something you would necessarily want to do on the kitchen table, even with permission. However, if I've understood the situation, it's what I would do.

[alnewall]

My solution would be to clad the whole of each cabinet with veneered 6mm MDF

Thats a good solution, and one that i've used before.
Obviously take the drivers out first and check the internal corners for damage.
Seal all internal joins with some sort of non silicone sealant. Decorators caulk works well.

[Richard]

Yes, hard to tell how far the damage goes. Another good method not to be missed these days is to cut back the damage with a chisel and repair with 2 pack polyester filler, that is; car body filler such as Plastic Padding or Ronseal 2 pack wood filler. Very quick and strong and can be sanded to restore the original shape. Then small pieces of (teak/walnut?) veneer cut in, glued and sanded, and a couple of coats of button polish wiped on for a sheen.

[Edwin]

Alnewall - I was interested to see your comment about silicone - that it shouldn't be used to seal the internal corners. Is that because it remains flexible? A good quality silicone has excellent adhesion, so I wondered what the drawback is.

[alnewall]

Well i'm no expert but i use silicone regularly in my work.
Silicone is in my opinion best kept for sealing showers etc.
You can't paint over it.
You can't put woodstain over it.
In fact nothing sticks to it.
If you accidentally get some on the cabinet or anywhere else, its devilish stuff to remove effectively.
It has a strong odour and may possibly have some detrimental effect on the drivers.
It doesn't last as long, as it usually says on the tube.
More trouble than its worth.
Can't think of anything else.

"Milliput" is good stuff for repairing things.

All just my opinion of course.

[Edwin]

You've thought of enough to convince me!