Very thin piece of wood glued to sides of cabinet instead of sanding?

[DaddyLongLegs]

Hello! My father is a carpenter and since I am not good with woodworking, he is helping me restore my TMNT cabinet. The sideart is completely gone; someone painted it black.

I told him we would need to sand it down and fill in some of the chipping and gashes with wood filler, among other things.

My father suggested what he thought was a better idea. Buy a very tall and wide, thin piece of wood (he believes lauan would be key). He is confident he can cut it to be the exact shape of the sides of the cabinet. He raised some good points in that it would be not only way easier, but also it would be easier to affix the artwork to it.

Is there anything I am missing here? Is this a good idea? Bad idea? I don't see any restoration guides out there that recommend it, so I wanted to make sure I checked with you guys before we proceed tomorrow. As always, thank you for your input

[Malenko]

why not just laminate it after filling in the holes with bondo?

[Mike A]

Off the top of my head, you will have an issue with the t-molding matching up. Depending on how he attaches the wood, you will have to fill screw or brad nail holes anyway. Unless he plans on gluing the panels together. You are going to have to paint the wood to give the vinyl graphics a good surface to stick to.

[DaddyLongLegs]

why not just laminate it after filling in the holes with bondo?

Well it's in pretty rough shape. Especially near the bottom towards the back, there is a chunk of wood missing. I know normally people would flip this machine on its side, completely cut out a foot or so of wood, and replace it, but I think that is a bit overkill because it's the back of the machine, not the front. So using my father's idea, you would not even see the missing wood unless you were looking at the back of the machine. We also do not have the bit needed to carve the t-molding in.

Off the top of my head, you will have an issue with the t-molding matching up. Depending on how he attaches the wood, you will have to fill screw or brad nail holes anyway. Unless he plans on gluing the panels together. You are going to have to paint the wood to give the vinyl graphics a good surface to stick to.

I brought up the T-Molding immediately! He said you would barely see the part peeking out, though I don't know how true that is. Though I suppose if we painted it black and use black t-molding, perhaps it would in fact be almost impossible to notice?

I also figured it would be a bit easier to put on the new artwork onto the thin piece of wood instead of directly on the machine. Especially when it comes to cutting it with an X-Acto knife.

And yeah his plan was to glue it on.

[thomas_surles]

Is the thing piece of wood he is referring to counter top laminate?

[Titchgamer]

Laminate would be my thoughts on this also for what the OP describes.

If your dad is a carpenter surely he has the stuff to cut a T moulding slot!?

[DaddyLongLegs]

Is the thing piece of wood he is referring to counter top laminate?

He said he thinks it is called "lauan" but if you have a better idea, I am all ears! If you think a thin sheet of laminate is good, I absolutely am willing to ask that he use that.

If your dad is a carpenter surely he has the stuff to cut a T moulding slot!?

I honestly rarely see t-molding in the real world (unless I don't notice it), I did not know it was common for carpenter's to use! But anyway he was a carpenter at a large company's headquarters; he wasn't in his own business or anything.

[Mike A]

Lauan is a loose term describing wood from an assortment of trees in Asia somewhere. It is normally sold as plywood. As others have already stated, Laminate is the way to go.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Lauan is a loose term describing wood from an assortment of trees in Asia somewhere. It is normally sold as plywood. As others have already stated, Laminate is the way to go.

Awesome. Thanks so much, Mike. Hopefully 0.039" is thin enough to not stick out like a sore thumb with the t-molding. Really appreciate your input.

[8BitMonk]

I think the thinnest luaun you'd find is 1/8" so it'd stick way out from t-molding. Thin vertical grade laminate is probably your best option if you don't want to sand, prime and paint. If you're willing to spend the money you can get adhesive backed laminate where you don't even have to deal with rolling on adhesive. Stick on vinyl like what's used in car wraps is also an option but it will show more imperfections from the original wood underneath than laminate would.

[Mike A]

You can also buy over sized t molding and trim it down with an xacto knife. It all depends on how much work you want to do.

[8BitMonk]

You can also buy over sized t molding and trim it down with an xacto knife. It all depends on how much work you want to do.

That'd be a major pain imo and it likely wouldn't be straight. Plus t-molding tapers from the center so if you're cutting a chunk off of one side by anything more than say 1/16th the taper doesn't look right.

The peel and stick laminate I'm talking about from Wilsonart is called RE-COVER. They don't advertise it but you can special order larger sheets from Home Depot if you ask at the store. 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wilsonart-24-in-x-48-in-RE-COVER-Laminate-Sheet-in-Black-1595607352448/206753329

[Mike A]

You are correct about the difficulties. I was just offering an alternative because the OP seems dead set on using plywood in a situation where laminate or bondo and paint are the tried and true methods.

The OP would be smart to listen to 8bitMonk. His restoration projects are really good.

[Laythe]

I'm not sure the original poster is talking about plywood - I think he might be referring to a veneer, based on that thickness number, maybe?

[Mike A]

That is a possibility. I don't do any veneer work. I was only familiar with it as a plywood. I guess you could veneer it.

[DaddyLongLegs]

You are correct about the difficulties. I was just offering an alternative because the OP seems dead set on using plywood in a situation where laminate or bondo and paint are the tried and true methods.

The OP would be smart to listen to 8bitMonk. His restoration projects are really good.

I am not dead set on using plywood at all. Laminate did not even occur to me. That is why I am so grateful for the replies in this thread.

I will use the laminate. I don't know why I don't see more restoration guides recommending it! I imagine it will look great!

[DaddyLongLegs]

You can also buy over sized t molding and trim it down with an xacto knife. It all depends on how much work you want to do.

That'd be a major pain imo and it likely wouldn't be straight. Plus t-molding tapers from the center so if you're cutting a chunk off of one side by anything more than say 1/16th the taper doesn't look right.

The peel and stick laminate I'm talking about from Wilsonart is called RE-COVER. They don't advertise it but you can special order larger sheets from Home Depot if you ask at the store. 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wilsonart-24-in-x-48-in-RE-COVER-Laminate-Sheet-in-Black-1595607352448/206753329

The one you linked it appears as though I would have to order 3 of them just to cover one side, which would be over $200 for the whole machine! (I know you said I can special order larger ones, but i would imagine the price would not be that much cheaper).

Or I can buy two of these and be done with the whole thing?  http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wilsonart-48-in-x-96-in-Laminate-Sheet-in-Black-Matte-1595603504896/203592675

Is that a good one to use? Just as good as the one you linked?

Thanks so much.

[shaolindrunkard]

This is what I do whenever I get a beat up cabinet. Get some Minwax 2 part wood filler, the stuff is like bondo but for wood. Fill in all the major gaps, and yes you can fill very large gaps with it. The stuff hardens like a rock. Then get some aggressive sandpaper and use a sander to sand the whole thing until its fairly flat. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth just flat. Go to home depot and get a couple sheets or Black laminate at 42 bucks a piece. Apply the laminate using the contact cement method. Trim the laminate. You will then have a nice smooth even durable surface. You can apply decals or just leave it be.

Its really not that much work and in my opinion doing it the right way will provide a much better result.

[8BitMonk]

The one you linked it appears as though I would have to order 3 of them just to cover one side, which would be over $200 for the whole machine! (I know you said I can special order larger ones, but i would imagine the price would not be that much cheaper).

Or I can buy two of these and be done with the whole thing?  http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wilsonart-48-in-x-96-in-Laminate-Sheet-in-Black-Matte-1595603504896/203592675

Is that a good one to use? Just as good as the one you linked?

Thanks so much.

Yeah the peel and stick stuff is a little more expensive, it seems to me it was cheaper per square foot for the big sheets though I can't remember. You pay for convenience, it saves you from having to deal with adhesive. Pretty much any laminate should do, some people say to get a 'vertical grade' laminate which is thinner but if you ask for it at Home Depot they usually don't know what it is.

Here's a good overview video on installing laminate from John's Arcade. Happy laminating!