Replies

1. 
   Cincinnati | Oct 03, 2008 01:31am | #1

   Is this an interior or exterior door? What kind of abuse are you dealing with? It's important to have good surface prep for the veneer bond. A thin veneer may conform to the damage / or try to. Gouges or divots in the wood underneath will be a weak spot in the veneer. If the veneer is too thick, you may get into problems seating the door into the jam and carrying it on the hinges.

   I recommend a vacuum press. But this will certainly draw a thin veneer into the imperfections in substrate. If one is not available, looks like clamps and cauls.

   Weigh carefully what needs to be done. Your time could get excessive if it is that heavily damaged.

   Greg

   •••••••

   Exo 35:30-35

2. 
   brad805 | Oct 03, 2008 01:43am | #2

   Should be fixable if the door is sound except for the dents.  Interior or exterior use?  Have some pics?  You will get some great advice once you add a few pics.  I assume when you say side rails you mean the stiles (yes, a bit fussy).  Are the rails and stiles profiled (cope/stick)?  I suspect not, but figured I would ask.  I assume you want to use a solid wood veneer and not a paperback type.  Any access to a vacuum bag?  A vacuum bag will help if you have profiled elements.  Clamps and cauls will work great if all the stock is square and there is always the tried and true hammer veneering or other more traditional ways to apply the veneer, but I will leave those suggestions to those experienced in such techniques.  Mostly a vacuum press guy myself.  I would say no to the contact cement.  PVA's (TBII, TBIII), Urea Formaldehyde and epoxies would be the adhesives I would look to.  The adhesive selection will depend upon its final use, condition of the substrates and the method you intend to use.

   How many dents are we talking?  If there are not that many it may be possible to complete spot repairs with a matching wood and then you will be able to re-finish.  If you have Jeff Jewitts finishing book he shows many repair techniques that might help.  Just an idea, but I know you probably thought about this one.

   Another option if most of the dents are relatively shallow would be to find someone with a 43" widebelt and run it through a couple of times.  Most producing doors run them through a big wide belt before finishing, so I would bet you might be able to find someone that has one.  That will not work very well if the rails and stiles are profiled, and you could end up loosing more material than you like.  You would have to be sure it is solid wood.  Stave core door production has been around for a long time, so you might find the core of the rails/stiles is different from the face material. 

   Brad