Replacing Chipped Veneer

[garlanre]

I have a beautiful mid-century teak and teak veneer console that has chips in the veneer. I replaced some of the pieces, but I'm not particularly happy with the results (see pics). There is one place left that still needs repair. I'm not sure whether I should do it, since I could really bomb and make it worse than it was before. My questions:

When replacing veneer, how do you match the color of the original veneer?

How do you fill in the tiny cracks that inevitably form between the original and the replaced veneers?

Should I try repairing the chips that are still there, and if so, what is the best procedure to follow? I have learned veneer replacement through trial and error, and it would be good to get professional lesson.

Here are the pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54183354@N04/?saved=1

Thank you!

[AsonnyA]

Looks like you did a pretty good job. Sometimes, reattaching veneer is a hit-or-miss proposition and you just have to match up the pieces as best you can.... as long as your glue works well, too.

For fairly large gaps, in/with the fit, sometimes using shellac sticks are used, but you have to be careful about applying it. You select an appropriately colored stick and melt it into the gap. It takes some practice to do a reasonable job (without getting buildup beyond the gap). I think if you are uncomfortable with shellac sticks, you might try coloring liquid shellac and, little by little, fill the gaps with successive coats, carefully sanding smooth each coat where it may be applied beyond the gap, and applying multiple coats, into the gap, until the gaps are reasonably filled.

I think that's a buffet or serving table.

Sonny

[garlanre]

Thanks Sonny. I can't wait to try your suggestion of filling in the gaps with liquid shellac. Do I color it with regular oil-based paints? Would model paints work? I like using model paints because there are so many colors and you can mix them to get near-perfect color matches.

Regarding the chipped places that are still on the server, what would you do with them if it were your piece? As you can kind of see from the picture, those chips are really more like scrapes, and maybe they need filling more than replacing. I don't like using standard wood putties because they're so difficult to color-match. Do you know of some other product that would both fill the scrapes and allow me to match the color and texture of the surrounding wood?

Thanks again.