Restoring veneer

[rowan.bradley]

I am restoring the case of a grandfather clock dating probably from the 1790s. There is a veneer strip around near the edge of the door, which has cracks and veneer lifting slightly every inch or two e.g. the veneer can be pressed down with the finger nail, and moves slightly (see inside red rings on the following photo).





What is the best technique for repairing this? I have been thinking of trying to inject glue under the raised pieces of veneer (if I can in fact get a hypodermic needle under them without breaking them), and then clamping them down using a piece of wood covered in PTFE tape, so the wood doesn't stick to the veneer.
1. Will this work?
2. What type of glue should I use?
3. Is there a better way?


Thank you - Rowan

[auscab]

Hi Rowan.
These Pallete knives come nice and thin in the blade and flexible . I used to grind knives to do the same but since using these Ive stuck with them for this sort of repair.
Casual Palette Knifes Set Artist Palete Pallet Knives Metal Spatulas Mixing Tool | eBay

Heat up some Hot hide glue (Animal Glue). You can do it in a small jar with hot water and sit that in a bowl or pot of water and just boil a jug and change the water every 15 to 20 minutes if your using it for a while. The Three Pallete knives on the left in that link is the type I use. You just slide a bit of glue under and clamp it down with a flat block of wood with some plastic bag off cut in between. Before you clamp it wipe off all excess glue with a warn damp cloth dipped in your bowl of hot water then quickly dry it with a rag. Then clamp it. The main thing your trying to do is glue it and not damage the finish with the water to much. After its dry wipe it again with warm water and remove any excess glue that will have squeezed out and lightly re polish. The excess hide glue will easily disolve the next day. The longer you leave cleaning that off the harder it gets to remove . It'll always be possible to clean it up , its just easier if you do it sooner rather than weeks later. You don't want to be sanding anything flat after that unless you want a lot more work and a changes look to the patina which is hard to repair if you do change it. You will need to be repairing slight water damage to the finish after doing this no matter how careful you are so try to minimize that. Its easy to fix if you know your way around shellac and metho and how to lightly use it in the correct amounts .

The problem with loose cross banding is it can catch on clothes and be lost. Plenty of Georgian furniture that has that lifted veneer look is left as it is if its not to loose that it is falling off and being lost.

In the past ( 1960s and 70s) some restorers would glue it all down and then sand and re polish and then later at some stage it comes back again. You can only do that so many times before you run out of veneer thickness. And making it look brand new is not the way of restoring that sort of thing any more thank goodness.

That sort of cross banding around that time was usually Tulipwood . That's what yours looks to be I think .
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Rob