wood question for woodworkers, cabinet makers etc.

uk1979 wrote: Now looking at the problem, it looks like the top veneer has split which is good as you can just put some pva glue over the cracks and with a spatula (or something flexible ) force it in under the veneer then support the other side when laid down some plastic over it then a scrap of flat wood/ply and a bucket of water for weight, or set the pva by going over it with a hot iron use thick brown paper between the ply and iron and press as you go working back to the cracks and the excess glue will rise out will set in 1 or 2 min then leave for an hour. ( top tip # No 1   don’t do this one when the wife is around and clean iron after and if you can’t lose it somewhere they hurt when thrown )Or if you have the 2 part type of superglue put each part in a syringe and inject don’t go in the same hole next to each other and quickly thumb over it and hold down until set (can leave a little skin behind until you get the knack but it will sand off) can use ordinary superglue but need to put the needle cap on straight after injecting will get 5 or 6 shots before it sets in the needle. Other types of glue will work fine with pressure. If all else fails just get some ¼ or 3/8 good ply cut 1’1/2 smaller all round to the current panels and glue on to give a raised panel look on one side but if you have lifting on both then add both sides. It looks great from here

The bed will get white paint to match the rest of the furniture in her room. Hollywood, I thought about a textured paint, but it will look noticably different from the other pieces in the room.

I like Roger's idea with the wood glue and iron. I'll try that and report back. Is it reasonable to think that if I can get these problem areas glued back down and then and several good paints on this that it could "harden" the top layer to the rest of the plys slowing or eliminating further delamination?

Now looking at the problem, it looks like the top veneer has split which is good as you can just put some pva glue over the cracks and with a spatula (or something flexible ) force it in under the veneer then support the other side when laid down some plastic over it then a scrap of flat wood/ply and a bucket of water for weight, or set the pva by going over it with a hot iron use thick brown paper between the ply and iron and press as you go working back to the cracks and the excess glue will rise out will set in 1 or 2 min then leave for an hour. ( top tip # No 1   don’t do this one when the wife is around and clean iron after and if you can’t lose it somewhere they hurt when thrown )Or if you have the 2 part type of superglue put each part in a syringe and inject don’t go in the same hole next to each other and quickly thumb over it and hold down until set (can leave a little skin behind until you get the knack but it will sand off) can use ordinary superglue but need to put the needle cap on straight after injecting will get 5 or 6 shots before it sets in the needle.
Other types of glue will work fine with pressure.
If all else fails just get some ¼ or 3/8 good ply cut 1’1/2 smaller all round to the current panels and glue on to give a raised panel look on one side but if you have lifting on both then add both sides.
It looks great from here

I think it looks good too which is why im bummed about it.

Steve,
You said your brother in law is an amateur but from the pictures it sure looks like he did a great job.

The glue lines are red, but not the right shade of red, too pink, not brown enough. I'll bet the mill puts red dye in the cornstarch paste to fool the inspector / buyers and the panels still fail. This problem is not limited to HD and Lowes, I've seen the same problems out of panels sourced through the distributors to the industry.

I once tried to lift a large panel off the table saw by lifting right on the edge, I split the panel in two.

I would CPES it and then put wax paper between it and the wood used for clamping it flat. The CPES will penetrate the outer layer of veneer. It will also act as a primer for the paint.

Gluing it at the edges is easy, but couldn't you just use some kind of texturized paint to hide the bubbles elsewhere?

65 'cuda wrote: I have posted this before, that import "cabinet grade" birch is junk. I have pulled apart the laminations simply trying to pick up a panel. I don't realy know what you could do to repair it, as it is probably throughout the panel. Maybe throughbolt with washers both sides? (grasping at straws here)

Gary I bought a sheet of that junk for a small project a while back and it started delaminating as I was running it through the table saw!!! Never seen anything like that crap in my life.

Steve you could be SOL on the bed but practice makes perfect so he better get started on a new one.

I have posted this before, that import "cabinet grade" birch is junk. I have pulled apart the laminations simply trying to pick up a panel. I don't realy know what you could do to repair it, as it is probably throughout the panel. Maybe throughbolt with washers both sides? (grasping at straws here)