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RE: How to remove solid wood trim from a cabinet ?

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In Reply to: RE: How to remove solid wood trim from a cabinet ? posted by rogerh113 on December 11, 2016 at 16:32:05

Sounds like heartache waiting to happen to me... unless this solid wood trim is 1/8" or 1/4" thick. If it's veneer, I seriously would not bother.

I would resize by laminating MDF panels onto the speaker as needed. To glue MDF to wood you could use contact cement or just wood glue.

Then you can seal the MDF with a 50/50 wood/water glue mixture and prime/paint or put new veneer on.

Or you could use 1/4" plywood with veneer on it and glue THAT to the existing speaker. I've refinished a lot of speakers... trust me... you're better off forgoing the original finish and starting anew. It seems like a waste, but one thing I learned about DIY is the only thing I waste more of than money is time. ;)

Post a picture of the speaker, it might result in more accurate advice.

I've painted speakers, put on veneer, used veneered plywoods, used laminates... re-painted, re-laminated with MDF layers, rebuilt speaker interiors...

I've turned stuff ready for the garbage bin into strong good looking low-resonance enclosures.

The best thing about a cheap speaker with nice squared-off sides is that you don't need to be a cabinet maker or carpenter to augment the existing shape. It's pretty hard to mess up. If you put over-sized panels on and use a router to trim the excess... you can really end up with a perfect looking end product.

Enough out of me.

Good luck.

-Presto

Follow Ups:

RE: How to remove solid wood trim from a cabinet ? - rogerh113 19:49:30 12/14/16 (5)
Hi,

There are a couple of picture on my Dec 12 post in this thread. Got the trim off fine (at least on this cabinet - one to go after this). If the rest of the cabinet deconstructs as well as it has so far, this will be fairly straightforward (but of course I don't fully expect that to happen). Then it is a matter of resizing the panels and rebuilding.

A very interesting project, and I an optimistic the result will be very nice.

Thanks -- Roger
- I stand corrected - Presto 20:44:25 12/16/16 (2)
  If you got that veneer off, you're golden. It's really not often this is a plausible scenario. Foil-backed veneer? Whatever it was, it didn't penetrate the veneer or it just dried out. Glad you got it off!
  
  Once the cabinet is raw you can do practically anything.
  
  Myself, I like to use routers to cut apart speakers for changing dimensions, but I've also thrown speakers on table saws (with suitable jigs) to make much faster cuts.
  
  Laminating on layers of MDF or other materials is a sinch too....
  
  Cheers,
  Presto
  - ? - bare 09:19:23 12/17/16 (1)
    Elephant in the room issue:
    Frankly those don't look like very well Designed OR even decently Built speaker boxes.
    Are you Sure? they are worth saving?
    - RE: ? - Presto 22:31:52 12/18/16 (0)
      He got the veneer off... he's happy.
      Who am I to argue?
      
      DIY is a labor of love...
      You can't reason with love.
      
      Cheers,
      Presto
- RE: How to remove solid wood trim from a cabinet ? - airtime 15:20:23 12/15/16 (1)
  You seem pretty handy. It will work out one way or another.
  
  Also sanding is going to be a concern. Veneer is very thin and will not take much to sand right through to the base wood.
  
  Just remember cutting off an inch or two off the cabinet may be your final choice. So be careful with the rest of the veneer.
  - RE: How to remove solid wood trim from a cabinet ? - rogerh113 16:17:21 12/15/16 (0)
    The trim is off, but I still need to separate the cabinet sides and top/bottom. I am reducing the width of the cabinet by about 6 inches, so Ican afford to lose a bit of material on the top and bottom. I am planning on using a router to take off the lap part of the top joints (1/4 inch thick) and then hopefully carefully separate the sides. I want to maintain the height of the cabinet, so going to have to work slowly on those joints. I can see that they are held by brads, so I may cut through the entire top if it does not release easily, and then move from there. Cutting through should allow me to knock the brads out before trying to release the glue joints.
    
    I know why people usually don't go this route - it takes a lot of time and thought. It will be quite satisfying if I can bring these old beauties back to life!!
    
    Repairing and refitting the Magnificent wood grills is another interesting challenge.....
    
    regards -- Roger

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