Laminated chipboard/ particleboard cabinet repair?

[mcdonaldneal]

There's not really a good forum for this but, the bottom of the cabinets in our 1978 Dormobile camper have got wet and swollen and split over time. The cabinets are out and I want to make a repair. Only thing is, doing a general search online, no-one thinks it's possible and they suggest completely replacing it. Clearly that's not possible.
My thought was to clamp the area flat, removing excess wood if needed, then try to wick in either waterproof wood glue or low viscosity cyanoacrylate.
I'd really like to hear informed suggestions from the Samba community, especially anyone's who's attempted a similar thing before. A Samba search didn't turn up anything quite the same.
Thanks for your help!

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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[pioneer1]

"Clearly that's not possible". Why not? are there no cabinets for sale in Scotland?
_________________
"Always waiting for tomorrow ruined everything"

'85 Porsche 911 Targa

'76 Westfalia project

[vwwestyman]

I like your idea.

I bet if you were careful, and a little lucky, you could clamp it together between some 2x4s and glue it together.

Particle board is essentially little bits of wood glued together.

I think it would be hard to get anything to really "wick" up into the wood, though.

So my thought is maybe you can get some wood glue and thin it. Then take a syringe and inject the glue up into the board as far as you can from the edges, and clamp it together and let dry.

If that doesn't work, your best bet is likely to just cut a new panel and replace it. Of course, and unfortunately, the hardest part will be matching the grain pattern.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[mcdonaldneal]

[Pinetops]

You should get some laminate that matches closely and remake the rotten pieces out of good quality plywood.

Or if you want to go all out you could remake the entire interior out of hardwood and skip the laminate.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[grandpa pete]

Gluing and clamping won't work ; you will NEVER get that pressed board back together . If you want the same visual appearance you will have to strip the bad pressed board off of the laminate and apply to new plywood ; then reassemble . The busted corner in the last photo means some patching is going to have to happen .
There are threads in the stickies on applying laminates .I know; I wrote one of them years ago .
If your going for a 100 point restoration , I would suggest using what you have for patterns and building new .
or
Put a "Wanted to buy " add in samba classifieds for used cabinets if you understand how much of a $$$$$$ project you are getting into ...$65 for one sheet of 3/4 cabinet grade plywood .
_________________
63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery

[Dana Champion]

Pinetops and grandpa pete have some good suggestions.

Particle board and water are not friends. I'm thankful that Westfalia used plywood for their builds. Particle board is heavy as well. I know it's a lot of work trying to keep the originality with that damage you have. If you could eliminate that particle board completely, you would probably be ahead of the game in the long run. Obviously time and money are factors. Using a laminant ply with a nice wood veneer could be gorgeous, or using a similar laminant. Laminant being the most durable, and the veneer, no doubt, the best looking. Decisions...

All the best

[Tcash]

You would be much further ahead to repair the cabinets you have. Replace the bad pieces with new chipboard. Find a plastic laminate as close as you can to the original.
Good luck
Tcash

[mcdonaldneal]

Ok, probably the wrong approach but what the hell.

Looked at the better corner of the under bed panel and had a test clamp to see how closely it would come together. Not too bad. (Apologies for the poor quality pics!)

Then vacuumed out any loose bits of woodchip and gave the split area a token clean with isopropyl alcohol. While that was drying I covered the wood splints with Sellotape (other cellulose tapes are available!) as this will stop the glue from sticking them to the panel.

My plan is to fill the splits with waterproof wood glue, clamp and leave to set. I've got an American brand that got great reviews on Amazon. Then, while still clamped, to wick in some low viscosity cyanoacrylate and set with a kicker. No idea if it will work but, nothing ventured, nothing gained! I'll leave the wood glue to set overnight before I add the cyanoacrylate.

Comments welcome!

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[63ziggy]

quick suggestion that may help in swollen thickness around edges etc.

Take a portable circular saw and drop the blade in lengthwise on the edge.

This will take a saw kerf width of material out. Then drop glue as you have done and re-clamp. It would provide a "relief" cut allowing material to sandwich tighter together.

hope that makes sense

[mcdonaldneal]

[mcdonaldneal]

Impatience has got the better of me.
Having given the wood glue six hours to cure, I dribbled the cyanoacrylate on the top. It soaked in a little, which is good and then I set it with the kicker. The wood slats fell off nicely, so at least they aren't stuck to the repair!
Looks not too bad to my eye, so I had a go at the other end. It's a bit worse, but still compressed down fairly well, and so I did the same, and have left it overnight for the wood glue to cure.
Hopeful.

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[orchidkombi]

Titebond is exclusively what I use in my boxmaking now... although mostly the Titebond 1 (which is fine for interior use), occasionally 2. Fortunately we've got a hardware store that stocks mostly US products, so it's their cheap glue line. If I buy it through specialty woodwork suppliers, it's more than double the price!

[pioneer1]

does your spouse know you are using the dinning table as your workshop?
_________________
"Always waiting for tomorrow ruined everything"

'85 Porsche 911 Targa

'76 Westfalia project

[mcdonaldneal]

[VWDog]

Just seeing this now… I would have recommended boat builder's epoxy for the fix. Something like West System or System Three. The beauty of that type of coating is that it can be used as a glue or coating. In this case it would not have been necessary to thicken it to become a gap filing glue, in fact I would have been tempted to instead mix it in the proper proportions in a cup then use a heat gun on the container to make the mix less viscous. This would allow you to pour it into the affected area(maybe even open up the piece a bit more with wedges to allow penetration if it isn't too fragile), and then clamp as you did. It would also help to heat up the piece and tape off the laminate to protect it from any epoxy that is squeezed out before being scraped away.

Epoxy is durable and resistant to water, but not to UV, something that you would not have to worry about in this case
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1970 Lotus White Single Cab 2015- , 1979 Sage Green 2014-2015, 1978 Dakota Beige Westy 2012-2015, 1978 Neptune Blue Riviera 2012-2017 , 1970 Neptune Blue Bus 2010-2012, 1970 Deluxe Savannah Beige 2010-2012, 1985 Iltis 2010- , 1962 Single Cab 2010-2013, 1975 Brasilia? Bay/Split Kombi from Brazil 2008-2011, 1985 DoKa 1999-2009, 1971 Bus 1999-2000, 1968 Double Cab 1991-1998, 1965 Ghia 1987-1991, 1970 Westfalia-bought by Mum and Dad in 1970, sold by me in 1993 why-oh-why :_(

[Tom Powell]

[notchboy]

The repairs you are doing are the only thing you can do to salvage what you have. That particle board with tin papery laminate stuff just does not fair well when wet.

Looks to be decent so far? Good save
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[mikedjames]

I use boatbuilding epoxy resin . it soaks well into Devon weetabix sawdust board and sticks well.
One route can be to pick out the delaminated bit between the laminates and then use the crumbs mixed with the resin as a filler in the gap.
Epoxy glue makes it waterproof too...
_________________
Ancient vehicles and vessels

1974 VW T2 : Devon Eurovette camper with 1641 DP T1 engine, Progressive carb, full flow oil cooler, EDIS crank timed ignition.
Engine 1: 40k miles (rocker shaft clip fell off), Engine 2: 30k miles (rebuild, dropped valve). Engine 3: a JK Preservation Parts "new" engine, aluminium case: 26k miles: new top end.
Gearbox rebuild 2021 by Bears.

1979 Westerly GK24 24 foot racer/cruiser yacht Forethought of Gosport.
1973 wooden Pacer sailing dinghy

[mcdonaldneal]

So, I've finished the bottom edge of the long panel. Glued and superglued. Apologies for the terrible pics, but it gets dark early these days!

Next up is the cooker cabinet. This looks terrible! I think the best I can hope for here is to close up the huge gaps and make a temporary repair strong enough to last a wee while. In fact, the act of clamping it is likely to damage the laminate at the edges of the splint.
I've taken some before pics for the record, if only to cheer me up when I see the half arsed repair result I suspect I'll end up with!
Thanks to all for advice so far anyway!
I'm definitely going to leave the wood glue for 24hrs this time, I need all the help I can get!

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!