Misona said:
AstroKeith said:
Take it to a professional restorer. Hope you have accidental insurance cover.
As this is your first post we have no idea of your competence or shop capabilities.
I do almost everything at home: tiles, electricity, gips, mechanics..
But after some research, I think this table top is made of MDF. Was sure it was made from chestnut..
anyways, I bought this from second hand seller..
I have put around 30 lbs of pressure, I should be able to sand it completely and try to reproduce the same color/effect by my own..
Do you have any idea?
The table top is most likely an MDF base with a (thin) veneer overlay.
If it was really just a wet doily then hopefully there wasnt enough water to penetrate to the MDF.
So the veneer has swelled up due to the moisture and the glue has failed.
30lb isnt enough weight. You've got an area of about 15sq inches so you are only applying 2 lbs per sq in.
How I would approach it one of two ways....
quick fix but risky.....
rig up a length of 2x4 across the table with a small piece of thick ply the same size as the bad patch, placed over the patch. Use clamps at the ends between 2x4 and table to apply lots of pressure at the bad patch.
But first dampen the patch to make the veneer more pliable.
Then clamp up for a couple of days.
Then take a look. If you're lucky it will be flat enough to sand. Otherwise you'll need to lift the veneer to remove old glue etc from under. That veneer may be only 1mm thick.
When flat enough, inject glue. I would separate the veneers at their pattern joins to make this easier.
Use the jig to apply the pressure again.
sand and finish.
Better fix....
carefully remove whole sections of veneer at the damage site. You have joins in the pattern and so will probably only need to remove a few pieces. You know water breaks the glue down, but so will probably gentle heat.
make good the under surface.
Completely flatten the removed veneer. Easy now it is smaller pieces. A bit of steam first to supple it up.
Re fix veneer when flat. re finish the surface.