How would you fix this cabinet

I agree you'll need to remove any material that has become dimensionally unstable. Good suggestions above for that. I'd even add some sawdust to any glue I use to fill in relief holes if you decide to drill some for strength. Wood glue is only strong when bonded to wood under pressure, so I typically use epoxy for filling voids. Here's how I clamp a 45 degree angle.
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To get a nice tight corner, use some 45 degree clamping cauls. First, clamp the cauls with 45 degree cutouts to each of the two surfaces you're glueing. Do this before applying glue. Then clamp the cauls to one another once glue is in the joint. This applies pressure perfectly perpendicular to the glue joint. You can put all of the clamping pressure to the glue joint with a couple small f-clamps instead of hammering the thing with big bar clamps.
 
I'd agree with the epoxy thing; granted, I've only done this type of repair a couple of times, but there was a fairly severe gap due to some water damage. I dug out the powdered particle board with a thin hacksaw blade on the coarser stuff and a wallboard knife where the gap was too thin to get the hacksaw blade in. After cleaning it up I dripped epoxy in until everything was well coated and clamped with Pony bar clamps both directions overnight. I also used blue painters tape to keep the epoxy from contaminating the veneer. Someone here recommended heating the epoxy to thin it and make it flow and penetrate better.

I've never tried super glue for this kind of application, but maybe it works. I've never had good luck with it for anything I've glued, however.
 
Super
After cleaning out the void as others have mentioned, i would:

a)make sure there are medium softwood blocks under every clamp jaw. I use "Pony"(pipe) clamps in my shop for any span i don't have iron "C" clamps to cover.

b)i would orient the cabinet such that gravity will direct the flow of liquid to the rear of the cabinet and use painter's tape to secure a rag or few paper towels folded up just below the corner separation.

c) use a small artist's brush to help retain and saturate the entire opening with cyanoacrylate(super glue), the more it soaks in, the better. It tends to want to easily soak into where the water originally got in and carried away or corrupted the original resin of the MDF. Wood glue and other adhesives won't penetrate deeply enough and many times just cause a new jagged and ugly crack to open up right next to the original.

d) work fast and tighten as many clamps as necessary to bring the corner back to it's original dimensions being careful to blot up everything that squeezes out, leave it clamped at least 24 hours.

I've done some amazing repairs of particle board corner repairs this way when there is no missing material with about 80% being pretty much good as new afterward. Total outcome will depend how badly water soaked the cabinet was, and the type of materials involved.



Super glue, I had planned to use sawdust mixed with title bond wood glue. I see some say epoxy? Anyone have a favorite?
 
I use west marine epoxy with the 206 hardener usually but it's expensive and hard to come by. Just get a tube or two of the loctite 2-part from any big box and it'll work fine. Sands and machines well too, but let it cure overnight at room temp if you can.
 
I believe that this is very often caused by carpet cleaning. I have seen too many speaker cabinets with this problem to consider that that many homes have been flooded. I have never found a means of repairing the swollen wood issue that was simple and effective. Over the years, I have just learned to live with it. I am not a flipper; so looks does not really concern me. You don't really look at it when it is on the ground.
 
I believe that this is very often caused by carpet cleaning. I have seen too many speaker cabinets with this problem to consider that that many homes have been flooded. I have never found a means of repairing the swollen wood issue that was simple and effective. Over the years, I have just learned to live with it. I am not a flipper; so looks does not really concern me. You don't really look at it when it is on the ground.
Ah, but sometimes it's just the challenge and satisfaction of the repair with a successful result.
 
ZPoxy is very thin, and is great for these type repairs because the cure time is several hours, giving it plenty of time to thoroughly soak the damaged particle or MDF material. Once cured, it's far stronger than then originally. Super glues are great for certain situations, but with larger areas like this speaker, it's not very good because it sets up too quickly.
When I do this type of repair, after all the bad particle material is removed, i do a practice run so to speak, see how the best set up the clamps, and once satisfied the corners will come back together, then I start with the epoxy.
 
Fixed these type of corners dozens of times, the miters inside corner needs to be cut to allow the angle to come together. I have a small battery operated Makita saw that has a very thin blade, works very well for this. I then dilute wood glue with water enough for the particle board to really soak it up on both sides, then apply a bit of non diluted before clamping. I clamp it tight and wipe any excess glue off quickly with a wet rag, after 24 hours the corner looks as good as new and is very strong.
 
The challenge and the satisfaction are indeed a part of the process. I remember how I felt when I finished the rehab of my NLAs. As my lower back has gotten worse; it is a lot harder to be as particular as I used to be.

I too would side with the use of West Marine epoxy. It is expensive, but it is wonderful stuff to work with and very versatile too.
 
c) use a small artist's brush to help retain and saturate the entire opening with cyanoacrylate(super glue), the more it soaks in, the better. It tends to want to easily soak into where the water originally got in and carried away or corrupted the original resin of the MDF. Wood glue and other adhesives won't penetrate deeply enough and many times just cause a new jagged and ugly crack to open up right next to the original.

d) work fast and tighten as many clamps as necessary to bring the corner back to it's original dimensions being careful to blot up everything that squeezes out, leave it clamped at least 24 hours.

I've done some amazing repairs of particle board corner repairs this way when there is no missing material with about 80% being pretty much good as new afterward. Total outcome will depend how badly water soaked the cabinet was, and the type of materials involved.

Superglue has potential, as you can get it in varying thickness/viscosity- from water-thin, to almost the consistency of maple syrup.

The only caveat- and this is a BIG one- is that once it's on there, it AIN'T going away. It's hard to wipe down, as the pressure of wiping it can sometimes cause it to start curing! You have to be fast, and have a delicate touch with this. Also, make ABSOLUTELY SURE you have everything in EXACTLY the right place before application, because you will NOT get a second chance.

The nice thing is, though, is that once you have it in place, you can instantly cure it with activator/accelerator spray (which will also be available from whatever woodworking store has the superglue you will need). It will take a small interval for the cure to propagate throughout the joint (usually a minute is plenty), but it's way faster than waiting for epoxy, or more abjectly, wood glue...

I've done some stuff with superglue, that afterwards, I was almost in disbelief that I could do. If you sand it, it's even actually stainable (I've actually "faked" wood by using thin layers of superglue to build up and fill a chip-out on an edge- apply a bit, sand it and shape it, stain it, apply more, sand/shape it, stain it, and so on). If you get the hang of it, it can work well in replacing material in a chipped out edge. The cool thing, is that since the superglue is transparent- as you sad and stain it, you get that translucent effect that you get from real wood (that iridescent thing where the wood changes color depending on the light direction). It looks a LOT better than opaque wood filler, IME!

I've gotten it to where it looked like, even under close scrutiny, that there wasn't even a chip in the first place, when I was lucky. This isn't always possible- but I can almost always get it to pass the "one foot test", when looking at it (it looks absolutely fine from a foot away)...

If you saw my Fisher X202 tube amp restoration pictures from before (the mahogany case)- that was a "survivor" that just needed to have loose parts (veneer edges) reattached and stabilized and some corner chips slightly reconstructed. All of that was done with superglue and some proper mahogany stain, believe it or not. The object was not to make it look brand new (I wanted to keep the character of the original finish over as much of it as possible- including some of the slight dings and such)- but it WAS to make it sturdy and handsome, where it would be presentable and usable without falling apart. And I think that happened, quite well enough.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
IMG_0687.JPG Finally got around to this. I wanted to refoam the drivers first and get the crossovers sorted out..

Anyway, I ended up drilling out the corners from the back with a 3/8" bit, then using a hack saw blade to cut the corner down the the relief holes. This made it able to be clamped. I used a two part epoxy and mixed walnut saw dust into it and clamped it for a couple of days. It held just fine. I filled the back where it shrunk with some walnut colored filler.

I lightly sanded the cabinets with 320 grit on a orbital sander and put the first coat of tung oil on them. Starting to look good!


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Anyway, I ended up drilling out the corners from the back with a 3/8" bit, then using a hack saw blade to cut the corner down the the relief holes. This made it able to be clamped. I used a two part epoxy and mixed walnut saw dust into it and clamped it for a couple of days. It held just fine. I filled the back where it shrunk with some walnut colored filler.
Good job.
 
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