Destroyed cabinet edges -- fix or give up?

[Wombaton]

I have been fairly successful recently pulling vintage speakers out of trash heaps.
More than once I've found cabinets with blown corners and edges: water damage or just being dropped, I guess.

Here is one on H.H.Scott S-197. These speakers have marginal quality cabinets anyway.



And here is KLH Model 33 that has excellent quality cabinets with wood veneers:





Needless to say, it pains me to see these nice speakers in such sorry state.
Therefore I wonder if anything can be done to fix destroyed cabinet edges.
I guess, the big divide here is whether or not it is possible to restore the original looks of the cabinets.
Granted, that most anything is possible with application of infinite time and effort, I am interested in strategies commensurate with the value of the speakers, without going overboard too much.

Then of course, if the original looks cannot be restored, what would be other reasonable options to make the cabinets look neat? I imagine that for KLHs it could entail removal of the busted edge areas and replacement with stock hardwood rod of appropriate cross section (which still looks like a mighty delicate surgery to me).

If fellow AK-ers have some ideas and experience to share, I'd be most grateful.
Just an out-front disclaimer: I am NOT particularly interested in boosting resale value of the speakers, but would mostly like to make them look pretty or at least decent again, even if not 100% authentic.
I.e., if you were to pass these along to a friend, you would not want them to look all busted up.

THX,

Wmbtn

 

[Lavane]

Try clamping them up and see if the cracks and seams come together. If so, you can then get some wood glue into the cracks and clamp them up.
I recently reglued a cabinet that was coming apart at most of the seams. It went well. I clamped it up before adding glue though to make sure the broken joints would come together.

 

[baeron]

Use bar clamps and glue them back up as what has been said. Pull the vinyl off and maybe re veneer them. Or try a sheet of 1/4 inch veneer plywood of your choice. gluing and using a few small brad nails, cutting 45's for the corners.

cut real thin strips of hardwood with 45's to face the front edges to match your veneer. Have done this with nice results.

You will get a nice thicker look of the cabinets also.

 

[avguytx]

So what is your level of wood working competency? If cabinets are shot, they are shot. Maybe cut them apart where you have the fronts and backs and rebuild the rest? Sometimes building mostly new is quicker and easier than major repair. If your not in it for "resale value" then it should be fine; make them work visually for you a structurally sound.

 

[RTally]

And here is KLH Model 33 that has excellent quality cabinets with wood veneers:

View attachment 2017422

Clamping will not repair this type of damage. If anyone has done it, I sure would like to see pics.

The MDF/particle board/whatever has water damage when a corner is separated as shown. The wood has swollen. The joint is still solid, so clamping will accomplish nothing. If the veneer is in good shape, the swollen corner can be repaired by cutting through the corner with a thin kerf saw at 45 degrees to remove the swollen material. Once the joint is cleaned out, it can be glued and clamped.

If you are going to re-veneer the cabinet or don't care about how it looks, you can pack the separated area with a sawdust-glue mixture to form a new corner. Sand after curing.

 

[rothwellaudio]

Sometimes building mostly new is quicker and easier than major repair.

I agree.

 

[Wombaton]

Deal All,
Thank you very much for the ideas. I definitely have more than one option to consider for future repairs.
Will revive this thread when I have some photos and impressions to share.
But now I have to get me a bunch of really big clamps. Should be handy no matter which route I take.
W.

 

[RTally]

Deal All,
Thank you very much for the ideas. I definitely have more than one option to consider for future repairs.
Will revive this thread when I have some photos and impressions to share.
But now I have to get me a bunch of really big clamps. Should be handy no matter which route I take.
W.

I like pipe clamps for clamping big, heavy things. With a backing board you can apply all the compression you could possibly want.


Harbor Freight version:

 

[62sunbeam]

Starbond makes a brown CA glue that if you get med or thick fills crack like these easily.

Even comes with a super skinny applicator tip to get it in tight spots. Apply, clamp, maybe use a little kicker and then sand flat. Ready for a refinish.

Good luck

Eric

 

[puppet]

These look like they've been outdoors for quite awhile. Do they even work?

 

[Wombaton]

Starbond makes a brown CA glue that if you get med or thick fills crack like these easily.

Even comes with a super skinny applicator tip to get it in tight spots. Apply, clamp, maybe use a little kicker and then sand flat. Ready for a refinish.

Good luck

Eric

@62sunbeam: Eric, I appreciate the info about the Starbond glue!

These look like they've been outdoors for quite awhile. Do they even work?

@puppet: Assuming you refer to KLH model 33, I did only a quick DMM check for resistance and both speakers show ~6.5-7R. I cannot be sure, but suspect that water damage to the edges had happened way before I found these speakers on a curb. It does look horrible in the photo, but most of that stuff was dirt and crud that came right off. Even if some things turn out as not working, I cannot complain, since I can source everything else into my spares bin (e.g., both HF and LF drivers used on model 33 are generic and shared with some other models). But I have a general academic interest in learning how to save cabinets with this sort of damage

 

[puppet]

Save 'em? Put them out of their misery

 

[Quadman2]

Wouldn't spend too much time on them, and looks like you've dev some skills in minor repair already.

Personally, I'd just clean them up, with maybe a quick fix as others have already suggested, and give them a black paint job, assigning them to a garage application.

Your call with time/effort and cost.

Q

 

[Wombaton]

I agree, but I also regard these KLH cabinets as a test system to practice and develop my (rudimentary at the moment) woodworking skills.
The cabs will probably be put out of their misery in the process, but I might learn something about this sort of repair and about veneer restoration.
One lesson could easily be that I do not want to mess with it in future

 

[freeisforme]

I've saved a few pretty rough cabinets over the years but rarely is the repair 100%.
I did a pair of large Advents a while back that each had one lower corner opened up. The vinyl veneer wasn't bad but the particle board in the corner was swelled up. I thought about running a saw through the joint but figured I'd just loose the angles of the original joint. I was able to knock the bottom completely out of the box without any damage to the outer surfaces. I then ran each 45 degree edge through my table saw being careful not to shorten either panel any. I then glued and reclamped both lower corners using a dark wood glue. I added some additional corner pieces as well to further reinforce the joints. The result was a very presentable speaker, or at least as presentable as it was ever going to be considering what it had likely gone through. I then went ahead and refoamed both woofers and recapped the crossovers.

In all, I didn't spend much money, but it took a good deal of time and prep work to make sure I didn't make anything worse in the process. I simply considered it an experiment to see how good I could get them in the end. It was by no means worth while if I were looking to flip them, I had more time in them than they were worth but being retired, that really didn't matter much to me. They're currently my work bench speakers, paired with another pair of same model Advents on my Harmon Kardon 750 Integrated amp with an old Sony CD carousel changer. In reality, they're likely presentable enough to be used in the house but I've got a minty pair of new Large Advents in there along with a dozen other speaker options.

 

[z-adamson]

I threw some speaker cabinets into the dumpster that I was saving but ultimately decided to get rid of.

After a day of heavy rain, they looked just like the pics above. It is obviously swelled up from water soaking into the wood then drying.