Hardware Cabinet Repairs

[Darren Wright]

Some of the larger drawers on my wife's GG Grandpa's hardware cabinet are in need of attention.


The bottoms are made up of veneered plywood and a few are warping badly.


The plywood appears to be shop-made of various species of wood veneers. The top looks to be oak, middle is maybe poplar, and the bottom a alder or walnut.


I plan to use some luan for the new bottoms as needed, but thinking I may see if I can remove the alder looking veneer and laminate to the visible side of the drawer bottom to keep the look.

It's got quite a musty smell to it from when it was stored in the old garage, so currently have my ozone generator inside one of the drawers with it closed up to see if it will help. I plan to seal the inside with shellac as well.

 

[Charles Lent]

I have used shellac in the past on musty drawer insides. It does work, but to completely get rid of the musty smell you are going to have to shellac the entire inside of the cabinet and not just the drawers. Leaving the empty drawers out in the Sun on a clear day usually helps too, and is better done before the coat of shellac.

Charley