BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Edward Buker on December 19, 2016, 05:01:03 PM
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I have written about this subject before, but with new owners out there, the age of our coaches, and the fact that I decided to "do them all" caused me to find solutions for gluing the fridge door panels and the pocket doors without having to pull the coach apart, that I will share. It is an easy project to do and a good winter project. Full timers could glue a couple of panels at a time at a picnic table on a warm day and let the clamped panels dry in the bay or in the toad.
On close examination I found some amount of delamination on about 80% of the coach cabinet doors. For the bathroom door I pulled the hinge pins and removed it, for the smaller doors I loosen the single adjustment screw on the hinges and slide them off. For the fridge door panels, and the pocket doors, I glued them in place.
I use a pallet knife (source below), it is the ideal tool for the job. This is the only tool I can think of that works this well for buttering the glue. Tightbond 2 Wood Glue, a West Marine Epoxy Plastic Mixing Stick, blocks of wood, clamps, and wax paper. For the pocket door you will need several bundles of synthetic shim shingles from HD or Lowes. For the fridge door panels a Bessey Strap Clamp which is available at HD or Lowes.
https://www.amazon.com/Cornell-178-Trowel-Shaped-3-Inch/dp/B000YQLSMO/ref=sr_1_49?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1482162413&sr=1-49
Photos Glue 1,2,3, has clamped panels to give you an idea on the type of blocks and clamps that work well for the job.
Photos Glue 4, Take the Tight Bond Glue Nozzle and butter both sides of the pallet knife.
Photo Glue 5, Hold the gap open if need be with the West Plastic Mixing Stick and work the glue in with the pallet knife in sections. Lastly, I then work the knife back and forth along the whole delam area to assure a thin uniform glue coating on both the veneer and the wood face to be glued. I butter the entire delaminated region on a panel that will be held together with a single block set and clamp set. Then clamp and move onto another region in the same veneer panel or a new door panel as needed.
Photo Glue 6, Before clamping press down the veneer along the edge, working the length of the glued area, push out the excess glue and wipe away the excess with a 1/4 sheet of paper towel. Sometimes a lightly dampened one will help after the bulk is wiped away.
Photo Glue 7, Place the appropriate amount of wax paper to cover the glued area.
Photo Glue 8, Clamp for about 2 hours. You are trying to clamp the appropriate amount of time to allow the glue that squeezed out to partially cure so it strips easily with minimal wet glue. I use the pallet knife tip to separate the squeezed out glue or sometimes a fingernail will work best. After stripping the excess glue I reclamp for about 8 hours to be sure the bond is cured well.
After doing a couple of panels you will get a good sense of how much glue to apply, how much to squeezes out, and easily deal with the excess glue clean up. The nice thing is, this glue does not stick well to the lacquered door surfaces and after the final cure if there is any residual glue it still comes off.
To be continued....Later Ed