Techniques

 Modern adhesives have come a long way, especially when one considers that most of them have been developed after the Second World War.  The most common glues used in woodworking today are likely white or yellow glues and epoxy, with polyurethanes pulling in a close third. Before WWII, hide (animal) glue was used almost exclusively.  It's favor has diminished in the eyes of most woodworkers today, it's use relegated to restorers and "purists", for reasons I don't really understand.

The modern glues all work well, each with their own strengths.  Yet none, at least in my opinion, work as well as traditional hide glue.  Yet, I've seen it's use actually discouraged - something I find somewhat unsettling.  I remember reading one well respected epoxy protagonist's views of using it rather than hide glue for repairing chairs.  "It can fill gaps where the wood has worn or broken" was said, as well as "it can later be disassembled with 'gentle heating' ".  My first thought was how unfortunate for the future restorer such a choice would be.  I've never known an epoxy to release it's grip with anything close to what could be called "gentle heating".   Also, while it does have impressive gap-filling capabilities, a properly repaired joint won't require it.  I've restored several old pieces of furniture, some the product of later restorations using epoxies and yellow glues, others that had been assembled with hide glue.  The latter were always a joy to work on or to restore.  The former were nearly always frustrating in some manner.

There are hide glue advocates that remain, and Stephen Shepherd is one of them.  Mr. Shepherd is a learned woodworker, schooled heavily in traditional methods and materials.  He publishes an oft-updated blog at fullchisel.com, which is a great resource for many woodworking tasks, and a must-read for any hand tool enthusiast.  He's worked as a "period" woodworker in a pioneer village, restores and builds traditional furniture and tools, and has published previous works on woodworking in the 19th century as well as some magazine articles.  His latest work, titled "Hide Glue - Historical and Practical Applications", is an attempt to educate today's woodworker on the uses and benefits of hide glue.

The side of the radio cabinet I'm restoring has a good deal of damage to its side.  In this article I'll take you through the steps I took to repair that damage:

The damage is enough to seriously detract from the beauty of this 80 year old mahogany cabinet.  Some might argue that a true repair might involve replacing the entire side - or at least the veneer for it.  I don't want to get that involved or invest that much time into it, nor do I think there is any real reason to...  While this is a fairly complex repair, it certainly is not a difficult one... It's more likely to test your patience than it is your skill.