Traveller Waist Rail Replacement

[berthilton]

Hi,

having read lots of the advice about wood restoration I'm planning to restore the wood on my '67 traveller next time we have some nice weather.

The wood seems to be generally in good condition and I think it will look good once restored. The waist rail on one side is in much worse condition than the rest of the wood and some sort of filler has been used at the joints here. I was wondering if it's possible or advisable to replace this piece only and how hard it is to do. I've read somewhere that if your going to replace one piece you should replace it all but I can't really afford this and it seems a shame when the other wood is in good condition.

If replacing just the waist rail is not recommended then does anyone know how the filler will respond to a hot air gun and sanding? I expect this depends a bit on the type of filler that was used?

Any advice on what to do and how to do it would be greatly appreciated,

thanks

[DaveC]

Hi Bert
I had a similar dilemma about Christmastime: the back O/S pillar was soft
around the mid rail joint, (esp when wet) but the rest of the wood is fine.

The wood had not discoloured too much, and I thought I'd do more damage trying to dissasemble it to fit a new piece.

I took the glass out, dried out the wood and injected it with clear cuprinol using a glass syringe. I let it dry again (2 weeks) and then injected it with clear wood hardening resin (about 0.5 litre) using the same method. (I was careful not to get any on the sprayed panel). It took about a week to harden off.

May not be the right (or the best) way, but it's hard as nails now, and hopefully will last 'till I can afford to replace the wood. Hope this helps

Dave

P.S. Mike Shipman's posting put up by Kevin on this Forum has excellent advice and alternatives.