what material can be used here?

14 years ago

I have these very cute little tables, recently acquired, I really like the shape of them and in general they have good bones. The frame and drawer is wood, the top and lower shelf is something else (probably presswood or the like). They are covered with a thin copper foil or something, it's a rigid material the edges are sharp, but it's thin, but not like aluminum foil thin, more like the flimsy, plyable stuff you can use in your kitchen as a backsplash...

anyway...

I'd love to save the tops etc but it's looking more and more unlikely and there are actually small sections along the edge that are missing altogether.

So as you can see (hopefully) the underside of this area is rough looking and I'm wanting to know what I can resurface it with to give it a smooth appearance, before painting it.

Or will several coats of primer and paint be enough to camoflauge it?

Comments (5)

bobismyuncle
14 years ago
The pictures look like hammered copper. I infer you are going to remove this and want to smooth out the particle board? A lot of people use drywall compound for this -- smooth it on, let it dry/cure, then sand to smooth. It might take a couple of applications. I would not rely on paint alone.
rjinga
Original Author
14 years ago
well, I think I will have to remove it, It is quite unique but I dont think it's salvageable without a great deal of effort. Just out of curiosity, Would this material be WORTH attempting to save?

Funny, dry wall mud is the first thing I thought of using :) so I must be learning something from being on GW :) thanks for responding
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bobismyuncle
14 years ago
I just noticed that you said there are "small sections missing." You could fill these with Bondo. If you are going to have to buy something, you could use the Bondo as the filler/smoother, too. You don't have as much working time with it, so get it on and close and let it go. Add a second treatment later if you need to.

I'd also recommend using BIN primer on top of whatever you use. It will seal in the discoloration I see in some of the photos.
rjinga
Original Author
14 years ago
I meant that there are pieces of the copper stuff missing around the edge (see pic #2 on the left (camera) side) the copper stuff is not there at all to put back in place.
brickeyee
14 years ago
If you like the copper look foil is available that couldbe glued down to fil in missing spoys.

It can take some real work to make the edges of the repairs disappear.

Copper foil is also available in wide sheers with a self stick coating.
You could use this to cover the entire surface after smoothing it with Bondo or drywall compound.