Vinyl wrap Damaged TV cabinet

[Aperna1985]

Considering most 60s TV cabinets are printed wood grain on MDF or masonite, has anyone tried a wood grain vinyl wrap to hide all the damage. I have a set that looks like they used tinted clear over wood grained masonite, I can't figure out hot to peel all the clear off without destroying the print. So I'm thinking maybe I can find a similar color wood grain wrap and just wrap the cabinet, then maybe add a satin or semi gloss clear coat over the top so it looks fresh. If anyone has done this could you recommend some products? I saw a few wood grains on Amazon but they seem a little too grainy for old sets.

[Electronic M]

If it's lacquer and not poly you could probably clear over it some more and blend the 2 into a smooth consistent finish.

[Tube TV]

What I've done before is touch up the wood grain print with water based wood stains or leather dyes to recover the marks and then sprayed the cabinet with Varathane.

Refilled felt marking pens with an dye or stain that matches your wood tones it great for detailed areas. Then you can smudge it in.

How bad off is your cabinet? Is it a light or a dark finish?

If I had to do one that was in really rough shape I think I would choose veneer over a vinyl finish

[Aperna1985]

The TV sat in a basement forever and stuff was piled on it, so the top is peeling all over and there's some paint spatter on it, the side in one or 2 places is peeling. It was a walnut finish. I thought about veneer but I think it would stick up above the bezel in the front.

I couldn't make the pictures small enough so here's a link to them in my Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...az5TFsa2DZrbXf

[WISCOJIM]

Just use a doily or a towel to cover the top.

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[Electronic M]

Yeah... That's not vinyl that's a form of photofinish... Basically a water slide or printed paper decal that's basically lacquered to uglier wood and then lacquered over at the factory.

There's 3 proper ways to deal with it. Artisticly oil paint over the bare spots to match, apply veneer and refinish (may have to knock down the substrate to get the veneer flush with the bezel), or live with it as is.

I often try to be more careful with nice original photofinish cabinets than proper veneer cabinets as once it's messed up it can never look the same again no matter how much you put into a refinish.

[Chris K]

Don't know what your woodworking skills are but if you're competent, I would strip it back and veneer it. I don't have the painting skills to restore it in situ. Veneer can be glued to MDF or Masonite but if you take the leap, know you are taking the cabinet to an essentially destroyed state before it's restored so there's no turning back once you start. There's always a point in projects like this where you think "Why did I even start doing this???!!!"

My advice, for what it's worth, would be to leave it alone. It's part of it's history. Usually I only repair significant damage to the cabinet or replace parts with scrounged, original pieces.