I noticed that the top was made up of several strips of veneer. So, my first thought was to just replace the bad ones.
I was concerned that the new strips would stand out too much so took it all off. I tried heat and steam, but no luck and reverted to brute force.
I saved the large scraps to use as patches elsewhere.
My next thought was to go old school and join the edges of my veneer strips with veneer tape and try to glue them down while maintaining a tight seam. Then I saw jeyurkon's Sylvania restoration project and the large sheet of veneer he used. I inquired and found out it came from veneersupplies.com. So I ordered up a nice 2' x 8' sheet of facecut veneer. More than enough for this set and my GE 810.
First, I had to patch up all the dings from my forceful top removal. I also tightened up some loose joints.
Here I've cut a new piece with a 2" overhang all round.
I'm going to use the technique I picked up from
Reece of coating both surfaces with diluted wood glue and allowing to dry.
I used some clothespins to make sure it was centered over the cabinet before using an iron to re-activate the glue.
Finally, I carefully trimmed it down to size with a utility knife and small block plane.
That left patching a few damaged areas. Here's the worst one. I cut away the damage until I had a clean edge. Then rubbed over it with the side of a pencil to make a template.
I used that to cut a patch from some of the old veneer I saved from the top and glued it in place.
I brushed on a little clear shellac to seal the veneer. I'll be adding a few more layers and sanding down to fill the grain. I need to darken up that seam too.
I think it turned out well so far
Now, how to deal with that control area
Then on to some toner lacquer.