Can this be salvaged?

[Steliz]

I've been making some small boxes with veneered lids and I have managed to completely mess up the beauty that the veneer was supposed to give.

After I had made the veneered panel I noticed the surface of the figured veneer had a lot of small holes so I had the stupid idea to mix up some dust and glue and rub it in as a filler. I sanded it flat and today I applied the finish (hard wax oil) and I realised what I'd done. The glue has flattened the figure.

One of them looks OK apart from a couple of small areas but the other three are ruined. These are now all glued together so I can't dismantle it and the veneer was 0.6mm so trying to sand it is risky.

Is there anything I can apply to save this?

 

[Sachakins]

Do you have any more veneer, you could glue over the damaged faces!

 

[bushwhaker]

The second layer veneer seems like the only solution.

 

[Richard C]

I've been making some small boxes with veneered lids and I have managed to completely mess up the beauty that the veneer was supposed to give.

After I had made the veneered panel I noticed the surface of the figured veneer had a lot of small holes so I had the stupid idea to mix up some dust and glue and rub it in as a filler. I sanded it flat and today I applied the finish (hard wax oil) and I realised what I'd done. The glue has flattened the figure.

One of them looks OK apart from a couple of small areas but the other three are ruined. These are now all glued together so I can't dismantle it and the veneer was 0.6mm so trying to sand it is risky.

Is there anything I can apply to save this?

View attachment 194969

The photo is a tad out of focus and I can't see the problem.
I imagine from looks the lid is now assembled.
Gluing a veneer could possibly, likely, create a worse dilemma IMO.
I'd persevere with one and carefully sand and sand until you get a smooth finish.
Then apply your finish.
Not knowing what glue you used with sawdust it's hard to know if it was the wrong decision.
I've mixed 2 pack epoxy glue with very fine sawdust of same wood and applied over, in small cracks and knot holes etc with great success.

Also not sure how your used finish interacts with the sawdust/glue areas compared with raw absorbent wood areas. I could see it not acting same and show. Is it the finish that causes the problem?
Test on a small piece of veneer using your previous method. Even my method could show some differences.
Try another finish?

Beautiful veneer. Not unlike our native figured myrtle

 

[Steliz]

Yeah thanks, I thought a new veneer was going to be the likely solution but I thought I would I would ask just in case their was some other way.

Richard, sanding will be very difficult as it's below the level of the box edge and the veneer started at 0.6mm and is probably a tenth or 2 less than that now. Also, there is no guarantee that would solve the problem.
It could be Myrtle, I don't know. I bought a box of mixed off cuts and I can identify a lot of them but not this one.

 

[niall Y]

When I used to lip, veneered work, with solid wood I used scrapers or scraper planes for that last final clean up. The advantage a scraper has over sanding is that you can count the number of shavings you take off a veneer. Especially if you do a trial on a scrap piece to see just how many shavings you can safely remove.

You won't get a conventional scraper to go right up to the edge, but you can use a sharpened plane blade to reach there.

One has to be careful when splashing glue around on the surface of wood, especially PVA It has the nasty habit of showing up when a finish is applied. Even though one has convinced oneself that it has all been removed. For this reason lots of cabinet makers like to apply a finish to the inside of things , before they glue up.

If the scraper approach fails, then - as others have said- you are always left with the option of applying another veneer.

 

[--Tom--]

I’d be tempted to scrape rather than sand too.

 

[Deadeye]

I think you'll be ok - I suspect the loss of finish is because there's a thin layer of ?PVA that's dried clear but dull. Scrape carefully and re-polish

 

[velar]

At the risk of stating the obvious - if you’re resigned to a second veneer anyway you can try scraping and/or sanding first. Deadeye may well be right