Any Suggestions on this Repair Project

[julian abram]

I really try to stay away from furniture repair projects but agreed to give a try on this 1800's wardrobe door. A fellow teacher friend to my wife had this old wardrobe passed down for decades. During a home remodel workers drop this door, broke the original beveled mirror and damaged door frame. They asked me to repair this curved bead in the top left corner of the door. It appears when the door frame was originally constructed, a 3/8" bead bit was run around inside the frame to form the molding edge.
Any ideals or suggestions on how to make this repair?
Sorry I can't get these photos upright, frustrating.
IMG_7283.jpgIMG_7284.jpg

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I would cut and carve a pocket, glue in a block of wood, then carve it to match the profile, stain and varnish the patch. I use an X-acto saw and chisels to operate on furniture and would make a square cut where the curved rail meets the straight rail and a scarf cut just above the break.

[John TenEyck]

It looks like those radiused corners are separate pieces of wood. If so, and if all the damage is to one of them, I would pull it out and install a new piece. You can replicate the profile, pretty much exactly, using a scratch stick. I would make the new piece oversize, create the molded edge, then cut it to size to install. You can check to make sure the profile is correct by cutting off a piece of your oversized piece and holding it against the mating edge on the door.

John

[Mark Rainey]

Julian, you got good advice above. Although usually the biggest challenge in repair/restoration work is blending the new/repaired piece into the original piece. Some expertise in finishing is required. Look at Thomas Johnson, an excellent restorer on youtube. His refinishing skills are extensive.

[Lee Schierer]

You can replicate the profile, pretty much exactly, using a scratch stick.

I would use this method. Use an old scraper for the metal and shape the profile with files to fit exactly on the existing molding. Once you have your metal cut and shaped make a handle similar to this.20240414_182101.jpg20240414_182110.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

During a home remodel workers drop this door, broke the original beveled mirror and damaged door frame.

Wouldn't the people doing the remodel be responsible for replacing the mirror and the restoration work?

jtk

[julian abram]

Wouldn't the people doing the remodel be responsible for replacing the mirror and the restoration work?

jtk

Well, yes in my house that would be the case but I don't know the facts with these folks and their contractor. I understand it happened during a kitchen remodel where workers attempted to move the wardrobe and disaster happened. Maybe the contractor gave them a cash reimburse for the damage but they did not tell me.