Repairing the Bottom Shelf - Part 3

Now it is time to get rid of the deep scratches on the top side of the shelf.  

First I gave Howard Mahogany Restor-A-Finish a try.  I applied per the directions and wiped it off.  While it did color the scratches, I was left with a very visible colored scratch.  I knew there must be a better way.

I will add that I did not have much luck with the Restor-A-Finish on any part of the A100 restoration.

So I went old school...an orbital sander and 220 grit paper. I took the old finish off and took the veneer down enough to remove the scratch.  The veneer was pretty thick, so andong was not an issue.

In the above picture you can see the sanded down finish and some Mahawk epoxy being used to fill a gouge.

 The final problem with the shelf is the dowel and dowel hole at the end with the severe seperation was broken.  First I filled the broken dowel hole with Mohawk epoxy and let it set up overnight.  The next day I used a 3/8 inch dowel (Home Depot), a 3/8 inch drill bit, and a Dowel Jig (Harbor Freight). I drilled a new dowel hole using the jig and glued a new dowel in with the hide glue.  I also checked that all the original dowels were secure and cleaned the old hide glue out of the original dowel mating holes