I have a craftsman style library table (not Stickley but still nice)
that has some badly chipped veneer on the skirt (top is fine). In
terms of the value of the table, would it be better to just fix the
chips or to replace all of the veneer? The wood underneath is light
and bare, so just leaving it alone really isn't an option.

Paul... at (no spam) yahoo.com wrote:
I have a craftsman style library table (not Stickley but still nice)
that has some badly chipped veneer on the skirt (top is fine). In
terms of the value of the table, would it be better to just fix the
chips or to replace all of the veneer? The wood underneath is light
and bare, so just leaving it alone really isn't an option.

There are two schools of thought on this, and a lot depends on how good
your are ;~)
One, keep it as original as possible, just fix the chips.
Two, replace the whole piece.

Personally, if you replace the whole piece using the correct veneer and
color it to match,
there isn't anyone who would be able to tell its been replaced without
spend far more time
than it's worth to ferret out the repair. Purist's may scream, but
restorer's do it all the time,
and it looks far better than a bunch of colored in chip repairs.

Mike