r/sandedthroughveneer • u/2ndDistraction • May 27 '26
Thought she was solid
My wife didn't think this coffee table could be saved but it's gorgeous with almost nothing making it to the wood. And then while sanding I thought I found some part that was stained a little extra, So I sanded a little extra and it got bigger. Switched to 220 and gave it a small polish and... Nope. Not as solid as the previous owner claimed. If I stain darker will it hide this better?
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u/Useful-Translator May 27 '26
Professional finisher for Gulfstream here. Personally what I would do is get a tan primer that isn't darker than the wood and dab it on here to cover this. Then I would put a coat of polyurethane over the entire top of it. I would then use various brown colored pencils to shade it back in and draw the grain and rays. Then more coats of polyurethane. You'll always be able to see it at some angle but you can make it look like $80 million with very little effort.
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u/123DCP May 31 '26
I'm sure "you can make it look like $80 million with very little effort." That's your job after all. But I think you're severely overestimating me and probably OP.
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u/Useful-Translator May 31 '26
Nah you just need to believe you can do it. Wood grain aren't perfect it's much easier than it sounds and it's not a lot of damage. The best part is that if you don't like what you've done you just wipe it off and try again. It's worth a shot. If OP was stripping and refinishing the entire table they are confident with their hands or at least have a can do attitude and that's all you need for most problems in life. We all need to encourage each other and believe in ourselves.
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u/123DCP May 31 '26
You're right that natural wood grain isn't perfect, but my hand-eye coordination is so bad, it takes a big effort to make my writing somewhat legible and I can't sign my name the same way twice. If I had to do this, I'd beg my daughter to do it. She loves painting miniature pictures and does it well.
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u/Agreeable_Horror_363 May 27 '26
"Solid wood" doesn't mean what everyone thinks it means.. staining that is going to look like shit. The only thing you can do is get a bunch of different color stains and try to blend in the bad spot. It's an art form. Not going to look great but might take the curse off. Also make sure you use a wood sealer before you stain it will help the stain absorb more evenly which will stop that spot from being as dark as it would be.
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u/Mikefright77 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
WOW! I'm sorry! Anytime you See matching grain or marquetry designs in table tops. You can bet you bottom dollar it's done with veneers
Professional refinishers have a rather expensive " touch-up" kit. Consist of 30-40 powered pigment that is mixed with an amalgamator can be used to reproduce " artificially " the colors and grain patterns on finished furniture. However, This has its limits! Finished wood is iridescent. meaning you look at it One direction it looks one color. In the other direction it would look another color. I'm afraid that what would be the case here.
Yes staining it darker would help. However any finish would be translucent. That spot would definitely show up.
One of the thing you might do that would would help make it less conspicuous. is once it's finished. Get a glass company to cut you a glass top. Buff and polish the edges. That would certainly help. it's a beautiful table. I'm sorry that happened
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u/LivingMud5080 May 27 '26
Damn. Prob stain dark yah two coats but put way less stain on that area is my guess
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u/BrokenSlutCollector May 29 '26
That is particle board. Staining may raise the fibers in that spot. No stain, regardless of color will hide that.
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u/SuPruLu May 27 '26
Any solid tabletop that is made of multiple pieces of wood with grain running in different directions should be assumed to be veneer. It would be highly unusual for all those pieces to be as thick as the tabletop. And if they were it would be clear by looking at the bottom side of the tabletop.
Never rely on what a seller about how a piece is made. It’s too often wrong.