Help sought for restoring veneer..

Attachment 395596Hello - upfront I am a complete amateur so treat me gently.
I have just purchased this sideboard from someone who was going for a shabby chic aesthetic so has stripped and sanded it ( but thankfully has not attacked it with white chalk paint). My query is what would be the best option to bring back some lustre to it ? From what the previous owner has said, it sounded as if it had a laquer on it originally. I'm not sure a high shine finish would do it any favours as it has been scratched by the sanding and I think a high shine finish would enhance the imperfections in an adverse way. Can I just use bees/carnuba wax and buff ??? any advice gratefull received..cheers, Raven

Pretty piece. If I were you I'd clean it up and then wax it. Any loose veneer should be glued down first.

Really nice veneer pattern.

I presume you want to get rid of most if not all of the sanding scratches?
How depends on how thick the veneer is and how deep the scratching is, and how coarse a sandpaper was used by the previous owner. Is there anyway you can find out?

What I suggest is that you work on each piece of the sideboard individually.
The drawers may already be numbered, but if not number them 1 to 4, from the top to the bottom, and remove the handles.

Sight unseen, I'm reluctant to recommend more sanding, but I think it will need going over by hand with 220 or 240 grit sand paper.
Then I suggest you apply 3 coats of shellac, then go over the scratches with wax or shellac sticks of the appropriate colour.

BUT
If you, can take a drawer or door to Carbatech at Auburn or Trend Timbers out near Windsor and discuss with one of the staff how to go about rescuing the piece.
It's very hard to provide more than general advice without seeing the piece up close.


and, WELCOME to the Forums.

Thank you for your advice Ian and Rob. Pick up the piece Saturday so can ask her if she remembers what she sanded it with.
Thanks for the heads up about the places at Auburn and Windsor. Only wished I'd known them a couple of weeks ago: have another tassie oak sideboard that I've stripped, sanded and waxed but the veneer on the doors had been badly patched do in the end decided to replace it completely. Awaiting a veneered piece of 3mm ply which I've ordered from mr ply& wood in Alexandria...

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Originally Posted by Raven6

Thanks for the heads up about the places at Auburn and Windsor. Only wished I'd known them a couple of weeks ago: have another tassie oak sideboard that I've stripped, sanded and waxed but the veneer on the doors had been badly patched do in the end decided to replace it completely. Awaiting a veneered piece of 3mm ply which I've ordered from mr ply& wood in Alexandria...

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Can you post a photo of this other sideboard and the veneer you're trying to replace

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Originally Posted by ian

Can you post a photo of this other sideboard and the veneer you're trying to replace

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Hi Ian, this is the inside of the door - the outside was in worse condition. Was unable to remove stain entirely and there had been repairs done with putty about 15 X 20mm that had not been done well. The side curved doors are glass and had their own attendant probs but I decided trying to respline glass was way beyond me so had them done by someone else.Attachment 395749Attachment 395747Attachment 395748 thanks for the interest, Georgey

Hi Georgey,

I echo ian's advice about checking how deep the scratches are and about sealing it before waxing. The piece is veneered in walnut - probably Queensland Walnut (I would need to see it close up to be sure, but I'm in Brisbane). Most pieces about that age (1920's to 1940's I would estimate, but could have been made even in the 1950's) were veneered with very thin veneers. Not quite as thin as today's paper thin but still not much meat to work with. If the veneers are at least 1 mm thick and depending on the original coarseness of the sanding it would be good to sand out scratches with increasingly fine sandpaper in stages up to at least 600 grit (so, 240,320,400, 600) so that it is very smooth.

The secret with sealing it with shellac is to use very dilute shellac so the coats are thin. Indeed, UBeaut's sanding sealer is a very dilute shellac and four to six coats of that would get you a good seal. Don't use beeswax - it stays soft and sticky and attracts dust as well as showing finger marks. A good furniture wax, preferably a dark brown wax with a high Carnauba wax content, is best to finish with (e.g.Black Bison brand) but, if there aren't too many holes it could be OK to use UBeaut's Traditional Wax. I do not know if they make that in a dark colour as I have only seen the light colour. It is an excellent wax but, if light coloured it can leave light spots in any holes

Thanks Xanthorrhoeas. Once I get it home I can have a proper look - I know there was some quite obvious scratching around where the estucheons would be on the doors.

Ok one further newbie numpty question regarding sanding this piece. So the veneer is burled - how do I sand with the grain?? Do I sand out from the centre of the burl ? And now I shall retire to a dark corner where I can blush with shame unseen....

Be very careful with additional sanding. Use a block, not your fingers, to do the sanding. No machines either. The previous owner may have already hacked it down considerably. It'd be a shame to cut through the veneer.

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Originally Posted by Raven6

Thanks Xanthorrhoeas. Once I get it home I can have a proper look - I know there was some quite obvious scratching around where the estucheons would be on the doors.

Ok one further newbie numpty question regarding sanding this piece. So the veneer is burled - how do I sand with the grain?? Do I sand out from the centre of the burl ? And now I shall retire to a dark corner where I can blush with shame unseen....

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Hi Georgey,

No need to blush or retire. We are all learners (or should be for life, in my opinion). There are no numptie questions, the only numpties are those who don't ask when they don't know. They charge in and do irreparable damage (sometimes to themselves). In any case, your question is a good one - burls and contorted grain are difficult to sand. My answer would be to sand with the grain as much as possible and to be very gentle with the coarser papers. This is going to be difficult if someone has scored deeply into the veneer. With woodturning I have discovered that one needs to sand hard, but with thin veneers that would be disastrous (as rob streeper warns).

In the end you may just have to live with some remaining scratches. If it were my piece I would French Polish it with a good shellac, not just seal it and wax it. French Polish, a good shellac applied in many very thin, dilute layers by wiping the surface with a "rubber" (a wad of cotton wadding wrapped in lint-free cloth) builds a very transparent surface over timber. Because the solvent is shellac it dries quickly and once each few layers are fully dry the surface is rubbed back with very fine wet and dry sandpaper. That serves to fill the scratches to some extent without making the surface opaque as happens with stains. There is a bit of skill in French Polishing but the results make the effort worthwhile I believe. After the final polish is applied the surface is often rubbed back with 0000 steel wool and then waxed - just like the advice for seal and wax, but with a lot more shellac on the surface under the wax.

It will depend on your assessment of those scratches and how much they will show.