Botched Finishing?

Hey everyone, I'm Steve!


I came to this forum in desperation!
I had an old chair that I wanted to refurbish (replace the rattan and also sand off the old varnish and refinish it)


I started by sanding everything off by using 60, 120, 240 and 400 sand paper and the wood looked really nice. So today I went to the store with the wood and asked for a recommendation to achieve a similar color and finish as it was before and they recommended me this product: 油性ニス | 和信ペイント株式会社 (I live in Japan so that's why it's all in Japanese but it's an oil based varnish)


I then cleaned the wood with a dry towel, added a bit of the thinner that I bought additionally as recommended and applied a light coat onto the wood. The color looks perfect but a lot of small dark dots and line have appeared on the wood that haven't been there before and it really doesn't look good. Especially compared to the way the wood looked with the old finishing. Does anyone know what I did wrong and if I should even proceed with applying a 2nd and 3rd coat? I worry it will only make those dots and lines more prominent..


Here are the before and after images of the wood:

Attachment 493293

Attachment 493294

Thanks in advance for any advice!


Steve

Welcome Steve

my totally untrained eye it actually looks like actual grain of the wood, not so much the stain?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by havabeer69

my totally untrained eye it actually looks like actual grain of the wood, not so much the stain?

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Yes exactly. It's probably a matter of taste but I don't really like to see the grain of the wood enhanced so much. So I'm wondering how the chair was finished (as can be seen in the before image) because here you can barely see the grain of the wood.

Possibly there was light coloured or transparent grain filler in the wood (e.g. AquaCoat, or even gesso using talc) which was removed by the sanding. Especially if it was started at 60 grit!

I've refinished lacquered furniture before, and if you don't completely stand back the old finish, the old finish is left behind in the pores of the wood. Because the lacquer yellows over time, the old finish left behind in the pores is darker. You can't always see the difference when sanding, and it only shows up once you apply the finish, unfortunately.

I would try sanding back further on an inconspicuous spot such as the underside of the chair, then apply some finish there.