Palisander table - one part is lighter than the rest

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27th January 2023, 07:17 AM
malteekj

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Palisander table - one part is lighter than the rest

I bought a coffee table that allegedly should be palisander rosewood on the top. It has some older lacquer I want to strip and apply a new finish, but one half of the table top has a visually lighter tone than the rest. It's difficult to catch on camera, but it's more noticeable in person. In the picture, the lightest part is the one to right in the image and it changes to a darker tone roughly in the middle of the table.

Does anyone now if I can equal out the lighter/darker halfs of the table? I have seen oxalic acid being used to remove different stains on teak tables, but would this work here?

Best,
Malte
27th January 2023, 12:43 PM
China

Most likely bleached by the sun, when you have stripped and sanded it will probably disappear, if not, Oxalic Acid.
27th January 2023, 01:18 PM
auscab

I would first try and give that a light cut back with an Oil and turps mix 20/80 and fine paper like a worn 400 grit . Then give it a rubber of thin shellac with a few drops of linseed oil to see how it comes up . Its usually a great look and keeps it looking original but fresh and revived.

If It needs stripping then do that but be careful before you go to sand it if you do want to sand . The true colour underneath could be way darker and if that is whats waiting under that faded look then once you start there is no going back. It'l also be a .6mm veneer so take care with that as well . Rosewood type timbers fade out and take some time to do it and some people like to keep it that way.
Things usually need striping if the finish is patchy and worn or water damaged through in places . Or of it has a build up of later finishes and paint . What you have looks like the original finish and just reviving that may fix the slight colour difference on it . And be a lot less work.
You could also just strip the finish and only very lightly sand the wood and keep the colour that is there .The very light sand is just so the new finish keys in and removes any fine high spots .

Working on a faded finish like that and keeping the work to a minimum in a pro workshop may entail the cut back of the polish with fine paper and before a re shine a fine adjustment to the faded end with clear spirit colours lighty laid down where needed before the re shine happens can make it match.

I and every antique dealer before and after me have seen plenty of disasters with peoples antique furniture and BRW ( Brazilian Rosewood) and some similar types of timber when sand paper gets involved.
Like someone attempts a spot repair and sands it flat. It goes almost black. Then they ask" how do I fix this ".
It cant be fixed .
The patch wont bleach back to the lighter look with BRW. The quality of BRW timber is so good it doesn't bleach . The only option is to sand and repolish the whole thing . They turn a $200 repair into a $2000 repair if its something like a cigarette burn on a piano top .

Your top might not be like that . Do a small test or check first in other ways . Like looking at un faded same wood under the top if its there . I doubt it is but check that. You may have to sand a tiny part to see.
27th January 2023, 01:28 PM
auscab

Quote:

Originally Posted by malteekj

I have seen oxalic acid being used to remove different stains on teak tables, but would this work here?

Best,
Malte

Oxalic acid wont do anything to that faded look unless the fading is a lighter dirt covering which it doesnt look like .

Oxalic acid works great on raw timber that has absorbed iron oxide stains . Dark Grey to black staining like is common on timber decks or weathered table tops with no finish and things like Black circles from metal tins and cans that have been sitting wet. Some types of ink stains and other water based stains as well. It will do nothing to the wood on anything with a finish on it unless its dirt and grime sitting on top of that finish.
27th January 2023, 02:45 PM
China

I mentioned Oxalic Acid as my friend who is a polisher by trade uses this on faded projects with good results, personally I have not used it. Plus I did not view the pic properly and neglected to notice is was veneer, so go with auscab's recommendations much more appropriate.
27th January 2023, 07:31 PM
malteekj

Thank you so much for all the inputs!

Just to be certain that I understand the answers correctly, maybe I should describe what I had in mind:

- I think the current finish is waterbased polyurethane, since it gets tacky with water applied, but not ethanol/turpentine
- I would use a scraper to carefully remove the old poly (everywhere), since stripper shouldn't work on this (I would follow the same approach as
Dashner Design & Restoration on youtube)
- Once the old finish was scraped of, I would give it a very light sanding, then lastly finish it Rubio Monocoat.

I know that I have to be very careful with the sanding since it's veneer and I don't know how thick it is. But from Auscab's comment, it seems like something else could also go wrong in the sanding process?
27th January 2023, 11:46 PM
auscab

Quote:

Originally Posted by China

I mentioned Oxalic Acid as my friend who is a polisher by trade uses this on faded projects with good results, personally I have not used it. Plus I did not view the pic properly and neglected to notice is was veneer, so go with auscab's recommendations much more appropriate.

All cool China . :2tsup: . Everyone says what they feel is best to help and its all worthwhile.
Rob
28th January 2023, 12:03 AM
auscab

Quote:

Originally Posted by malteekj

Thank you so much for all the inputs!

Just to be certain that I understand the answers correctly, maybe I should describe what I had in mind:

- I think the current finish is waterbased polyurethane, since it gets tacky with water applied, but not ethanol/turpentine
- I would use a scraper to carefully remove the old poly (everywhere), since stripper shouldn't work on this (I would follow the same approach as
Dashner Design & Restoration on youtube)
- Once the old finish was scraped of, I would give it a very light sanding, then lastly finish it Rubio Monocoat.

I know that I have to be very careful with the sanding since it's veneer and I don't know how thick it is. But from Auscab's comment, it seems like something else could also go wrong in the sanding process?

Something else could go wrong with sanding ?
Not if you do it correct and even and lightly. Most veneers are around .6 mm after 1840 when slicing veneer appeared . Before that it was sawn veneer and thicker. You do see slightly thicker sliced veneer sometimes though. At .6mm laid and sanded you have about three restorations worth of light sanding before you go through the stuff into glue . This type of thing only needs sanding like that if you are re laying loose veneer down from water damage.

Scraping to remove the finish is a bit heavy I think . It works but you will almost certainly remove any faded surface of the wood if it has faded a fair bit from its original colour . I would use stripper as it usually works .
Have a go with what ever you think though .