[eedekay]

Greetings all,

I started my first project last night which involved removing a coat of paint on what looks to be a pine table. Upon removing the coat a giant white blotch appeared. Also, discoloration on other areas of the table. Attached for reference. I have never refinished anything so I do not know what these spots on the table are or how to fix them. I tried to keep sanding the areas but it seems they are pretty deep into the wood.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks.

Eric

 

[Dodger52]

The spot in the first picture looks like it may have a grain pattern. My first thought was that you had sanded through the veneer, but if that was the case I would think you would see an edge. Is it possible that someone tried to stain the piece at one point?

 

[NetDoc]

The table was painted? Then it probably was filler for some imperfection.

 

[Steve Neul]

It is sanded through veneer. The white spot has perpenducular grain, probably spruce veneer. It may be the reason the table was painted. The fix would be to re-veneer the top but knotty pine veneer is more expensive than walnut veneer. Option 2 would be to set up a router and mortise the strip of wood out 1/8" to 1/4" and insert a piece of solid wood. Option 3 would be paint.

 

[BernieL]

I'll jump in here and 2nd NetDoc's response. I also believe it is fill because there are more there are several boards in the top, some perpendicular. You say this is your 1st project so advising you to cut out those boards and rebuild the table might be beyond your skill level... if not then rebuild and stain.

As previously stated - your other options are to paint or apply a veneer. Big patches of fill will show through a stain - as a matter of fact, all fills, even the ones that claim to be "stainable" are not stainable. I would paint or build a whole new table.

This being your 1st post - welcome to the best wood working forum. Lots of great folks here willing to help out. Please don't be discouraged and do stick around and ask questions. For you 2nd post, I encourage you to go to the intro section and introduce yourself. Let folks know you're here.

 

[Tony B]

The spots looks so much like filler by the pattern that I would bet a paycheck that is what it is.

Drag your fingernail starting about an inch or so away from the patch and across it. It will feel totally different. There also will not be grain in the filler area.

You obviously do not have the skill level yet to re-veneer or hand paint the missing grain, so your best option would be to re-paint.

I had a commercial woodworking and refinishing shop and for almost 30 years

 

[eedekay]

I figured it was a filler and I did exactly as Tony said before posting and noticed when dragging my finger nail it was a totally different texture.


Thanks for the advice. I'll have to ask the wife what she wants to do with the table. I'd rather just repaint it.

 

[cabinetman]

It's hard to tell exactly what that is. It's possible that the actual top is a paneling type sheet goods material in looking at the pattern. Any fix to what's there will jump out visually. Adding a veneer would leave an outside edge. Painting would be a viable option.

.

 

[NetDoc]

It might have been something as simple as a bruise on the wood. If it is, I would carefully remove the filler with out deepening the bruise. Then a very damp rag and a steam iron set to HOT might must lift that right out. If fact, You might find that they sanded the crap out of the surrounding area, so it might have to be sanded after the fact. My far better half put a huge dent in her as of yet unfinished dresser. I drizzled a bit of water on it, put the wet rag on and went to get the iron. Well, being NetDoc, I got distracted with a Scuba project and forgot about the rag. The next morning as I am walking by the dresser I had a couple of thoughts. The first was OMG! did I turn on the iron and leave it on? Nope. The second was OMG!!! I bet the wood is damaged! Well, it was already damaged, so I could always blame any damage due to inattention on trying to repair the bruise. Then I lifted the rag and was way pleasantly surprised. Wow. Double WOW! There was a tiny water stain, but a little sanding took that right out. It took the dent right out and made things flat.

No a great filler is also a sealer and that may mitigate your attempt. But really, what can it hurt? If it doesn't rise up, you can always refill it and repaint the thing.

 

[Wcoh9225]

Can a thickness sander be used to get a piece of wood 12 to 24" long down to 0.75 +/- 0.002"? I use these pieces to make puzzles and they need to be pretty precise to make a good puzzle.

 

[Steve Neul]

I still think it looks like veneer sanded through.

 

[ryan50hrl]

Can a thickness sander be used to get a piece of wood 12 to 24" long down to 0.75 +/- 0.002"? I use these pieces to make puzzles and they need to be pretty precise to make a good puzzle.

A different topic than the original post....but I'll bite. Sure they can in a perfect world, but .002 is half the thickness of a sheet of paper....the wood will expand and contract far more than that. So unless your keeping these in an air tight, climate controlled box, you may need to adjust your tolerances. Now I you want to work with MDF or Baltic birch or some other medium, there's a discussion to be had.

 

[ryan50hrl]

I agree on the veneer too....when you sand at an edge of the spot, does the spot get bigger or smaller?

 

[eedekay]

The spot did not get any bigger when sanding more. Originally the table was coated in white paint, upon sanding that off a redish stain was on the table. I sanded off the stain and underneath that was the actual wood. That white blotch was not visible until I sanded off the red stain.

 

[Steve Neul]

The spot did not get any bigger when sanding more. Originally the table was coated in white paint, upon sanding that off a redish stain was on the table. I sanded off the stain and underneath that was the actual wood. That white blotch was not visible until I sanded off the red stain.

I photoshopped the picture and appears to have wood grain running in a perpendicular direction than the top in that spot. Does it really have grain like that or is it something in the picture?

 

[eedekay]

When I ran my fingernail across it i could feel the grain horizontally, which is the opposite of the other grain running vertical.

 

[NetDoc]

I still think it looks like veneer sanded through.

Your enlargement makes me start to think the same thing.

 

[GROOVY]

I wonder how to zoom in .... thanks Steve I think that's veneered too

 

[Steve Neul]

I wonder how to zoom in .... thanks Steve I think that's veneered too

I had to save the picture into my computer and run it through photoshop. I couldn't do anything with the pixles though.

 

[Steve Neul]

When I ran my fingernail across it i could feel the grain horizontally, which is the opposite of the other grain running vertical.

Since you have wood going two different directions the spot is where the veneer was sanded completely off. Somebody before you probably refinished the table and sanded through the veneer and tried to color it in and gave up and painted the table. It can be fixed. It just depends on how you are equipped and how much trouble you are willing to do.