veneer repair part deux

H

hermv2000

Well-known member
Having fixed the top I'm now on to replacing a 10X2 inch area of veneer on one of the drawers.  A long time ago someone replaced a missing triangle near a corner with the wrong veneer which I successfully removed with heat.  The veneer on the drawer front is mahogany by the way.

Over the years the original mahogany faded somewhat to a golden brown.  When I planed the new veneer down to blend it in to the old veneer the original color of the old mahogany began to show, a darker brown shade.  While I have been able to match the color of the patch to the original and now faded mahogany I need to lighten the old mahogany adjacent to the patch in order for this repair to be invisible.

So, my question is what bleaching method can I use to effect this?

Thank you,

Herman

 
Hi Herman        How about another picture?    I'm not so sure I would use bleach, but I might be able to suggest some other methods.  Have you ever done any French Patching?      Randy
 
I have had decent results with varying strengths of oxalic acid. It is available in dry form that you mix with water and also as a fence/deck cleaner available in home improvement and/or paint stores. I think you will find this to be a mild starting point. Hope you have good luck.

Leon Gauvreau
 
Hi JB 
Most people have heard about French Polishing, and fewer have learned how to do it. So it doesn't surprise me that there are quite a few people that have never heard of French Patching.  One of the cool things about French Polishing is that is it gives you total control of the coloring process through out the whole finishing process.  French Patching is the process of adding color (powdered dye stains) to the surface as you are French Polishing.  For example, lets say that you have a great board but it has a bit of sapwood on the edge.  It matches the rest of the wood you have been using and it is the last piece you have.  As you begin to French Polish, you can dip your finger tip into the powdered stain and feather in color to blend out the sapwood.  That is, with the piece already stained, and you can see the difference between the good wood and the sapwood, you can begin to French Polish with your polishing rag going with the grain, and you can add color to the area that your rag has just left.  The surface will stay tacky for about 15 seconds or so, at which time you would add the base color (the lightest color you see in the area you plan to match.  With the color on the surface, you flash the rag over the area again to lock in the color.  Some pieces will have red tones, some brown, some golden or yellow.  Mahogany for instance has red tones, I would use a bright orange powder to block out the sapwood and then add a secondary color (more of a mahogany color) and then add the highlight marks, like grain marks and things like that.  It does help to have a little bit of a background in color theory.  And the last benefit to correcting color with this method, is that if you mess up, you can simply add a little more alcohol to your rag and erase the area and start over.  As you are French Polishing it doesn't matter at what stage of French Polishing you are at, you can always correct the color or touch up at any part of the process.  Total color control from start to finish.  I hope you don't find this as difficult to understand as it was for me to explain.  This is really something you have to see to truly appreciate.  I will be giving a lecture on this in August in Kansas City and Demonstrating this process.  It is much easier to show than to describe.  But hope this does help, let me know if I should try explaining further.  It has been a long day.    Randy
 
Thanks to Randy for his advice.  I followed it this past weekend and successfully blended in a new mahogany patch into an area that had a sun damaged finish making the mahogany appear light in color.

Until he offered his advice I was at the end of my tether with this project.

The technique works very well.

Herman
veenendaal-period-furniture.blogspot.com
 
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