furniture finish repair help

In the interest of reality, the _heat_ often produced by sanding with finer
grit papers hardens the surface and contracts the pores. Burnishing is what
it's called. You can take advantage of this by burnishing end grain to make
it almost impervious to stain. You can avoid it by gently hand sanding or
sanding with lubrication, beginning with stearated paper, extending to fully
wet.

Abusers of belt sanders are well aware of what a burnished area can do to
finish absorption. Those pesky light areas where they reversed directions
can linger and linger.

Note that wet sanding can also pack the pores of the wood with a
light-scattering slurry. Easy to end up with something that looks like a
Pergo surface if you're not careful.

I'd wet the veneer with plain old water to make the grain stand up and see
if that didn't improve matters. Oak might also have been filled with a
paste pore filler whose solvent may be incompatible, and reject the stain's
vehicle.

"Rob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I think it is oak veneer. I did sand with 220 grit.
>
> The stain had virtually no effect on the color of the wood.
>
> I have never heard of higher grit sandpaper sealing the pores.
>
> The furniture I have built myself was sanded with a high grit and took
stain
> with no problem.
>
> Should I try some kind of chemical finish remover?
>

Rob wrote:

> I posted this earlier and did not get many responses. If anyone has ideas,
> your help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> I bought a piece of furniture and temporarily put masking tape on it.
>
> When I pealed it off, part of the original finish came with it. I tried to
> apply a closely matching stain but the stain would not go into the wood.
>
> I sanded the area and tried again but the stain will still not go into the
> wood.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? The stain I bought is very close in color to
> the original if I could only get the wood to absorb it.
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Rob
>
>
what kind of wood? (ie. hard dense wood like maple doesn't
like to take stain)

what grit are you sanding with? (too high a grit seals the
pores)

it's very difficult to buy stain that "actually" stains a
piece of wood the color you think it will.

dave

I think it is oak veneer. I did sand with 220 grit.

The stain had virtually no effect on the color of the wood.

I have never heard of higher grit sandpaper sealing the pores.

The furniture I have built myself was sanded with a high grit and took stain
with no problem.

Should I try some kind of chemical finish remover?



"Bay Area Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Rob wrote:
>
> > I posted this earlier and did not get many responses. If anyone has
ideas,
> > your help would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > I bought a piece of furniture and temporarily put masking tape on it.
> >
> > When I pealed it off, part of the original finish came with it. I tried
to
> > apply a closely matching stain but the stain would not go into the wood.
> >
> > I sanded the area and tried again but the stain will still not go into
the
> > wood.
> >
> > Anyone have any suggestions? The stain I bought is very close in color
to
> > the original if I could only get the wood to absorb it.
> >
> > Thanks for your help!
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> what kind of wood? (ie. hard dense wood like maple doesn't
> like to take stain)
>
> what grit are you sanding with? (too high a grit seals the
> pores)
>
> it's very difficult to buy stain that "actually" stains a
> piece of wood the color you think it will.
>
> dave
>
>