Expert: Eileen Cronk - 5/31/2008

Question
Hi, and thanks so much for the advice! I actually have questions about two items. I’m refinishing and/or repairing several old furniture pieces I recently inherited from my  grandmother. One piece of furniture my great-grandfather made many, many years ago. It is a buffet. Most of it is made from recycled plywood leftover from his job at a furniture factory. When I got it, it was painted and stained from many years of tobacco smoke, so I sanded off everything down to the bare wood. The top of the piece is actually kind of ugly. The plywood has a very dark grain on most of it, and is really light on the rest. There is also a long cigarette burn right in the middle. The edges seem to be some sort of hard wood like oak. I tried to stain in mahogany, but the dark grain on top went very dark immediately. Now I’m trying to use Minwax Ebony and turn it all as dark as possible, but the lightest of the plywood and the edging pieces aren’t taking the stain. The dark grain just keeps getting darker and darker and the rest stays a reddish tone. Do I: 1) go back over it with wood conditioner, a step I didn’t know to do at the start, even though it already has stain on it, 2) keep adding more stain, 3) give up and paint it again, or 4) do something else I haven’t yet considered? My thought was to make it really dark-stained wood and then put on a layer of clear polyurethane to shine it up.

My second question is that I have a secretary that appears to have a layer of veneer on it, even on top. My uncle must have repeatedly placed a glass in one particular spot, because there is a rough ring and the veneer (or whatever the finish is) has bubbled up. I’ve been told that I should inject some sort of epoxy into the bubble and then press the veneer down to keep it from getting worse. For some reason I have the urge to cover it with a dish towel and then put my iron over it for a few minutes. How do I really fix this problem? Again, thank you SO much!


Answer
Hi Angie
Nice to hear from you.
I love this question.
This in my opinion is a true fix -er- uppers project.
Its a challenge too which makes it awesome and I applaud you for your efforts.
The first project...Your Grandfathers piece.
How wonderful to have something like this that was actually hand made by your Grandfather.
It appears that you have tried everything on this plywood to make it look nice.
Unfortunately what you see is what you get so I would absolutely just paint.
And a good paint job will look great on such a piece.
The damaged veneer on the sectetary can be fixed.
Yes you need some way of getting glue under the veneer.
Do not use epoxy but instead use stand carpenters glue.
That is after you have tried your idea of a pad and a hot iron.
This will work in some instances.
So try it first.
I use a large needle filled with glue for areas such as this.
And then lots of weight to hold it down till dry.
So give that a try first.
Good Luck and thanks for a great question
Regards
Eileen