Expert: Eileen Cronk - 1/7/2010

Question
Hi Eileen,
I have a very nice cherry table and chair set that has one major blemish. It looks as if someone had put an iron or some other hot item directly on the table. It left a nasty burn on the table top. Almost looks like charcoal. Is there anyway I can recover/restore the table top? If you like I can attach a picture of the damage. Thank you
Steve

Answer
Hi Steve
Nice to hear from you.
If it looks like charcoal you have some major damage that needs major fixing.
But its fixable if in fact the top is solid wood.
So..If you brought me this table to fix, first I would remove the top.
Without seeing the size, I will assume (because you say there are chairs), that its a dining or eating table.
Wether the top is one piece or two (with sliders underneath), makes no difference.
I would run the top through a table saw (after any sliders are removed of course LOL),and separate the boards in order to run them through a planer.
Separating the boards to plane depends on the planer used. My planer can plane 12 inch boards.
Wood shops have much larger planers. So the saw cuts will be made according to the width of the planer. The object in cutting is to cut on the existing joins but also accomadate the planer width.
Every section of the top will need to be planed. How much depends on how deep the burn is.
Each board will require the same number of passes through the planer.
After the burn has been planed out, the cut sections are glued back together and the top replaced on the leg section.
I like to use biscuits for joining boards.
You will lose a slight bit of length due to the saw cuts and the original screw holes will need adjusting.
Then a new finish applied.
Steve this is not a difficult fix for a wood shop.
Get back if something is not clear.
Regards
Eileen