Expert: Jamie Yocono - 5/3/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi!

I recently purchased a mahogany table for our kitchen. Everything below the table top is gorgeous but the table top is in trouble - crackled, and blemished, with heat marks and a few scratches. I would like to refinish it, and I'm thinking I would just sand it down and use Watco Oil like you've suggested before.  Do you think this finish will match the rest of the table, which looks like its been stained? I'm a novice at this, and the last thing I want to do is to ruin the table top.

Thanks for your help!

Denise
ANSWER: Denise,

I only have one reservation I have about sanding down your top down, and then applying Watco. You have to make sure the top is solid wood. If it's not, and it's veneered instead, you will most likely sand through the top veneer, and probably ruin the top. Veneer is very thin, sometimes 1/20 of an inch thick. It doesn't take much sanding to go through something that thin.

If you can examine the top and see what it's made of, that will be the deciding factor here. If it's solid, Watco is a great way to get that top looking gorgeous again. If the heat marks are really bad, I recommend starting with 100 grit sandpaper, eliminating those areas. Then sand the whole top with 180 grit paper. Wipe the dust off, apply some Watco, and wet sand the top with 220 paper. When you're done, wipe every bit of oil residue off. If you don't, it will not dry, but instead, become sticky.

I recommend doing the wet sand with oil two times, possibly three. The first coat will absorb well, and you won't have much to wipe off. But the latter coats will require less oil, as you are starting to seal off the wood pores. One last step to consider is waxing the top. I like Johnson's Paste Wax, it will make the top very smooth, and quite gorgeous.

You mentioned that the top looks like it's been stained. The good thing is that Watco comes with pigments already mixed in. There should be a color chart at the store where you buy it. Try to match the top to one of the stain colors. By resanding the whole top, you won't have any problem with the damaged areas not matching the other areas.  That's why I suggested doing it that way. But- if you repair just certain damaged spots, there's a good chance they won't match the rest of the table.

If you discover your top isn't solid wood, I'm afraid there isn't much you can do. I've seen some people try re-veneering table tops using peel-and-stick veneer, and it really isn't that reliable of a product. It can bubble and lift up, which is quite difficult to repair. So if it's veneered, I'm afraid you're probably out of options. In most cases, it's easier to make a new top than to repair a badly damaged veneered top.

If this is the case, you might try this- I belong to the Furniture Society, an international group of woodworkers/furnituremakers. On the website (www.furnituresociety.org) there is a member list of all the woodworkers, by state. You could do a search for a woodworker in your area, and make a few calls to see if anyone would be willing to make you a new top. There are student members as well as professionals. Students often take on projects like these for a little cash and some good experience. You might get lucky and find someone right in your own backyard.

OK, good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this. And if this answer was helpful... please take a minute and rate my service. Thanks!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: One more thing, Jamie.  Remember I told you I was a novice?  Well, the fellow at the used furniture store told me that there  seemed to be a successful remedy to remove the heat marks.  So I went on line and one "helpful hint" was to use an iron at a low setting and iron a cloth over the area where the mark is.  I, of course, tried this. Unfortunately, not did that not work, it actually made bubbles on the table that when popped made little tiny craters. But live and learn.  My question is, does the appearance of these bubbles a good indication that there is a veneer on there?

Thanks again,

Denise

Answer
Hi Denise,

I assume when you wrote that there are bubbles on the top where you "ironed" it, you mean bubbles in the finish. To me, bubbles in the finish mean that the finish is a surface finish (as opposed to a penetrating finish) and the heat melted it in some way. So to answer your question- if the bubbles are in the finish, it doesn't necessarily indicate that the top is veneered.

But if the bubbles are in the wood itself, as in- the top now is not level, but bubbled up- then it's possible that your top is veneered. What it would also indicate is that the adhesive used to laminate the veneer is heat activated, and that's somewhat common.   

So I guess it depends on if you mean the WOOD is bubbled, or the FINISH is bubbled.

There is a book called "Understanding Wood Finishes" by Bob Flexner, and it's sort of the bible that many woodworkers use. I think in my All-Experts bio, I mention that I only use Watco for the furniture that I build. So I admit- I'm a little out of the loop about most wood finishes. But your question is puzzling me. I have no idea why the furniture salesman would recommend heating the wood to remove those heat marks.

The only time I've ever heard of heat helping wood is when there is a dent. Sometimes, if a dent is minimal, you can apply a little heat and a drop of water to create steam. The steam essentially swells the fibers of the wood, thus re-expanding the dent. This method works OK for small dents, but if it's a DING, where the wood fibers are actually cut, it doesn't work that well.

That said- it still makes no sense to me what he recommend that you apply heat. So I looked in the Bob Flexner book, to see if I could find a quick fix. He recommends that heat marks be removed in a similar way that you would remove water marks. One method is to rub the area with a cloth that dampened with a little denatured alcohol. You don't want to use a lot, just a slightly dampened cloth.  

The book mentions that most heat damage is quite difficult to remove with just a quick repair. Instead, heat marks usually require stripping the finish, sanding out the mark, and reapplying a new finish. Which takes us back to your original problem- how much can you sand if your top is veneered?

Anyway, I think the bubbles that you're seeing are probably surface bubbles because you melted the existing finish of the table top.  You said the top is pretty badly damaged- if it were mine, I would probably attempt to strip and sand the top. If it turns out to be veneered, you'll probably have to consider getting a new one made, or applying some sort of opaque finish over it.

OK, I hope this helps, good luck. Write back if you have more questions.

Jamie Yocono