Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/23/2009

Question
QUESTION: I am refinishing the case on a 100 yr. old upright made of mahogany and walnut. It was stained with a dark red stain. I would like to remove this color and apply a brown stain and possibly lighten the color of the piece as well. I plan to use a minwax stain and polyurethane as a topcoat. I have made several passes of stripper on the various pieces, but this doesn't seem to be removing the red color on some of the pieces. Wold wood bleach (oxalic acid help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, is "famowood" any better for touching up small nicks or missing pieces of veneer than other products?

Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Craig
Nice to hear from you.
Pretty big project you have going there. My hats off to you.
The Oxalic acid will not remove this color if its dye stain.
I suspect this is really what you have by your description.
Did your rags and hand protection turn pink after the finish was removed and you where attempting to remove the red color? If yes, then you have dye stain. Its very important that you know for sure.
I may go further and suggest that perhaps you do not have walnut and mahogany if the wood is dye stained.
So check this out as I don't want you dissappointed with the end result.
If this is dye stained wood you will have to use a brown dye stain after bleaching to achieve your color.
In any case, here is the bleaching info.
You must select the correct bleach for the job.
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/using_wood_bleach.htm
Craig I have never had access to buying this Famowood filler but just did a bit of reading on it.
Sounds like it would work fine. Apparently it can be stained which is a plus.
And get back to me about the stain..I'm curious.
Regards
Eileen

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

QUESTION: Thanks for your prompt response. Re: the stain- when using the stripper I don't recall the stain turning pink- only the red color. I am positive that the piano is made of walnut veneers with solid mahogany used on some pieces. With the stripper, the stain seemd to continue to come out with multiple applications, but some pieces still appear "redder" than others that look more like the natural brown of the walnut. We used paper towels, and scotch pads in the stripping process. Does this narrow things down?
Finally, i would like a satin or low lustre type of finish. Because of the intricate carvings, I cannot use a gloss varnish or polyurethane as rubbing the finish down with steel wool and pumice or other means cannot achieve uniform results. What do you recommend? Tung oil has been suggested in its low lustre formulation  that I guess you can wipe on with a rag.

thank you

Answer
Hi again Craig
OK..you can positively ID the wood as being walnut and mahogany.
Do not under any circumstances try to bleach the color out.
Was the stripper you used an MC stripper?
If not you could do one more coat using an MC stripper.
Heres one I use
http://www.swingpaints.com/1800.htm
If you get no more color on your rags or paper towels using this stripper you can rest assured that nothing more will come off.
At that point the wood is ready for staining.
If you want brown, use Minwax Special Walnut stain.
Variations in the wood color can be expected and actually add to the beauty of the piece in my opinion.
Tung oil is an excellent choice for a finish. Use the low luster
Heres one I use exclusively
http://www.swingpaints.com/1802.htm
Its a fool proof finish (thats why I like it LOL).
And it just wipes on with a rag.
Craig the beauty of this finish is that it can be easily repaired by simply wiping more over scratches, and you can add a fresh coat at any time with no surface prep (other than dust free).
Here is an article you will find interesting
http://refinishfurniture.com/tung_oil_finish.htm
Keep me posted
Regards
Eileen