Light wood, dark grain

[Shesays]

Hi!

I am really new to finishing so forgive me if this is a stupid question -I just stripped and sanded some wood to refinish and the wood grain is all very dark in color, it looks unnatural, perhaps the effect of a previous stain. If it is unnatural, does anyone know how to get rid of it? If not (and if so) what kind of wood am I working with here? What might have caused this?

[img src=http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Schroeder846/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps15511115.jpg.html]

[img src=http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Schroeder846/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps0af1d5c4.jpg.html]

[Keggers]

Sorry. I couldn't get your photos to show up. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

[Tpt life]

I got your links to work by deleting some code that wound up after the .html

[Tpt life]

You seem to have a lovely open pored wood. This look does not look "unnatural" to me as in "offensive" but I work around a lot of older distressed projects. There may be a remnant of some finish in those pores. If that is old finish, the only perfect way I know to remove that look is to remove material through scraping, planing or sanding. What are you hoping to do with the piece?

[Tpt life]

For context this is an old work piece of oak and a brand new piece of ash. The oak clearly shows that I planed away all of the old finish in the lower right corner but toward the upper left still has old finish I'm the pores. Both places have some dark color in the pores. (Ignore the big brown smear of a test.) The ash has some darker color naturally in places. The second pic just has a little mineral oil rubbed on it for a wetter oiled look.

[Shesays]

Thanks C Shaffer!

It is a really lovely peice of wood - but the back lines are taking away from, rather than adding to that I believe - I'm kind of an old wood junkie, hence the project. It is for a side table - I'm going to link some closer pictures now that I'm at home and have actually sanded it a bit more - it's definitely a black paint/stain - I think I'm making some headway but I will have to sand quite a bit off of it - I don't mind the work as long as that won't hurt the wood. It doesn't photograph that badly, but in person it makes my beautiful wood look a little like it has faux graining. Pictures to follow!

[Shesays]

http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Schroeder846/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps91eaf9e8.jpg.html that's with a bit of mineral oil

This is after a bit more aggressive sanding -

http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Schroeder846/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps91eaf9e8.jpg.html

This is the a place where it's a bit worse after a little sanding -http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Schroeder846/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbe8b8556.jpg.html

So I guess I can tell it's a paint/stain reman any now...I've already scraped as much as I can, I guess now I just sand? Can I over sand? There's no paint thinner wash of any sort someone knows I that might lighten the paint?

[wdwerker]

Looks fine to me. Might actually be the natural wood grain. You might try some wood bleach. Read the package closely ! It is not regular household bleach !