ClintonR Posted September 22, 2015 Report Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) Hi All, new here so bear with me. It appears to be a great community. I like refinishing solid wood generally but I've come across a few veneer pieces lately that I need help with. I have no idea how to identify wood and haven't attempted to refinish veneer that needed repair previously. The two areas that need repair are trashed, so I'm thinking I'll need to replace the entire area so matching won't be too much of an issue, just want to be in the same ballpark. I can strip, sand and re-stain veneer can I not?This is a vanity:A wardrobe:A solid wood secretary/winthrop pull out desk:Any help would be appreciated. Nice to meet everyone.ClintonR Edited September 22, 2015 by ClintonR deleted extranious pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted September 22, 2015 Report Share Posted September 22, 2015 The condition of the veneer really determines if it's worth salvaging. Sometimes a film finish has failed and it can be stripped with no loss.Unfortunately, every time I've ever attempted to save an old veneer, it was so thin I ended up sanding through it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 Welcome, ClintonR! I have to agree with Brendon, refinishing veneer is tricky at best. Many prefer to replace it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClintonR Posted September 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 I appreciate the input, I'm going to give it a go anywho. It feels like a right of passage of sorts. Any ideas what the woods are? I found a place to buy vaneer, now I just have to figure out how to replace it/identify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 The vanity sure looks like oak to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 White oak wardrobe, Walnut(w/ curved loop) , maple (last picture) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClintonR Posted September 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 Thanks again everyone, it means the world to me. Next question, how do you know? Experience, color, grain? More so even, how did you learn? I saw another post about some places selling sample books, is that a good option?Wish me luck, I'm sure I'll be checking in again and let you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 Experience of working with many woods for me. I have a few "old school" low tech books on the shelf, a few iPad apps, google of course and the wood database is a great source of information http://www.wood-database.com Also the forum members are great at IDing timbers. Basically you need good pictures of the grain and even taking pictures looking on the end grain helps.It also helps if you say where in the world you are as there can be many species that look similar. For instance European oak looks similar to American white oak but there are subtle differences which are reflected in their Latin names. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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