Beginner needing staining advice


mujaki6

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Hello all,

I have zero woodworking experience and this is my first time trying to do anything involving sanding and staining. Our dining table was extremely scratched up so instead of buying a new one I decided to try sanding it down and refinishing just the top. Because I was only wanting to do the top, I was hoping it would look pretty similar to what is existing on the side of the table and the legs. It didn't have to a be perfect match, just not super noticeable. I also do not know what the wood type is.

Anyways, I sanded the entire table down with a rotary sander, using 80, 120, and 220 grit. Before I stained the table itself, I tried out the stain on one of the two shelves. I used MInwax pre-stain conditioner, Minwax  stain, and finished with Minwax polyurethane.  As you can see from the side-by-side pictures, the color is an OK match and I could live with it, however, the "look" of the wood has totally changed. Does anyone know why this is or what I did wrong? I don't mind the new look but if that's what I get then I will end up having to sand the entire table and chairs because the look is too different from the original. One thought I had is maybe the original finish had a nice looking fake veneer on it that I sanded off and the real wood underneath is not high quality? Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Bill

Wood comparison 2.jpg

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Factories use spray on leave on stains. They also use tints in the first coats of the finish to achieve that uniform dark finish. You could have stopped at 120 or 150 grit and gotten a little darker results. I would try the PolyShades tinted finish in very thin coats to see if that might help even things out. I don't love that stuff but it may save you from starting over.

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