Bruised wood


Tonya

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Hello,

I am working on an oiled teak desk from the 1960s. There are a couple of bruised lines about 3/16" wide, running the entire width of the desk. I do not feel a dent in the wood so thought I could sand out the color difference. I first stripped the wood with Citristrip and now I've tried sanding one of the line out using 220 and 320 grit paper. It's sort of working but I'm afraid of going through the veneer. Does anyone know if Oxalic Acid wood bleach will fix this? Or is sanding the only way to go? Thanks for any advice you might have. - Tonya

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It appears, something heavy was dragged over the surface and compressed the wood fibers. By using the stripper, it probably raised the grain "some" so you can't feel a dent, but the wood is still compressed. 

You're going to have to sand the table anyway to remove all those tiny scratches. I say hand sand with the grain and go easy, you should be fine.

 

-Ace- 

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I've never had any good luck using Oxalic acid for anything. It would probably make things worse.  Derek's method is your best bet, but don't use very much heat.  I'd be afraid of what the melting temperature is on the old veneer glue.  If it's like some furniture that my friends have, which I think it is, the veneer is not very thick.

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Hi Tom

If the steam generated melts a little of the hide glue, simply keep pressure on the area until the glue cools. Hide glue will then be as good as new. I cannot imagine other glues being used in this case, and they will have greater resistance to steam anyway.

Regards from Perth

Derek

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  • 2 years later...

I know this is old but figure I could help someone that might need to know how to do this. In Niel Ellis' Polishing Handbook to remove bruising on veneer he suggest and I quote "Put three or four drops of metho on to the bruise and immediately set it alight using a match. The heat and slight moisture should once again swell the bruise out of the wood. This method can be used on solid wood as well as veneered timber. However it is not reccomended for use on a good polished surface." end quote.

 

Hope this helps someone,

Aaron

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