I accidentally sanded through some walnut veneer on the side of a bookcase I was building. I had attached a solid walnut face frame and was trying to sand the face frame flush with the side. I’m trying some stain on the area sanded through, but I don’t think it’s going to look right. Any suggestions on what I can do to ‘bring back’ a walnut color on my veneer?
Michael Dresdner: Short of cutting out another layer and replacing the crossband with walnut, the best solution is to touch it up, but not with stain. Stain is designed to alter the color of wood but still let it show through. You want to obscure the crossband and make it look like walnut. In this case, you want to paint a picture of the wood onto the surface using opaque colors. You can do it with touch up powders and shellac, which most pros use, or simply buy acrylic artist colors at the local craft or art store. Get a fine springy brush (I like red sable, but it is pricey) and spread your artistic wings. Look carefully at the walnut veneer beside the sand through and paint a convincing picture of walnut to match.
Rick White: Boy, this is an age old problem and something I’ve done so often, I don’t even want to think about it. I think we’ve all done it. It’s very frustrating because there is no good, easy way to fix it. You can’t stain away the problem.
The answer you don’t want to hear is: I would reveneer the whole side of the bookcase. That’s the only way to make it look right.
