I got some chairs and a table. They need light sanding, a little stain here
and there, some shiny varnish, just a tune up. I do not want to restore
them to original, just nice.

How easy is it to get the stains to match? Should I go to the Borg, and get
about four different shades, and then mix them in small quantities? When
you do a touch up like that, does the new stain stick out a lot, making the
repairs and sanded areas another shade? Are there pigments made to make
your own in small quantities? I have a bunch of small air brush bottles
that I can keep small amounts in, helping to waste less.

Anyone guide me to a restoring furniture for dummies where I can get
started?

Steve

On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:08:14 -0700, Steve B wrote:

How easy is it to get the stains to match? Should I go to the Borg, and
get about four different shades, and then mix them in small quantities?

You'd have a lot better luck matching the color with dye than with
stain. Go to Woodcraft or somewhere similar and get something like:

http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search.aspx?
query=dye&BrandForDisplay=TransTint

Either the powder or the liquid works, I like the liquid better because I
can mix it with shellac.

Mix it very weak and try it on a scrap of the same kind of wood or on a
hidden part. Add a drop or two at a time to reach a match.

--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2013 6:57:29 PM UTC-6, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:08:14 -0700, Steve B wrote: How easy is it to get the stains to match?

http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search.aspx? query=dye&BrandForDisplay=TransTint Either the powder or the liquid works, I like the liquid better because I can mix it with shellac.

I use liquid TransTint most often, also. I mix with lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol for stain touch ups. I tone my lacquer applications often, also, more so than shellac. Most of my touchups are on scratched or damaged furniture I'm reupholstering.

If your staining doesn't quite match the original, then tone whatever topcoat you'll use, to help reduce the stain differences.

Sonny

Having done a lot of refinishing of items for my clients (doors,
conference tables, more doors, trims, wood counters, chairs, etc.) I
would say that the best thing you could do is go haunt your library to
find the information you want.

I have several books and have learned something from all of them.
None are the magic bible I wanted as there are too many variables to
count. Good thoughts from Sonny and Larry, no doubt.

But each project is different as will be the reaction of the existing
surfaces to your new stains, dyes, and top coats. Since I have to
warrant my work, I always strip to bare wood when possible.

OTOH, I have indeed mixed up my own stain brews to color scratches and
gouges. You can still see them, but they aren't as offensive as they
were.

One thing I would suggest would be to think about what you are going
to use as a topcoat. If it is a finish from a factory it is almost
without doubt some kind of lacquer. I I would try to find the correct
color I wanted, mix it with some lacquer and brush it onto the
offending areas. (Test in a chair leg you can keep out of sight!)

If I were going to top coat that, I would use a deglosser of some type
after sanding and coloring to help ensure a good bond to the
substrate.

Robert

wrote:


I have several books and have learned something from all of them.
None are the magic bible I wanted as there are too many variables to
count. Good thoughts from Sonny and Larry, no doubt.

OTOH, I have indeed mixed up my own stain brews to color scratches and
gouges. You can still see them, but they aren't as offensive as they
were.

One thing I would suggest would be to think about what you are going
to use as a topcoat. If it is a finish from a factory it is almost
without doubt some kind of lacquer. I I would try to find the correct
color I wanted, mix it with some lacquer and brush it onto the
offending areas. (Test in a chair leg you can keep out of sight!)

If I were going to top coat that, I would use a deglosser of some type
after sanding and coloring to help ensure a good bond to the
substrate.


Good thoughts from Robert, as usual. I would only add that it is impossible
in practical terms, to ever achieve an exact match. There are just too many
variables. Difficulties include the ability to precisely mix the colors to
the exact match of the original, shading variations that are due to the
absorbsion of the stain by the repair section, etc. You can get very, very
close, but as Robert says they will show without a great deal of
examination. Better than untreated, but visible all the same.

To minimize the show even further, consider blending the stain into the
surrounding finish. This is best accomplished with a spray gun, but could
be done with a brush and judicious light sanding afterwards. Get the
damaged area fully stained, and extend the stain out into the surrounding
areas - how far depends on how close your color match is. Try something
like 2 to 3 times the size of the repair area. So - if your repair area is
2" wide, entend your stain out something like 4-6" into the factory finish,
allowing it to be lighter as you extend. If you are spraying, you can lift
your gun as you blend, or turn your wrist once you get past the repair area
which will result in a less direct spray, and a lighter coat, or applying
lighter coats dusted on as you move outward from the repair area. Remember
that you have to do this in every direction. Think in terms of a circle
rather than straight lines. Everything gets progressively lighter as you
move from the center of the repair area in any direction.

When you blend you are simply fooling the eye. You're giving it progressive
shades to see, rather than distinct edges of colors. The eye gets pretty
lazy and will accept a great number of lies - if you don't believe that,
look at that woman you met in the bar last night in the full light of day...

--

-Mike-

Steve B wrote:
I got some chairs and a table. They need light sanding, a little
stain here and there, some shiny varnish, just a tune up. I do not
want to restore them to original, just nice.

How easy is it to get the stains to match? Should I go to the Borg,
and get about four different shades, and then mix them in small
quantities? When you do a touch up like that, does the new stain
stick out a lot, making the repairs and sanded areas another shade? Are
there pigments made to make your own in small quantities? I have
a bunch of small air brush bottles that I can keep small amounts in,
helping to waste less.
Anyone guide me to a restoring furniture for dummies where I can get
started?

You can buy tubes of universal color tints at any good paint store,
sometimes even at HD/Lowes. "Universal" refers to the fact that they can be
used with any medium...oil, water, alcohol.

You only need three to make any color. There are two sets of primary
colors: additive and subtractive. The additive primary colors are red,
green and blue; the subtractive are magenta, cyan and yellow. For what you
want to do, you would want the subtractive primaries; heres a chart of same,
look at the top three diagrams...
http://www.google.com/search?q=prima...2&ved=0CFMQsAQ

You won't find tints with the primary names, you have to eyeball them and
get as close as you can to the primary colors on the chart.

It is NOT easy to match what is already there. Even if you mix a color that
is dead on, it will look different on the wood. It will look diferent on
fresh wood vs old; it will look different wet vs dry; it will look different
when top coated.

It can be difficult to apply too. For example, there is a chip in the finish
and you want to stain the exposed wood; wiping it on will tend to build up
too much at the edge of the chip because the edge of the top coat is making
a dam. For that sort of thing, use a very small, pointy artist's brush,
keep it pretty dry and stipple the area. You can also stipple in different
colors to match light/dark grain pattern if need be.

You can also make your own stains by using tubes of artist's colors. You
can get them in oil or acrylic and for small amounts it is much cheaper to
buy and dilute those than buy cans of stain from the borg.

I have also used water colors like those used by kids in primary school.
Well thinned, multiple applications.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Feb 27, 7:12*am, "Mike Marlow"
To minimize the show even further, consider blending the stain into the
surrounding finish. *This is best accomplished with a spray gun, but could
be done with a brush and judicious light sanding afterwards. *Get the
damaged area fully stained, and extend the stain out into the surrounding
areas - how far depends on how close your color match is. *Try something
like 2 to 3 times the size of the repair area. *So - if your repair area is
2" wide, entend your stain out something like 4-6" into the factory finish,
allowing it to be lighter as you extend. *If you are spraying, you can lift
your gun as you blend, or turn your wrist once you get past the repair area
which will result in a less direct spray, and a lighter coat, or applying
lighter coats dusted on as you move outward from the repair area. *Remember
that you have to do this in every direction. *Think in terms of a circle
rather than straight lines. *Everything gets progressively lighter as you
move from the center of the repair area in any direction.

Mike, about three years ago I refinished a huge conference table.
They decided to refinish the table as it was so large they couldn't
get it out of the conference room, so they couldn't just replace it.
It was stained to look like some kind of cherry, but it was Oak
underneath. Not one bit of chance of repairing the scratched and
damaged edges to match. (Seriously... "Federal Red" stain on white
oak? Sheesh...)

I sanded off all the edges to get down to the bottom of 90% of the
scratches. Now we have almost bare wood on the perimeter and working
towards the center of the table, nearly pristine finish.

I shot the perimeters with a 50/50 mix of Solalux Mahogany Red and
Walnut NGR UV resistant dye, thinned by about 50% out of my smallest
gun with a 1mm tip on it. Feathered it out about 12" onto the top.
Shot the rest of the table top with the Mahogany, thinned 75% and shot
on as a mist.

Now this is the trick, one I discovered by accident. The applied dyes
look like dust as I have thinned them so much that they were almost
powder by the time they hit the wood veneer. However, the very wet
coat (hurray for horizontal surfaces!) of conversion lacquer I put on
top of the "powder" immediately took on the color of the dye and
melted into the lacquer. All of it adhered very well to the wood.
Two more wet coats and I was done. Great depth of finish and the wood
looked much better than the factory finish. By doing it this way, the
whole table top blended into itself.

No hill for a climber, eh? ;^)

On reflection, if I was in Steve's shoes, I would prep the
surfaces, spray dye, then spray finish.

Robert

wrote:


Now this is the trick, one I discovered by accident. The applied dyes
look like dust as I have thinned them so much that they were almost
powder by the time they hit the wood veneer. However, the very wet
coat (hurray for horizontal surfaces!) of conversion lacquer I put on
top of the "powder" immediately took on the color of the dye and
melted into the lacquer. All of it adhered very well to the wood.
Two more wet coats and I was done. Great depth of finish and the wood
looked much better than the factory finish. By doing it this way, the
whole table top blended into itself.

Yup - that's the way it works! I'm a fan of large blend areas, but that's
because most of what I'm shooting will really show up mis-matches badly, so
fooling the eye is very critical to success. You did well by blending out
as far as you did. As for the wet coats - as God intended spray guns to be
used!



No hill for a climber, eh? ;^)

On reflection, if I was in Steve's shoes, I would prep the
surfaces, spray dye, then spray finish.


Me too.

--

-Mike-