I have a teak veneer stereo cabinet that has been sitting in the garage for about 10 years under a bunch of garage junk. When I stuck it in the garage, it had a bad water stain on the top. The rest wasn't in bad shape, IIRC.

This piece, if made presentable, would fit nicely into my son's new home. My instinct is to use something like 180 grit on my ROS to clean up the top and then recoat with a teak-colored stain and a couple coats of poly.

Thoughts?

"Gramps' shop" wrote in
:

I have a teak veneer stereo cabinet that has been sitting in the
garage for about 10 years under a bunch of garage junk. When I stuck
it in the garage, it had a bad water stain on the top. The rest
wasn't in bad shape, IIRC.

This piece, if made presentable, would fit nicely into my son's new
home. My instinct is to use something like 180 grit on my ROS to
clean up the top and then recoat with a teak-colored stain and a
couple coats of poly.

Thoughts?


How thick is your veneer? I'd be afraid of sanding through it.

OTOH, that may be exactly the way to go if the veneer is peeling. Sand
it all off and apply new veneer with some glue... I've used Weldwood
Plastic Resin Glue with good effect, but started using the table before I
really got it done. This thread might be helpful:
http://www.homeownershub.com/woodwor...le-with-thick-
veneer-549000-.htm

Any idea of what the finish is? Perhaps the experts here can help you
with that angle.

Puckdropper

On Monday, April 11, 2016 at 8:06:51 PM UTC-5, Gramps' shop wrote:
I have a teak veneer stereo cabinet that has been sitting in the garage for about 10 years under a bunch of garage junk. When I stuck it in the garage, it had a bad water stain on the top. The rest wasn't in bad shape, IIRC.

This piece, if made presentable, would fit nicely into my son's new home. My instinct is to use something like 180 grit on my ROS to clean up the top and then recoat with a teak-colored stain and a couple coats of poly.

Thoughts?

This is from my personal experience, and without seeing it personally, you need to take my advice for what you are paying for it!

First, clean the whole piece with a damp to wet cloth, and dry immediately. Scrub it with a toothbrush where needed, but get it clean. Take stock of the damage to the piece and stain.

You did not say what color the stain is, so that could be a deciding factor in your restoration. Check the stain closely after the top is dry and see if the grain is raised. Hopefully, it is raised just a little bit.

Strip the top with a good chemical stripper, not the citrus, or lime based stuff. Get BIX, Jasco or something along those lines. Test a small area (maybe the size of a nickel) with your stripper to see how long it takes to dissolve the existing finish before starting. DO NOT leave the stripper on longer than you need to, and remember you will clean up remnants of finish with sanding.

Strip. Wash the top with cheap lacquer thinner (mineral spirits will penetrate and can loosen the veneer glue) by putting the lacquer thinner on a rag and wiping quickly.

Sand lightly by hand with 220/240. NO machine sanding.

Tint (not stain) with a diluted color (I like Behlen's Solalux products as they thin with alcohol) to get to the color you want, one that will help hide the water stain. BTW, if the water stain is white, that is where the finish failed and the discoloration may not be as much as it first appears.

Apply coats of thinned down tint until you get the color you want. I don't like water based tints and don't use them, so speaking only of Solalux, let the tint sit overnight and apply your finish.

In the case of the using this as a working piece of furniture, a good satin poly, three coats applied by pad or foam brush should give you a very usable finish.

Robert

Thank you, Robert!!!

This is from my personal experience, and without seeing it personally, you need to take my advice for what you are paying for it!

First, clean the whole piece with a damp to wet cloth, and dry immediately. Scrub it with a toothbrush where needed, but get it clean. Take stock of the damage to the piece and stain.

You did not say what color the stain is, so that could be a deciding factor in your restoration. Check the stain closely after the top is dry and see if the grain is raised. Hopefully, it is raised just a little bit.

Strip the top with a good chemical stripper, not the citrus, or lime based stuff. Get BIX, Jasco or something along those lines. Test a small area (maybe the size of a nickel) with your stripper to see how long it takes to dissolve the existing finish before starting. DO NOT leave the stripper on longer than you need to, and remember you will clean up remnants of finish with sanding.

Strip. Wash the top with cheap lacquer thinner (mineral spirits will penetrate and can loosen the veneer glue) by putting the lacquer thinner on a rag and wiping quickly.

Sand lightly by hand with 220/240. NO machine sanding.

Tint (not stain) with a diluted color (I like Behlen's Solalux products as they thin with alcohol) to get to the color you want, one that will help hide the water stain. BTW, if the water stain is white, that is where the finish failed and the discoloration may not be as much as it first appears.

Apply coats of thinned down tint until you get the color you want. I don't like water based tints and don't use them, so speaking only of Solalux, let the tint sit overnight and apply your finish.

In the case of the using this as a working piece of furniture, a good satin poly, three coats applied by pad or foam brush should give you a very usable finish.

Robert

On Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 8:17:14 AM UTC-5, Gramps' shop wrote:
Thank you, Robert!!!

You are more than welcome. I do hope you take some pics and post some before and after shots.

One thing to mention if you use Solalux, use anhydrous alcohol if you can find a small bottle, or at least 80% alcohol. Normal supermarket stuff is 50%, but you can buy the better stuff at a good drug store. It's cheap. I use the 80% stuff for cleaning sometimes and I buy it at Sam's, but it is a liter bottle.

The reason I don't use water based dyes specifically such as TransTint premixed liquids is that they tend to fade, sometimes more than others. They fade less when they are coated with an exterior grade UV resistant top coat, but fade they do. If you put an interior clear coat (shellac/poly/lacquer) on top of it you can bet it will fade. This painful lesson was learned in the refinishing community when pieces left by a window would fade around lamp bases, doilies, and other things left in place over a period of time, often less than a year.

Oddly, the Transtint powders (called "Transfast" hint... hint... )seem to yield a product that is much more UV resistant.

Here's a link, that is just the very tip of the iceberg. The refinishing community formed several lynch mobs looking for some necks to stretch after using the Transtint liquids with poor results. Homeowners used to go to a professional site I participated in and couldn't believe how poorly Transtint performed after getting high marks from the local know it all at Woodcraft. An article I picked up somewhere a year or so ago said that a reformulation has improved the Transtint UV resistance, but I have no personal knowledge of that happening.

A homeowner will suffer fade and say, "well, we won't move the lamp". After having a professional paid to do the refinishing work, the homeowner will call said professional and ream him out and demand that he refinish his refinishing job. No one wants to do their work twice, so Transtint fell out of favor, as well as did another brand I don't remember.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tran...stint+dye+fade

Note some of the commentary/CYA language up front from Highland, etc.

If a piece is going in the middle of a room, in an alcove or anywhere else that has only indirect lighting, Transtint doesn't fade. Location of the piece and its exposure is something lesser experienced finishers/refinishers forget to address when making comments. If they get good results upfront, and don't check with clients later, they may not know how a finish performs over a period of time.

I started using Solalux at the suggestion of a professional refinisher when I was refinishing high end exterior doors. Out of dozens of doors I used it on, there was no discernable fade after years when I put a UV resistant coat on top of the Solalux.

I like the Solalux as I can thin the colors down and apply coat after coat until I hit the right shade. I can apply different colors to add them as needed, and Solalux is available in a lot of places. However, if you are feeling adventurous, you can buy several good dye solids (mix with alcohol) such as Moser brand and few others online or possibly at a high end wood wood working store. There are a lot of good dyes out there, but in my opinion, Transtint isn't one of them.

If you hit a snag, post it here. I am checking about once a day these days, and will help if I can.

Robert

On Mon, 11 Apr 2016 18:06:49 -0700 (PDT)
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I have a teak veneer stereo cabinet that has been sitting in the
garage for about 10 years under a bunch of garage junk. When I stuck
it in the garage, it had a bad water stain on the top. The rest

was the water stain only in the finish or did it penetrate into the
wood

if it is only the finish i would use 220 or 320 thne refinish

if it in the wood then the solution depends

In article m,
Puckdropper says...

"Gramps' shop" wrote in
:

I have a teak veneer stereo cabinet that has been sitting in the
garage for about 10 years under a bunch of garage junk. When I stuck
it in the garage, it had a bad water stain on the top. The rest
wasn't in bad shape, IIRC.

This piece, if made presentable, would fit nicely into my son's new
home. My instinct is to use something like 180 grit on my ROS to
clean up the top and then recoat with a teak-colored stain and a
couple coats of poly.

Thoughts?


How thick is your veneer? I'd be afraid of sanding through it.

OTOH, that may be exactly the way to go if the veneer is peeling. Sand
it all off and apply new veneer with some glue... I've used Weldwood
Plastic Resin Glue with good effect, but started using the table before I
really got it done. This thread might be helpful:
http://www.homeownershub.com/woodwor...le-with-thick-
veneer-549000-.htm

Any idea of what the finish is? Perhaps the experts here can help you
with that angle.

Puckdropper

If it's teak veneer it's probably Scandinavian or imitation thereof, and
those would generally have had an oil finish.