Two tone walnut veneer?
- Thread starter Jane
- Start date
Jane
Welcome to NCWW.
I am no expert, with little walnut experience and no veneer experience. In any case, I do not see what you describe in the photo - the colors gradually shift from the sapwood to the heartwood, but I do not see (color) splotchiness. Naturally photos do not always show what we can see in person. Could you somehow highlight an area where you see this? I do see sheen differences (how reflective the surface is), especially the glossy area at the top middle portion, whereas most of the surface appears low sheen (matte).
If it is parched areas (are they the same areas you describe as splotchiness?), that is often related to the finish. You might try
1. Test on some scrap. Finishing schedule and experiments should be done 1st on scrap, through the whole sanding, staining, clear coating process - which I say but only rarely do.
2. More layers of brushing lacquer for a hopefully thicker and more consistent layer thickness. Can't do this on the finished piece as you have sanded off the 1st attempt.
3. Or brushing on coat or two as a sanding sealer, sand back to the wood surface (but not really removing much or any wood, just the finish coats), and then recoating. THis second option is what you are in the middle of, you just haven't recoated.
And I hope you are working in a well-ventilated space when using brushing lacquer - that stuff makes me dizzy in a hurry! (even dizzier than normal).
Please post more as you discover more - love to see the finished piece in its entirety.
Hopefully others can weigh in here.
Welcome to NCWW.
I am no expert, with little walnut experience and no veneer experience. In any case, I do not see what you describe in the photo - the colors gradually shift from the sapwood to the heartwood, but I do not see (color) splotchiness. Naturally photos do not always show what we can see in person. Could you somehow highlight an area where you see this? I do see sheen differences (how reflective the surface is), especially the glossy area at the top middle portion, whereas most of the surface appears low sheen (matte).
If it is parched areas (are they the same areas you describe as splotchiness?), that is often related to the finish. You might try
1. Test on some scrap. Finishing schedule and experiments should be done 1st on scrap, through the whole sanding, staining, clear coating process - which I say but only rarely do.
2. More layers of brushing lacquer for a hopefully thicker and more consistent layer thickness. Can't do this on the finished piece as you have sanded off the 1st attempt.
3. Or brushing on coat or two as a sanding sealer, sand back to the wood surface (but not really removing much or any wood, just the finish coats), and then recoating. THis second option is what you are in the middle of, you just haven't recoated.
And I hope you are working in a well-ventilated space when using brushing lacquer - that stuff makes me dizzy in a hurry! (even dizzier than normal).
Please post more as you discover more - love to see the finished piece in its entirety.
Hopefully others can weigh in here.
And so is it the color, the sheen (reflectivity), or both you see as splotches?
I'm on a small screen now and think l see sheen inconsistency, not color. Looks to me like there are narrow lines in the finish where it has not 'wet' the wood (or penetrated it), especially in the top picture.
I expect more thin coats should solve this. Resist the urge to apply thick coats; adding more solvent to some lacquer ( lower the viscosity) and using as a spot fix on these problem areas might work You might then need the level the finish by sanding (320 of higher grit, removing dust, and top coating.
All guesses on my part by the way. I have little experience with that finish - well enough dizziness created to vow to never use it again.
Henry
I'm on a small screen now and think l see sheen inconsistency, not color. Looks to me like there are narrow lines in the finish where it has not 'wet' the wood (or penetrated it), especially in the top picture.
I expect more thin coats should solve this. Resist the urge to apply thick coats; adding more solvent to some lacquer ( lower the viscosity) and using as a spot fix on these problem areas might work You might then need the level the finish by sanding (320 of higher grit, removing dust, and top coating.
All guesses on my part by the way. I have little experience with that finish - well enough dizziness created to vow to never use it again.
Henry
On a larger screen now, I see the lines more clearly. I am almost completely convinced that this is a 'non-wetting' issue - the finish is not penetrating all the features in the surface and the result is these small lines of raw wood amongst an overall area of finished wood.
I do expect that lower viscosity finish (thinned finished created by adding solvent) is likely a decent way to prevent this (for this combo of finish and wood). Another method would be to use a seal coat of dilute (dewaxed) shellac (say a 0.5 or 1-pound cut, which is how shellac concentration is described; please ask if this makes no sense) as an initial coat - as that is usually quite good at penetrating and wetting. Then use the lacquer as a top coat.
Anyone else have insight here?
I think this is one of those cases where several very thin coats will give better results than one or two thicker coats.
I m h o that table is screaming for an oil finish. Waterlox, wipe on poly, BLO, Danish oil or any other oil finish will make the grain jump out. I spray a lot of lacquer but have never had any luck brushing it. Lacquer won't bring out the beauty as well as an oil. That is some fine looking wood. Try some oil finish on a piece of scrap that is sanded just like your project. Apples to apples so to speak. You might just change your mind about your finishing schedule.
Can you test on the bottom? If you switch to oil make sure all of the original finish is removed. I see some shiny areas around the edges. Is the bottom veneered the same as the top? If you're not to far from franklinton I have some scrap walnut you could test with.
Yes agree I need to do one more pass with the laquer thinner to remove the remaining residual. The bottom is not veneered. Thanks for the offer of a scrap of walnut however I live quite a ways from you. You gave me an idea though. I will try to find a scrap of walnut locally.
