Refinish Danish Teak Table Top

[DIYGUY]

I hope someone might offer a suggestion for refinishing a badly stained teak table top that is Danish Modern. This means basically that it is teak veneered and is a light brown color. The stains very likely go well down below the veneer so sanding them out is not possible. I doubt that a furniture stripper would solve anything either. I thought rather than trying to remove it, why not hide it by using a dye stain over it. That could be problematic as well, because the existing finish on the surface would likely prevent uniform penetration, not to mention that it is very likely that the outlines of the stain would still show up through the dye, and that process is irreversible. I'm stumped for ideas on which way to go.

Well there it is - what are your thoughts? Many thanks in advance ...

 

[Raymond]

I don't have an answer for you, Mark. However, a photo of the damage might help others chime in.

 

[danmart77]

If it was built with teak veneer it was most likely finished with lacquer. Very common. Post a photo.

 

[FlyingRon]

Hoping you come up with an answer as we have similar pieces (notably our dining room table). My wife has lessened some of the stains with steel wool and various refinishing oils, but I suspect the real answer is a more involved finish repair.

In our case, the most onerous damage are white spots where heat/steam has damaged the finish (we had a party where we served a hot "stew" on chinette plates and it caused spots at just about every place).

 

[danmart77]

Hoping you come up with an answer as we have similar pieces (notably our dining room table). My wife has lessened some of the stains with steel wool and various refinishing oils, but I suspect the real answer is a more involved finish repair.

In our case, the most onerous damage are white spots where heat/steam has damaged the finish (we had a party where we served a hot "stew" on chinette plates and it caused spots at just about every place).

lacquer

 

[DIYGUY]

Thank you Raymond. Will post pix shortly ...

 

[dwminnich]

Describe the stains... Are they water marks (cloudy and whitish) or tinted? Water marks can frequently be fixed without refinishing by covering the mark with a clean dish towel and applying heat to the table, through the towel, with a hot clothes iron. Search online for more-detailed explanations.

--dave


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DIYGUY]

Okay, here are some pix. Gruesome, but very much still worth rescuing! Wanted to post many pix but for some reason the window would time out on the upload, and then I would be logged out. I tried to reduce image file size as I thought that was the likely culprit, but could not make it much smaller. Maybe I will try a link to my GDrive account insted.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AuYRdfO7JHePjf3jANPK_aPvrD8vWfN3

 

[Jeff]

Okay, here are some pix. Gruesome, but very much still worth rescuing! Wanted to post many pix but for some reason the window would time out on the upload, and then I would be logged out. I tried to reduce image file size as I thought that was the likely culprit, but could not make it much smaller. Maybe I will try a link to my GDrive account insted.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AuYRdfO7JHePjf3jANPK_aPvrD8vWfN3

That table top has a lot of other scratches and dings besides a few water spots. I'd wipe it down with lots of lacquer thinner and lots of clean rags to remove the lacquer or shellac. Then use a freshly sharpened card scraper to carefully clean it up without going through the veneer layer. Refinish with Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish.

BTW, how do you know that it's a mahogany veneer?

 

[DIYGUY]

Thank you for the advice Jeff.

I know it is a mess - the scratches and water stains will be challenging to deal with. I am fairly confident it is veneer. Only way to know for certain is take a core from underneath. Better yet - there are some screwed battens I might be able to remove and check the holes to learn. Think I will go do that now!

BTW - lacquer thinner will not remove lacquer that has dried. It's simply not going to do anything. Unlike shellac and alcohol, thinner will not remove the finish. As well, after the surface is eventually refinished I will likely want to stay with lacquer to match the rest of the table.

Appreciate any and all other thoughts on how best to proceed. My thanks in advance ...

 

[Jeff]

BTW - lacquer thinner will not remove lacquer that has dried. It's simply not going to do anything. Unlike shellac and alcohol, thinner will not remove the finish. As well, after the surface is eventually refinished I will likely want to stay with lacquer to match the rest of the table.

Lacquer thinner will indeed remove dried lacquer, like alcohol will remove dried shellac. Using lacquer thinner is a test method for lacquer.

https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/home-diy/projects/how-to-strip-wooden-furniture.htm

You aren't going to get very far with refinishing if you continue to think inside the box!

 

[danmart77]

Thank you for the advice Jeff.

I know it is a mess - the scratches and water stains will be challenging to deal with. I am fairly confident it is veneer. Only way to know for certain is take a core from underneath. Better yet - there are some screwed battens I might be able to remove and check the holes to learn. Think I will go do that now!

BTW - lacquer thinner will not remove lacquer that has dried. It's simply not going to do anything. Unlike shellac and alcohol, thinner will not remove the finish. As well, after the surface is eventually refinished I will likely want to stay with lacquer to match the rest of the table.

Appreciate any and all other thoughts on how best to proceed. My thanks in advance ...

False Big Time. I have restored lacquer finishes on a dozen tables like yours. This is not Mahogany.

You have Teak in the photo. I would avoid using a scraper and use 0000 steel wool dipped in the solvent- lacquer. If you scrape off the aged teak in a section you will have one ugly surface and it will all need to be scraped and colored.

 

[DIYGUY]

Well, this is a good deal of help - just what I need! I have to say that in the past my own experience with using lacquer thinner to remove a lacquer surface was not successful. I will definitely try again with wooly steel and thinner. If this works it is likely to be just what I need. Today I was successful in scraping off a small section and then followed that up with some 220 sandpaper. It is far from ready for a new surface finish, but it did boost my spirits and confidence that the top can be rescued. As well, I removed a screwed batten from underneath to confirm the composition, and the screw hole was too small to reveal anything. I bored a 1/4" hole and sure enough - it is veneer.