Help with repair please

[bluenose]

My daughter has a lovely large dining table and it has become damaged in several places and, I would like to be able to put it right if possible.

Hopefully you will be able to see the image that I have posted OK. I think that the damage is caused by heat rather than stains. The finish appears to have been bleached away. There are numerous similar marks across the table top.

My first thoughts were to sand the whole of the top back to the bare wood and then to apply the appropriate finish, which once again I will need some help with please.

Thank you for looking.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

It's hard to be sure, but I think moisture has got into the finish, driven in by the heat you mentioned. You don't say what the finish is, but it looks like a lacquer of some sort, or it may be shellac (unlikely I think).

Anyway, as a first step, try wadding up some cotton wool into roughly a squash ball size and wrapping it in a fine cotton cloth - an old handkerchief or a strip of a T shirt for instance. This 'rubber' should look a bit like the below example from David Savage's website.

Add alcohol (meths) to the cotton wadding, wrap in the cloth, squeeze gently to get some alcohol into the fabric of the cloth and pass the rubber over the surface of the damaged area in much the same manner as an aeroplane coming into land, barely touching the ground, and taking off again. If the finish is shellac, and even some lacquers, this should transfer just enough solvent to release the trapped moisture whilst not damaging the polish. If this fails, use the same technique but replace the alcohol with some cellulose thinners. Be patient, evaluate the end result when done, then decide if refinishing of some sort is needed.

I hesitate to suggest the following because of the potential for things to go horribly wrong, but you might consider emulating some finishers: cover just the damaged area with a thin film of alcohol, and put a lit match to it. The heat from the alcohol softens the polish allowing the moisture to escape. I really [REALLY] don't recommend this strategy unless you can do the job outside, or at least somewhere safe, and I suspect you may not have the bottle to try it anyway - the earlier described method often works, and is significantly less anus ring tightening for the inexperienced, ha, ha. Slainte.

PS. Edited to link correctly to image (hopefully).

 

[bluenose]

Hello Sgian Dubh, you have given a very comprehensive reply to my plea and I am extremely grateful, thank you so much.

I am going to print off your instructions and will give it a go. Thanks again.

 

[kfenelon]

If that does not work use the finest cutting paste you can find and apply using the same type of rubber as above You will have to give some elbow to heat the area up then buff over all to blend
Ken