How do you re-stain a segment of a coffee table and properly blend it?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to stain a coffee table“
How do you re-stain a segment of a coffee table and properly blend it?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to stain a coffee table“
I have to admit I’ve never had a great deal of luck with blending stain patches. I’d prefer to strip all of the table top and then restain it as one large piece, which makes the match to the rest of the table less critical, as it isn’t as noticeable.
That being said….
First, make sure that whatever caused the original discolouration has been removed. Try to remove as little of the original stain as possible. Leave the finish on the rest of the table. It will prevent the new stain from absorbing into the previously stained areas.
Then you want to find a piece of wood the same species and general cut as the table. This will be your experimentation platform. Remember that solid wood and veneer products don’t stain at the same rate. So, if it’s a veneer table, use a veneer piece. If it’s solid, use solid.
If you have the original stain, you are in luck. If not, look commercially to try to find something close in color. Aim for a little bit lighter then the top. You can use more stain to darken the color, but lightening it is very hard. The finish applied over the stain will also darken the color.
On the experimental piece, you apply the stain, and then immediately wipe the excess. Compare the coloration. If it’s way too light you can let the stain sit longer, about thirty seconds at a time, then wipe. Once you get close, it’s time to go for it.
As I said before, apply, wipe thoroughly, and wait. It’s better for the patch to be too light. If you have to darken it, then a light application with an immediate wipe will slowly darken the color. Slow here being a relative term. Some stains darken faster then others. Hence the aforementioned experimental piece.
Once you get the basic color, you may have to use a fine paintbrush to gently touch up the transition from new to old, paying particular attention to the grain.
Then on to blending the finish. This is an entirely different kettle of fish, as the finish may be quite varied, and not always easy to blend. I’m not going to get into it here, but if I might make a recommendation, Bob Flexner, a very easy to read author who truly knows the subject.
Resand the whole price and start new that’s the best way because it never turns out with the tint you have to take into account the fading from uv Ray s wear and tear etc.how old the stain is
How do you re-stain a segment of a coffee table and properly blend it?
Ropes and a very large blender…
It’s too difficult to do for a number of reasons:
You have to find the exact original stain.
You have to age the stain or match any sun bleaching that may have occurred over time.
Not only do you have to worry about the stain and matching it perfectly, you have to match the top coat that seals in the stain. The top coat is either an oil or a polyurethane that gives the wood the ‘glossy’ look. You will have to match the number of coats, the sanding grits that were used, and again (even though most top coats are clear) you may have to do some colour matching as some top coats are tinted or they yellow or gain a patina over time.
You’ll have to ensure that all swirl and sanding marks are removed from when you feather out your sanding in the area that’s being re-finished. This is the impossible part. If you do your utmost best and make the stain look original, there is almost no way to eliminate the sanding marks from the top coat. If you look at the coffee table at a low angle so the light catches the sheen of the top coat, you will definitely see those sanding marks.
As it has been said in other responses, the easiest and fastest method is to sand or strip the entire surface of the coffee table and then re-stain and re-apply a top coat.
Before you totally sand the surface down to bare wood, get a piece of wood that matches the coffee table and stain it with a few samples before you commit to the brand you ultimately use. It’s important that your sample wood be of identical species to the coffee table because wood accepts stain differently depending on the type of tree it came from. Meaning if your table is made of white oak, your sample piece should also be white oak. Not red oak. Not pine. White oak. It matters.
Because you’re only doing the surface of the table, I would not recommend using chemical paint strippers. It’s messy and can be difficult to control. I suppose it could be done as long as you’re careful not to get any chemical stripper on the edges of the table top. Perhaps use the chemical stripper everywhere on the table top but keep it 2–3″ away from the edges. That way you can sand off the remainder (you’ll need to be sanding the table top after the chemical stripper anyways).
If you choose to sand the table top instead of using a chemical stripper, use a belt sander to remove the bulk of the stain. Not a sheet sander or a random orbital sander (although you’ll need those later), but a belt sander. My preference is the Makita:
It’s heavy duty and durable and is the Cadillac of belt sanders. Problem is the price. It’s around $250 to $275 in big box hardware stores. So if your coffee table is cheap, you may be better off just purchasing a new coffee table. If it’s an heirloom or has deep sentimental value, keep reading.
Get some belts for the belt sander. You’ll want a few 80, 120, and 150 grit belts. You need to start with the 80 grit belt and hog off as much of the original stain as possible. Always sand in the direction of the wood grain, or else you will leave deep, visible scratch marks in the surface that you will not be able to sand out. This goes for all grits and all sanders. It’s the main concept in finishing.
Anyways, you should get down to bare wood with the 80 grit. If you need to use more than one 80 grit belt, then so be it. A lot of the original stain will clog up the belt and it will stop sanding after a while.
Work your way through the grits. Once you’ve done the 150 grit with the belt sander, now you get to sand some more. Use a random orbital sander and work through 150, 180, and 220 grits:
Once you’ve done that, make sure the surface is bare and clean of any sawdust. You can now begin staining. There are probably better guides out there than I could ever begin to explain, so I’ll leave it for you to find.
I need to see a picture of the damage in order to best offer a solution. Color matching is an art. Blending a top coat finish is another art. Master finishers have both these skills. This is not a craft where you can pick up a couple of cans of finish at the local big box store and get a perfect result. I have personally spent the last 47 years working these problems and perfecting my craft. A seamless undetectable repair is a work of art that needs to be undetectable now and 100 years from now.
It is very difficult and just the fact that you are asking makes me answer don’t try. Remove the stain from the other parts and start over. Firstly I assume this is not a piece of furniture you made. So you would have to find out what the finish is and remove it. Then find out what the stain is and try to blend it in by adding diluted coats with the difficulty of the new stain getting on a bit of the old portion and making it darker and creating a line. There is one thing you can try. Get some gel stain that matches what you have and put just a trace on the miss matched piece/area WITHOUT REMOVING THE FINISH. Gel stain you wipe on and since it dries slowly you can wipe it off if it doesn’t look right. Or just wipe most of it off. Then when it is totally dry, spray or wipe shellac on the newly colored area. You could also use spray lacquer.
I would bet the most straight forward way, however, is to remove the finish and stain and start over. It is more work and more sanding but it will get the job done. If you try the above you will be working at it for awhile and then will most likely have to start over anyway. It is difficult.