The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
STAINING CEMENT IN SCRATCHES
Whenever cement is burned into a scratch across the grain and into a deep scratch any place, it is necessary to use some stain to make the spot match the entire surface in color or shade. The difficulties encountered in rendering invisible deep scratches across the grain in conspicuous places are clearly demonstrated in the following case: The scratch, about three inches long and into the wood, was across the grain of a walnut buffet. The scratch was first cleaned out with a pen knife, to make sure no dirt was present, and was sanded lightly with 7/0 garnet paper, dry, to knock off rough edges surrounding the scratch.
The spot was then filled with cement, which when burned-in. was a shade lighter than the finish. The spot was then rubbed down with naphtha on a clean felt almost level with the finish. Care was exercised not to rub too much and take out more than necessary. A light sanding with 7/0 garnet paper brought the spot down smooth and level with the surrounding surface. Looking across the surface, with the buffet between the patcher and the light, showed the spot level, neither high nor low. (If the spot is high or low at this stage, it must be remedied before proceeding.) The surface was then wiped dry with a polish cloth to pick up the dust.
After the level surface was cleaned off, the next problem was to make the color match perfectly with the rest of the finish, as the cement was a shade lighter than the lightest grain of the other finish.
A French walnut stain, spirit soluble, in powder form, was used by dipping the ball of the forefinger of the left hand into the stain and rubbing between the finger and thumb to eliminate all lumps or scratchy substances. The rubber was held in the right hand, and after polishing the spot with the rubber and amalgamater until absolutely smooth, the stain was applied with the finger rubbing across the scratch and with the grain, but applying stain only to the lighter flakes of the grain.
You must remember that the surface was tacky and soft, sufficiently so to allow the stain to stick to the surface when applied with the finger and, of course, very little stain was applied at a time. This is the advantage of applying the stain with the fincrer, as little of the powder will adhere to the finger. The rubber was passed over the stained spot each time stain was applied and the rubber had just enough liquid material on it so that it was sufficiently tacky to pull away from the palm of the left hand reluctantly. The material on the rubber softens the finish, so that the powder aniline sticks to it, and then the same material on the rubber dissolves the stain on the spot and allows it to penetrate into the finish, and thus color the cement to a shade to match the light flakes of the walnut finish.
