The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
Staining the Spot.—The staining of a rubbed through place is accomplished in the same manner as the staining of a deep scratch. After the spot has been built up level and smooth, apply the desired spirit aniline stain in powder form with the tip of the index finger. The material on the spot must be soft enough to allow the stain to adhere without brushing off and yet hard enough so the finger will not make impressions in the finish. This operation requires more practice than any operation in patching. More repair jobs are failures as a result of poor matching of stain than from any other cause. If a spot is of such a color, or needs such a color, as cannot be matched with any single color of stain in the kit, apply a stain of lighter color and then shade with black or brown. Most houses dealing in stains have mixed colors that will match any finish.
Dulling the Spot to Match.—If the entire surface is polished, the dulling process will be comparatively easy. Take a large flat duster and trim off the bristles square, or at right angles, to the side of the brush. This will make a stubby brush with bristles about two inches long. Fill with FFF pumice stone and brush across the entire surface, overlapping each stroke to avoid skips. It is necessary to do this just after frenching and before the surface has time to dry, otherwise the effort is futile A good stiff varnish or paint brush, too worn to be of further use in applying material, can be made into a good dulling brush by clipping off the bristles about two or three inches from the ferrule. Regular rubbing brushes are not quite resilient enough to dull flat surfaces, but can be used for turned surfaces.
After dulling with a brush and pumice stone, and the surface has had about two hours to dry hard, oil off with lemon oil polish and wipe clean with a dry cloth. Considerable experience in repairing damages of this kind is needed to determine the amount of brushing and oiling to produce the correct texture to the finish. Rubbed through places may be in a shaded por- tion of the piece and by sanding the point out to a feathered edge with 6 0 garnet finishing paper, you can then proceed to use a shading stain toned to match your finish, and spray lightly over your spot until matched with the surrounding finish. Try out the stain for color before using on the spot to be patched.
How To Remove Water Marks On Finish
WATER marks are found on most varnish finishes and shellac surfaces when exposed to wet weather, or when water is allowed to stand any length of time on the finish. Nitrocellulose lacquers and varnishes made by using tung oil are supposed to be waterproof and not subject to stains from 'water.
