Throughout my years working on guitars, I was aware of the possibility of this happening, had been warned about it, and had been well-taught on how to avoid this rookie mistake. However, I rushed and was impatient, not waiting long enough for the lacquer to dry, and I was out of mid-grit sandpaper. Yes, I know, I know, that was stupid. And yes, I know better. As a result, I’m now paying the price! 🤦🏻♀️ I can’t believe I sanded through the veneer. What now?
Bought a cheap table and chairs off marketplace, thought it was all solid wood. After sanding with 80 grit with an orbital sander and 3 coats of citrustrip, finally decided it may not be just a thick coat of polyurethane as I initially thought. Feel free to laugh with me at my very rookie mistake. 🙂
Also, open to opinions. I stained the chair seats dark walnut and am doing pale blue chalk paint for the rest of the chair. Should I keep working on the table and do white chalk paint on top (have small kids and I don’t love the look of white tabletops). Or should I attempt removing the veneer off our current table (definitely cheaper wood and the veneer is already worn off in multiple places) and restraining that to dark walnut on top? Thanks in advance.
Hi,
We have an engineered ash floor that was previously lacquered black. We’re sanding it back to natural ourselves with a belt sander. The surface is clean but the open ash grain is still full of black pigment, the only way to get it out is to sand deeper. Problem is, previous owners already had it sanded before (unknown how many times), and 2 out of 3 professional companies refused the job because they’re worried the veneer is already too thin.
I’m attaching a photo of a specific spot where I’m not sure, is this just the natural ash grain pattern or am I already close to or hitting the substrate?
My questions:
• How do I tell from looking at it whether I’m close to the veneer limit?
• Is there any way to get black lacquer pigment out of open ash grain without sanding deeper?
• Any other tricks to clean the grain without losing more wood?
I have the time to do this carefully. Thanks!
