Painting in wood grain

[kmealy]

Interesting video on using what I would classify as homemade glazes to conceal sapwood in a very high end piece.  This guy is a master.  The only things I've encountered with polyester finishes are current vintage pianos.   At the end he does some wet sanding and buffing to really make the piece shine.

 

 

[Cal]

Wow!  Master with a capital M!

[kmealy]

Well, I had a disaster.   The apron to the demi-lune table had some spots when I got it that were over-sanded and others must have had some tape or something on them.  In addition, there are some staple heads that I tried to blend in.   I tried to blend in some graining lines with a gel stain.   Even thought it dried for a week while I was out of town then getting over a cold, when I applied the first top coat, it became a muddy mess.  darn Minwax.

 

Fallback: Strip and start over.  Well, the normal sections didn't want to give up much of the color.  The over-sanded sections must have come in close to the glue line.

 

 

Next chapter, once the pictures upload, faux graining.

 

 

[Smallpatch]

Keith min wax had nothing to do with the screw up. I would think its the person doing the bitching who caused the problem!

[kmealy]

Well, I tried coloring in some graining.   Forgive the variance in color, some were with flash, some without.

 

The light line went all the way across and now it's partially filled in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Used a combination of a graining pen and artist's pencils

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I'd say that worked out very well!

[kmealy]

15 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Keith min wax had nothing to do with the screw up. I would think its the person doing the bitching who caused the problem!

How so?  What went wrong?  I have not use a lot of gel stains, but have heard lots about using them successfully as a glaze.  

[Smallpatch]

To get any stain or dye or color of any type all the wood has to be prepared to same for it to accept the liquids your are fixing to rub or apply to the wood..

If you didn't put any kind of glue on the wood there in the light spot then what ever you sanded the metal brads level with the wood it changed the texture of the wood in that area.. the grinder must have gotten the wood hot enough to change its texture. I can't tell what you did to change that area but even if a person applys super glue in that area the min-wax or anything else will not be absorbed the same. Like on that strip across the grain that is lighter it looks like at one time or the other masking tape or something stayed there for a period of time.. and just trying to change that small area across the grain still won't take the stain the same...That whole board needs to be sanded down a fraction of an inch to get it to take the same amount of color to look the same. 

  My brother in law that use to live next door stored most of their furniture in a metal storage unit for about three years when they moved back from California. Finally they cleared ojut the storage unit and he gave me a grandfather clock that he couldn't make run... I got it running and it runs great but they used masking tape or duct tape to keep the door closed and it still has a different shade of the wood where the tape was. This is what looks like happened to your board.

 

 I know you are reading up on this stuff but the old hard earned experience is worth more that anything else when working with wood..then especially remembering what we done to correct things when they happened again is another story. 

These people that write these books on different subjects and they do this to make money. Sometimes they have no hard earned experience. This hands on experience can't be visualized  as they are typing in those pages.. 

And here is a good example of same ash wood but the backer board on this clock looks a world of difference in finished color! I can tell if one board will accept stain different than the same species for how heavy the same size board is. Heart wood is lighter weight and softer so it takes a stain differently.

  Just because someone said in his book this will work this way don't mean squat.

If I were trying to make that one board look better I would sand it from one end to the other so it will look the same without and color then take a black marks so lot to take to shine off the metal after you restain the board then never go back and look at it again.... Finishing wood is not your best work .

[kmealy]

33 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

That whole board needs to be sanded down a fraction of an inch to get it to take the same amount of color to look the same. 

Finishing wood is not your best work .

The apron is a bent lamination with a thin veneer surface.  Aggressive sanding is not an option.  This was a "kit" that I picked up from someone that got rid of it.  All these problems were there when I got the pieces.

I am not done with it yet.

 

I don't what prompted the snide comment(s) and I am ignoring it.

 

[Smallpatch]

That was not a snide remark, that was a true fact.. It looked like you were asking what I thought! with your reply.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Smallpatch

[kmealy]

Pulled out the touch up kit to do some magic.  OK, I got the graining in.  Created grain patterns across the pieces where they did not exist at the joint.  

 

 

Then I worked on doing some burn-ins to try to hide the staples.  Unfortunately, they were not set deep enough and the burn-ins just made a high spot instead of leveling it out.  

 

 

 

So, sanded back flush.

 

Used some toners (lacquer with color in them) to blend out

 

 

Then added some burnt umber glaze to highlight the red a bit more.   Let it dry overnight.   Sealed with shellac, then satin lacquer to seal it in.  The veneer joint line is still a bit visible, but it's in an apron and will be in the shadows, so I think it will not be too obvious.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by kmealy

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I think it worked out very well.

[Gunny]

Sweet repair.  

 

[kmealy]

This was intended to be an educational lesson, that's all.

.

[Cal]

Turned out great Keith.

[Smallpatch]

Keith what I said maybe made you think and gave you a determined mind set. So you went on and fixed your problem. There are always more ways to achieve success..

[kmealy]

"Skill is made, not born in us.   And it advances best through difficulties."  Charles Hayward

[kmealy]

 Finally got some space and time to do the final assembly.  Now we need to find a place to put it.  My wife says it's too nice to give away.

 

[Cal]

Looks super!

[Michael Thuman]

Details please

What species of wood?

What finish?

How did you bend the front apron  Many laminations of thin materials or steam?

I really like the tapered legs and the top.