General Info: Interior wood & varnish 2006

[rom]

Thanks for sharing Keith ! nice job for sure and I agree it doesn't look bad at all ! I will let you know how it goes for me.

[Perna]

I have just had a similar problem when revarnishing a cherry coloured door. The bits where it had gone right back to the wood were a much lighter colour than the rest when the new varnish went on.
The solution was simple once I'd found a suitably stained varnish, (had to try a few as they seem to come out looking nothing like what's on the lid). You've already got the clear varnish on and dry so this stained varnish will not soak into the wood and irretrievably change the colour. It can be applied with something like an artist's paint brush and feathered into a new wet coat of the clear varnish as much or as little as you like. The end result was a big improvement on the patchy effect beforehand.

[rom]

Originally Posted by Perna

I have just had a similar problem when revarnishing a cherry coloured door. The bits where it had gone right back to the wood were a much lighter colour than the rest when the new varnish went on.
The solution was simple once I'd found a suitably stained varnish, (had to try a few as they seem to come out looking nothing like what's on the lid). You've already got the clear varnish on and dry so this stained varnish will not soak into the wood and irretrievably change the colour. It can be applied with something like an artist's paint brush and feathered into a new wet coat of the clear varnish as much or as little as you like. The end result was a big improvement on the patchy effect beforehand.

Thank you Perna, I wish you shared that information 3 days ago ! Yeah it took me some sanding to get rid of the too-red-cherry stained varnish, and could not totally remove it actually... well, not too bad, that was just a small part.

I just finished a clear varnish coat and will proceed with the stained varnish tomorrow.

I was not so happy with the table top so I gently sanded it with 400 grit and this time I used a roller instead of a brush. Looks good ! Will see when it is dry.

However that same roller did not bring the same effect on other table top I decided to varnish this morning. When looking closely it looks a bit like orange peel. its like the varnish does not hold on many small spots & scratches. Maybe I should try to make thinner layers ?

[rom]

Re Orange peel effect: maybe sanding an unknown & old previous varnish with 320 grit is too light and doesnt provide enough grip ? I should have started with 240 grit or so ?

[NakedCity]

Rom,
I don't want to be insulting but it does not sound like you have the refinishing skills necessary to coat this salon table to your high standards. I have been refinishing wood for over 20 years and consider myself highly skilled yet I still take pause when tackling a project like a high gloss table. My suggestion is remove the table and take it to a professional to refinish in his shop , then hone your refinishing skills on less critical jobs.

[rom]

Originally Posted by NakedCity

Rom,
I don't want to be insulting but it does not sound like you have the refinishing skills necessary to coat this salon table to your high standards. I have been refinishing wood for over 20 years and consider myself highly skilled yet I still take pause when tackling a project like a high gloss table. My suggestion is remove the table and take it to a professional to refinish in his shop , then hone your refinishing skills on less critical jobs.

No offence taken. Now I don't want to be insulting either but varnish doesn't strike me as rocket science. I will do it myself. I am sure I can reach a satisfying result with some good basic advices.