Furniture refinishing question

[Monkeyleg]

As I mentioned in a couple of other threads, one of my ex-'s floor lamps fell over on one of the top rail sections of my pool table. The rails have a really beautiful satin finish cherry wood, and the lamp put in some scratches, a couple of nicks right through the finish to bare wood, and a couple of dents (1/32" to 1/16" deep, 1/16" to 3/32" wide and about 1/2" long that didn't break through the finish.

A new rail would have been $400 from the factory, so I did some checking around on furniture refinishers. I settled on a guy who's recommended by the Olhausen (the brand I have) pool table dealer in the next town. He charged $160 to touch up the scratches, fill the nicks that had gone through to bare wood, and spray a new coat of lacquer over the entire rail section.

He didn't fill the shallow dents, and said that they were too shallow for filler. I thought there was a wax pencil tool for filling that sort of thing. He also sprayed a semi-gloss to a gloss finish over the entire rail, instead of a satin that matches the rest of the table. It's very apparent when I'm playing. The finish also isn't smooth. I don't know why that would be.

I'm going to call him and tell him I'm not pleased. I don't know what his response will be.

I've read that taking 1200 or 1500 grit wet and dry paper to a gloss finish will give it more of a satin finish. I don't know anything about that, and wouldn't want to try it without testing it in an inconspicuous place.

My concern is that if he does the job again, he could make it even worse.

Any suggestions?

[Cliffh]

You might consider using a fine (000 to 0000) steel wool before sanding.  I've successfully dulled a gloss finish with this.

Does the finish feel as if there are small inclusions (dust etc.), is it wavy, or ??

Steam might bring out the smaller dents.  Try setting an iron on high, place a damp cloth on the dent and heat it.  May not work with the clear finish on it though - the finish may keep the moisture from getting to the wood.  If that's the case, sanding off the finish, repairing the dent and re-finishing would be the steps I'd take.

Or take it back to the guy and have him do the job right.  Which of course might not work out well, depending on his attitude.

[Monkeyleg]

Or take it back to the guy and have him do the job right.  Which of course might not work out well, depending on his attitude.

I'm going to call him in the morning. He advertises himself as being an expert in furniture restoration, and being the best in the area. If that's so, things are pretty bad around here for furniture work.

The gloss finish isn't even smooth. It looks uneven and ever so slightly bumpy. I don't know how he'd manage that. The area that he worked on was about eight inches wide, and he darkened the whole thing quite a bit, which is a shame, since it was a nice cherry color.

I should have spent the extra money and bought a new rail from the Olhausen dealer. If the one he had in his inventory of parts matched the finish on mine, I could have it for $250. If I needed to have the factory match the finish on mine, it would be $400.

This and the dining room table are the only really nice pieces of furniture I've ever had.

[Scout26]

Not to change the subject too much.  But is she gone?

[geronimotwo]

Not to change the subject too much.  But is she gone?

inquiring minds want to know.   

as for the finish, it sounds like you got screwed.  anyone good at "furniture restoration" would at least match the gloss.  0000 or finer steel wool would be my recomendation.  use a very light touch to start, and get more agressive if needed.  also, use a circular motion, and tape off any areas that you do not want touched.  the wax pencils will fill in the light gouges, but a new rail may be your best bet at perfection.

[Monkeyleg]

I'm not going to let the guy off the hook. I was wondering about the wax pencils, as I've seen those mentioned in many articles on refinishing. I'll call on Monday to tell him I'm not happy, and see where it goes from there. If he won't make it right, he's going to have a scathing review on Google. He doesn't have any reviews right now, so that's what people searching for him would see.

Not to change the subject too much.  But is she gone?

She left last Sunday. I've been putting up a bunch of framed photos of landscapes and portraits by photographers I really admire. It sort of looks like a museum. I got the stereo system set up, bought some other decorations, and it's starting to look nice.

I was wondering how it would feel to have her gone. It feels good. I don't have the apprehension I did when it was about time for her to come home from work. I don't have to worry about which personality I'd be dealing with. It's very calm.

I know I'll have to get out and meet people, but I'll figure out where and when soon enough. For now I'm just enjoying decorating the place after years and years of zebra pictures and monkey statues.

[geronimotwo]

do you use stilletos in your decorating? (mounted behind glass with proper lighting, of course)

[bedlamite]

You need a stuffed squirrel in your living room.

[AmbulanceDriver]

You need a stuffed squirrel in your living room.

[lupinus]

Probably goes without saying, but whatever you do don't touch it until after you have talked to him. Other then that the steel wool others have mentioned might do the trick.

Give him a call, see what he says. Sounds odd that he'd screw it up that badly to start with though. I can see maybe leaving some shallow dents, though they should be able to be filled or steamed out. But not even trying to match the finish is just asinine. As is leaving a poor wavy finish.

If he won't make it right, on top of the review, call Olhausen. They aren't responsible for his work, but if they're recommending him they might be interested to know he's an idiot.

[grampster]

My kind of guy you are, Dick.   If one cannot do the job 3 times and/or pay 3 times as much to fix something, it is not worth doing.

I think now you should sand it and then steel wool it.  That will make it so much easier for a furniture refinisher to see how complicated it would be to make it right and then charge you more than twice as much as the new piece from the table manufacturer.  Then when that fails, you can go buy the new piece from the manufacturer.

Sorry, don't mean to rub it in.  I just don't find myself in the presence of a soul brother all that often.

[Monkeyleg]

Grampster, I think you misunderstood, or I didn't make things clear. He charged $160. A new rail from the factory would be $400.

I've seen a lot of furniture that's been restored or repaired, and just about all of it was a very close match. This guy was way off.

shellmolson, does Anima Domus make Olhausen pool tables?

[grampster]

Grampster, I think you misunderstood, or I didn't make things clear. He charged $160. A new rail from the factory would be $400.

I've seen a lot of furniture that's been restored or repaired, and just about all of it was a very close match. This guy was way off.

shellmolson, does Anima Domus make Olhausen pool tables?

Yah, I did.  I was just jabbin' ya, tongue in cheek because my projects usually turn into triple the cost and triple the effort.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Yah, I did.  I was just jabbin' ya, tongue in cheek because my projects usually turn into triple the cost and triple the effort.

You are not alone

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[tokugawa]

Correcting the sheen is easy- just shoot another layer of lacquer of the correct gloss level. you will work forever trying to match it with steelwool, etc. The only thing that might stand a chance is 3m micro fine pad (very fine abrasive on a 1/4" soft foam pad.)

 color match is a whole other story- repairing a light scratch in a dark finish is tough- as soon as the tint goes outside the boundary of the scratch and onto the existing finish, you now have a correct color in the patch, with a dark line around it. Then you can spray some tint to smooth it all in, and then the whole thing gets darker- this sort of thing can be chased forever, getting constantly darker in the process.
 Oh yes, and cherry darkens naturally with light exposure over time-in a day if there is bright direct sunlight on it. 

 Some times it is faster and more successful to bring it back to raw wood, and start over. Of course if it is a commercial finish, it probably has a pre-stain, a stain, maybe a glaze, and a top coat- depends on the company-

 
 

[Monkeyleg]

tokugawa, that's why I'm kicking myself for not just getting a new rail from the factory. I don't think this guy will be able to match the finish.

[tokugawa]

So what did the guy say?
 

[Monkeyleg]

He said he'd try again. There's an Olhausen dealer in Muscle Shoals, about 40 minutes from here, who said he had a new rail for the table that he'd sell for less than $200. I may just bite the bullet and do that. It may seem frivolous, but this is a very nice piece of furniture--the nicest I've ever owned--and I really don't want it buggered up with a shoddy repair.

[K Frame]

"I thought there was a wax pencil tool for filling that sort of thing."

Marginally effective at best with dents. The wax fillers work best with scratches where there's some "tooth" for the wax to grab onto. A dent tends to be smooth. He'd have had to have done damage to the wood to get the wax to stick, and even then chances are it would simply pop out over time, leaving you with an even bigger issue.

[Monkeyleg]

"I thought there was a wax pencil tool for filling that sort of thing."

Marginally effective at best with dents. The wax fillers work best with scratches where there's some "tooth" for the wax to grab onto. A dent tends to be smooth. He'd have had to have done damage to the wood to get the wax to stick, and even then chances are it would simply pop out over time, leaving you with an even bigger issue.

Thanks, Mike. That confirms what the refinisher said.

[Poper]

He said he'd try again. There's an Olhausen dealer in Muscle Shoals, about 40 minutes from here, who said he had a new rail for the table that he'd sell for less than $200. I may just bite the bullet and do that. It may seem frivolous, but this is a very nice piece of furniture--the nicest I've ever owned--and I really don't want it buggered up with a shoddy repair.

Olhausen does not make cheap billiards tables.  It is reasonable to assume you have in excess of $2,500 invested here.  Though I am no expert, I have done some woodworking, including furniture design and construction as well as wood turning and some furniture restoration.  When a piece is as prized as you express your pool table is to you, the least I would recommend you do is replace it with a new Olhausen piece.  If it was mine, I would bite the bullet and opt for the factory matched part.

The least appealing option (and the most work) would be to remove all the rails from the table, strip them to raw wood, repair the damaged/dented areas, re-stain and refinish all of them completely to insure as close to perfect match as possible.

If this piece of furniture is your prized centerpiece, then by all means have it repaired and restored to your satisfaction - whatever level that is for you.  If you don't, it will always bother you and you will see the flawed area(s) every time you enter the room.

JMHO.

Poper

[Monkeyleg]

If you don't, it will always bother you and you will see the flawed area(s) every time you enter the room.

Oh, yeah. And I'm much more obsessive about such things than most people.