White marks on oak

[Magic999]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on what has happened to my oak table I have been sanding down for re-varnishing. I used an orbital sander initially going with the grain and worked my way up starting with P40 and then P80 to get the existing varnish off there. I then used an edging sander for the rest of the sanding (again going with the grain) and the more I was sanding down with P125, this white mark was getting bigger and bigger. It appears that the scratch marks are going against the grain (which I didn't do) and the wood underneath is a completely different colour to the rest of the wood. Anyone got any idea what I did wrong? I have included pictures below and thanks everyone for your help in reading this. I have attached pictures below..

 

[Fidget]

I think that you have sanded through the veneered surface.

No idea how to fix that

 

[Argus]

Agreed.

The fix, (it it is a fix), is to remove all the varnish down to clean wood and to re-veneer the lot.

 

[Magic999]

Thanks guys but It's a solid oak table and not veneered.

 

[Magic999]

Tbh, it's solid oak all the way round but agree that it looks like veneer on those sections having looked at it again. It was sold to me years ago as solid oak from Furniture Village!

 

[RichardG]

You have to very careful with modern "solid oak furniture", they use a solid engineered oak core made up of loads of bits stuck together, then they veneer with oak to make it look nice. They can sell it as solid oak without contravention of any sales of goods act.

 

[doctor Bob]

I feel really sorry for you Magic, you've put a lot of hard work into it but unfortunately I'd say thats beyond repair unless you put a new top on it.

 

[Magic999]

Thanks everyone for your help. It's a great forum here!

 

[pe2dave]

Tbh, it's solid oak all the way round but agree that it looks like veneer on those sections having looked at it again. It was sold to me years ago as solid oak from Furniture Village!

Wow! If it is veneer.... they want hauling up for it.

 

[recipio]

Tough luck. The frame is a giveaway - it would never be wrapped around a solid oak core. You could carefully re- veneer it preferably with a paper backed veneer or use leatherette or even marmoleum.

 

[TRITON]

Im not sure it is a veneer. Though that as with everyone else was my first assessment. But if you look at pic 2, you can clearly see the grain pattern lightly inside the lighter patches.

Options - Either continue on until its all the same, or sand it clear of any finish and use a contact glue to bond on a paper backed veneer.

One way to know 100% for sure if its a solid board or not is to look at the underside and see if the grain pattern is identically matched.

 

[profchris]

I'm not convinced you've sanded through veneer either - pic 2 as Triton notes.

Splash a drop of white spirit on the sanded part, as it will change colour. It might be that you've just gone through a thick layer of varnish, in which case you will see that the sanded part looks much closer to the varnished part.

HOWEVER, even if this is what you find, it might still be a veneer in which case you are close to going through it! If so, you need to sand away the rest of the varnish very carefully indeed.

 

[Magic999]

Thanks again guys. Will use a white spirit initially and check the grain pattern underneath to see if it matches so more sanding on the cards for next week!

 

[Adam W.]

I'm no expert on sanding because I hate doing it, but starting off with 40 grit seems a bit too harsh, as it just eats everything in its way.