Subject: Refinishing Teak

From: Kate <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 17:22:22 -0400

I am re-finishing a teak dining room table. When I started,
I noticed that the areas of wood that had been in constant contact
with the air had turned a brown colour as compared with the 
redish hue of the sheltered wood (the leaves).  I had hoped that this
was just the finish oxidizing, but now that I have stripped off the 
finish, the brown colour remains.  It has been suggested to me
that the colour is a result of the oil in the wood itself oxidizing,
in which case no amount of stripping will get rid of it.

The center of the table is a veneer, and I am loathe to take a 
sander to it.  Are there any techniques that anyone can suggest
that can return the wood to its original colour?  I am concerned 
that if I try some bleach, I will simply lighten the brown and it
still won't match the red of the leaves.

Thanks 

Katherine Anderson
my real email: [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 21:53:16 -0500

> still won't match the red of the leaves.

You cannot get back to your original color of the wood. The better thing
to do is to try to equalize the color of the leaves to match the color
that the table has changed to. 

The table wandered to a brown color. With the artful use of NGR's, you
can alter the color of the table leaves to match the color base of the
table. NGR's are dye stains that do not obscure the figure or grain of
the wood. They also do not raise the grain of the wood the way that a
water soluable dye stain would. The best technique for applying these
stains with the greatest amount of control is to spray them.

If you have access to spray equiptment and you know how to spray, make
your own toners. Toners are finishes that have some color added to them
so that they shade the wood as you apply them. Toners can be pigmented,
dye or both. If they are pigmented, reduce them so that you build the
color slowly. If you apply too much of a pigmented color, you will muddy
the look of the grain (you will go from transparent to translucent to
opaque, so watch out).

I just took a set of Thomasville replacement doors shipped from the mfg.
They were too light and too orange. I mixed up a greenish brown toner to
kill the orange and to darken slightly. I sprayed with an overlapping
fan, and then did it again perpendicular to that so I built the color
slowly, evenly, and without patches.

If you do not have access to spray equiptment, you might try to lay down
a thinned coat of colorant called a glaze. There is technique involved
in this also so that you do not get brush strokes.

These are some of the approaches to equalizing a wood that has developed
a patina (charm!).
-- 
(To reply, change "webspam" to "webspan" in my e-mail address.)
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 Daniel

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From: [email-masked] (Garrett Lambert)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 06:57:19 GMT

Go to a local marina or boat supply shop and buy some Teak Brite or
similar brand teak restorer. That will bring your natural colour back
prior to refinishing.