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Scratch solution?
- Thread starter brat
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They use a kit of colours ect and test on scraps before tackling scratches like that.
All you can do is look up.
You can also buy mini kits and mini wood furniture repair kits for about £25.
I can't tell you specifically what you need...
There are some small wood scratch solutions but it's a lottery.
I've used them and the wax but I'm not been impressed.
I've seen french polishers repair furniture and it's very good. You can't see the damaged area.
You can see after I've bodged it
All you can do is look up.
You can also buy mini kits and mini wood furniture repair kits for about £25.
I can't tell you specifically what you need...
There are some small wood scratch solutions but it's a lottery.
I've used them and the wax but I'm not been impressed.
I've seen french polishers repair furniture and it's very good. You can't see the damaged area.
You can see after I've bodged it
As a French Polisher I can tell you touching out is an art form that after 30 years in the trade I am still perfecting. The success of touching something up depends on so many things, the type of wood, type of finish, the depth of the damage, grain structure, even where it is in relation to the nearest window. All these have an effect on how well it disappears. Having said that there are some decent touch up kits out there. I would look at a company call Mohawk, on Amazon and watch a few Utube videos. Just using French Polish might work if you haven’t broken the surface but it looks too deep to me. If you can take a few more photos from different angles I might be able to give you more advice.
Try the old damp cloth and hot iron trick for the scratch.
And TBH, you may have better luck with some felt pens or bit of coloured wax than trying to get a perfect finish when you are really just messing about with trying to get a French polisher's finish.
And TBH, you may have better luck with some felt pens or bit of coloured wax than trying to get a perfect finish when you are really just messing about with trying to get a French polisher's finish.
You will most likely just end up with milky mark if you try this on a polished surface, The hot steam trick is used to get dents and scratches out of timber, as in bare wood, not wood that has a finish on.
Again this only works on bare wood as it relies on the sawdust from sanding the wood to stick and colour the glue.
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I've done some antique/furniture restoration, but not on @slawit 's level.
How much do you care about it??!!
I have used a damp rag and soldering iron to lift small dents, but that raises the grain as well as the dent. You then need dentist's tools to polish-flatten the raised grain without denting the wood again.
If you wet the scratch, does the colour come back?. If so, I'd say Don't use any stain, you'll make a mess, probably.
Some of those Mohawk pens look good though.
(Ultra pale water stains will raise the grain but not fade,
oil stains soak beyond where you want them, spirit stains are for tinting Fr polish.)
Then I'd let it dry thoroughly, and with the surface as good as I could get it, apply a little Fr polish to seal it. You mustn't let it get wet with water again. I'd use Button Polish cos I have half a dozen colours - it's slightly teaky colour (all dried up now I daresay). Or Sanding sealer, which is clearish but has v fine particles which help fill. Then you have a couple of choices. Garnet or Van Dyke would be too dark at any thickness.
You can build up the thickness with a load of layers of Fr polish, very thin for each one. I have a couple of dozen Earth Colours to make up thin paints which have more bulk. You need an extremely fine brush and loads of layers, so it doesn't look painted. They dry in minutes.
This is a slow method which may not suit you.
When you reckon you've finished, it won't be flat, so you have to learn to French Polish! That involves using a fine cloth as a Rubber lubricated with linseed oil, with fumes of meths to soften the surface so it'll smooth out.
Then you'd re-Fr polish the entire surface.
OR, you get a tin of brown Antiquax, which is just a stained wax, and go over it all hoping nobody will notice, much. That's what shops often do.
You can use a clear or stained wax (think block of beeswax or a repair wax crayon) to fill the scratch very carefully. Liberon do those.
Never heard of Mohawk. Their 3 in one pens do look good.
How much do you care about it??!!
I have used a damp rag and soldering iron to lift small dents, but that raises the grain as well as the dent. You then need dentist's tools to polish-flatten the raised grain without denting the wood again.
If you wet the scratch, does the colour come back?. If so, I'd say Don't use any stain, you'll make a mess, probably.
Some of those Mohawk pens look good though.
(Ultra pale water stains will raise the grain but not fade,
oil stains soak beyond where you want them, spirit stains are for tinting Fr polish.)
Then I'd let it dry thoroughly, and with the surface as good as I could get it, apply a little Fr polish to seal it. You mustn't let it get wet with water again. I'd use Button Polish cos I have half a dozen colours - it's slightly teaky colour (all dried up now I daresay). Or Sanding sealer, which is clearish but has v fine particles which help fill. Then you have a couple of choices. Garnet or Van Dyke would be too dark at any thickness.
You can build up the thickness with a load of layers of Fr polish, very thin for each one. I have a couple of dozen Earth Colours to make up thin paints which have more bulk. You need an extremely fine brush and loads of layers, so it doesn't look painted. They dry in minutes.
This is a slow method which may not suit you.
When you reckon you've finished, it won't be flat, so you have to learn to French Polish! That involves using a fine cloth as a Rubber lubricated with linseed oil, with fumes of meths to soften the surface so it'll smooth out.
Then you'd re-Fr polish the entire surface.
OR, you get a tin of brown Antiquax, which is just a stained wax, and go over it all hoping nobody will notice, much. That's what shops often do.
You can use a clear or stained wax (think block of beeswax or a repair wax crayon) to fill the scratch very carefully. Liberon do those.
Never heard of Mohawk. Their 3 in one pens do look good.
You will have to do test stains/varnishes to get the best match, anything slightly different will produce a finely finished scratch. Don’t rule out re sanding the whole surface and varnishing from scratch. I have found danish oil to be consistently good, just experiment with different stains to colour match, it won’t be perfect.
I am a lowly decorator. I have only attempted to french polish handrails. I was "content" with the finish, but I would not consider doing a wider area.
For the benefit of the rest of us, and other people that read this in the future, I hope that you are able to share more of your knowledge. I for one would be happy to learn from your 30 years of experience. Yeah, anyone reading your advice will not be on your level of expertise, but people on lower incomes (of whom there are many), the kind of people who would not commission you, might be able to find a middle ground for themselves.
Warmest regards.
Thank you Oops, I am happy giving any advise I can, the main problem is, and this thread is a perfect example, it’s very difficult to explain in words how to touch out a scratch, as I said in my original post so many different factors come into play. The other difficulty is even if could easily explain it, obtaining the correct materials in small amounts is not possible as even the smallest tub of something is way more than you would ever need, to get set up with the full range of powders and dyes and a couple of different size brushes some French Polish etc, you would spend a fortune only to use a dash of each. I will keep trying though.
Cheers mate. That makes sense.
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