Blush in post-cat varnish

[mark mcfarlane]

I bought a used Amish Maple/Elm kitchen table a couple days ago and didn't notice the severity of what appears to be a blush in the table top.

A few phones calls to the company that sold to the guy I bought from indicated the top coat is a Sherwyn Williams high solids conversion varnish. The furniture retailer called one of the Amish finishers he uses and he said the product was 'Sherwyn Williams CareShield High Solid oil-based conversion varnish'. I can't find a product named 'careshield' but looking at what SW sells it seems likely they used KemVar Plus.

There are a few other problems in the table top (maybe ink, wax or crayon, other less obvious things, small scratches,...) and I'll likely eventually end up sanding it down, re-staining and re-topcoating, but I thought I should try to repair the blush if possible.

I'm having a shoulder rebuilt in a couple weeks so I won't be able to start any woodworking projects for 6 months or so, I can't lift 'anything' for a few months.

Some remedies I found (https://homeguides.sfgate.com/fix-milky-finish-wood-47528.html) for blush in varnish are:


Heat Gun/hair dryer, but don't get the area too hot
Lemon oil or petroleum jelly, over night.


What do you all think about fixing the blush?

[mark mcfarlane]

479030

Here's a pic. The visibility of the blush changes hugely with angle of view, looking down from the top it is almost invisible, at 45 degrees it jumps out. This pic is almost straight on from above so the 'blush' isn't real obvious.

Here's a slightly different angle:

479031

[Steve Jenkins]

If it’s kemvar it’s gonna be tough. Typically for blush you can mist spray the solvent for the finish and it will soften it slightly and let the moisture out. Possibly lacquer thinner or acetone.