Splotches on old Cherry (?) desk after sanding

[Christine Grayson]

I am refinishing an old desk (1930's) and I have already stripped layers of paint on it. The stain on the desk now is dark and unattractive so I started sanding with medium grit- and now I am getting white bare spots under the stain- not all over, but in patches.

I am definately not a pro at this, but I have done a few pieces before, and I never saw this. I don't know what to do now- help! I know if I just stain these splotchey spots it will look horrible.

[Chris Barton]

It sounds like you have sanded through a veneer on the surface and are into the substrate of the material. You really have 2 choices to fix this, either paint the piece so you won't see the sand throughs or, stain the top very dark so that the sand spots are most unnoticalbe. If this was a piece that had been previously painted they may have never intended for it to be a bare wood piece. I would probably try a distressed paint job as my solution.

[Russ Filtz]

I did this once too, sanding through a veneer. I ended up just staining the sand-through dark. Kind of made it look like a knothole.

[Jerry Olexa]

another way is to finish as planned after sanding etc. Then apply a darker glaze just in that area and blend it in. It should hide it...just a thought