Refinishing newly finished piece ??

[Dan Lee]

This past spring I finshed 2 Morris chairs. I just recently completed the matching ottomans. I used stain from the same can as the chairs. The ottomans turned out quite a bit darker than the chairs. Stain is oil based General finshes

Im thinking that there wasn't much stain left in the can there might have been a higher solids concentration then earlier this year. Also the QSWO used was from different batches/suppliers
Anyway the only way I can figure to start over is to either

1. sand down to bare wood which will be a pain getting between all those spindles
2. Wood bleach which I've never used
Any suggestions??
I did try and rub them out with mineral spirts and alcohol that didn't do much
Thanks
Dan

[Chris Barton]

I would just add some toner to some shellac and spray them all to the desired "browness" and then apply your final finish.

[Phil Thien]

I did try and rub them out with mineral spirts and alcohol that didn't do much
Thanks
Dan

Try applying a sample of the stain to a scrap. Then try rubbing out w/ lacquer thinner.

[Steve Schoene]

I agree with Chris that the best way to proceed is likely to work on darkening the chair to match the ottoman rather than lightening the ottoman. The pigmented stain would have to be stripped and sanded. Wood bleach isn't going to do much with most pigments.

[Dan Lee]

Thanks for the replies. Problem with darkening the chairs is I don't really like the darker color prefer the more golden color of the chairs.

Last nite I took a scrap of the oak used of the chairs and a scrap of the oak used for the ottomans and applied a coat of fresh stain to them. The results were the same the. Never realized samed wood type would color so differently.
The wood for the chairs was harvested in Iowa/Minn and the other was from the Carolinas.

Bleaching doesn't sound like its going to do the job, will try the laquer thinner.
Nother option is to find the right stain for the wood and build a new pair.
Oh well live and learn.

[David Rose]

Dan,

This isn't much help now, but wood from two trees in the same area can produce very different colors/effects. Shoot, for that matter, a bookmatched pair cut from the same board can reflect light enough differently to look *very* different. DAMHIKT

David