Refinishing Hope Chest

[Yves Pinet]

My wife picked up a hope chest that belonged to her aunt, and decided to refinish it. The finish on it was heavily damaged, so she stripped the old finish to discover this light blemish. The top and front of the chest are Mahogany veneers, while the sides are what seems to be of inferior quality mahogany. Thes chests dates from the 1930's, and she was wondering how to get the blotch to blend in with the rest of the side. Would a dye work, followed by using a gel stain over shellac, or is some other type of fix better.
Thanks

Yves Pinet

[Michael Sobik]

I would probably try a dye. If you can find some scrap mahogany the same color to test on, that would be best. If you have a subscription, there's a good FW article on coloring sapwood here:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesPDF.aspx?id=2830

and another:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/subscription/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=31233

[Rick Thom]

Yves, I've seen quite a few hope chests, bedroom suites and dining sets from that era. They are usually quite well made and very skillfully finished to hide such imperfections as you have uncovered. Often there are veneers, burls, joints etc that need to be tightened up as well. If you really like the piece, you might consider having it professionally finished. They will have the skill, equipment and proper finishing materials to make it look as new. Often if there isn't a lot of labour required, this is your best value approach to get a really nice looking result.

[Howard Acheson]

I dye stain is not a good choice. Dyes need to be able to be absorbed into the wood. It looks like the lighter area already has a finish on it. If so, it will inhibit the absorbsion of a dye.

I would recommend using a gel stain and sort of feather it into the surrounding area. A trick is to first apply a coat of dewaxed shellac. That way, you can use mineral spirits to remove the gel stain before it dries if you do not like how it is coming out. Repairs like that can be difficult for someone who is not familier with that type of work. You might be better to see if there is a professional finisher in your area who could do it for you.

[Yves Pinet]

Thanks all for your replies. Professional finishing is out of the question, since the piece was not particularly of good quality to start with. The wife wants to finish it herself, so we will try the feathering technique, and blend in the stain, using some type of faux finish as well. I'll show you the results when finished.