Replies

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Aug 24, 1999 02:46pm | #1

   *
   Pop into your local hardware shop and ask for furniture scratch repair crayons. They come in various shades and are coloured, but fairly hard wax. A shade just lighter than the surrounding colour is usually better than darker if you can't find an exact match. Rub them backwards and forwards across the scratches, and level off with the edge of a credit card, or something similar. Not perfect, but usually an improvement.

   Much beyond this, and you'll need to call in a professional finisher, or just live with it, after killing the cat of course!

1. 
   Clay_Williamson | Aug 25, 1999 08:04am | #2

   *Where do these people come from? Keep the cat,they come in handy, especialy when you need destressing skills. I'll talk about that later.Table top touch-up and repair is an art, an art that starts fom the bottom and goes to the perverbial table "top".Forget the wax sticks and crayons - they'l give you the same mess that waxes give on horizontal surfaces. Wax sticks are made for vertical surfaces, ie; center portions of doors, wall panels, ect.You have many options depending on your skill level. I'll start from the bottom and work up.The smallest artist brush will be your best friend in this case. The medium or finish that you use will be the trick. I would recommend that you start with a water base poly or varnish.With this type of finish you can use either acrylic or dry powder pigments to acheive the colors needed to match the top of your table's wood color.The trick is to pretend that the small surface scratches are the same as an old television screen. Old TV's had thousands of dots that made up the pictures. You will need to try to touch the tip of your brush (with your colors added to your finish) into the scratches making sure you do not go outside of the scratches themselves.The whole time you will try to match the colors youv'e made to the existing wood surroundings by using the TV dot method. The key to this is simple. Try to connect grain lines and wood base color lines with the thinnest dots and strokes neccesary.Once you have achieved the colors and desired grain strokes needed you are almost there.Allow everything you have applied to dry or cure for a night. Water base finishes usually don't need that much time, but never, ever rush anything envolving artwork. Now for your final finish (only to the existing damaged scratches), depending on the finish sheen of your table top, use a satin or gloss water base poly and dab into the scratch areas only the finish you have choosen.REMEMBER THE FOLLOWINGThis procedure will work very well with what ever medium (waterbase, varnish, lacquer or shellac) you decide to use. THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS TO STAY WITHIN THE DAMAGE ITSELF.LAST BUT NOT LEAST.....THIS WILL ONLY WORK FOR SURFACE SCRATCHES AS A CAMOFLAUGE METHOD ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED AS A CURE-ALL TO LARGE SCRATCHES OR INDENTATIONS ON HORIZONTAL SURFACES, which is what I am as of now. The rest of the book will continue when someoneasks something else and receives an answer such as "Oh yeah ,I've got these wax stick's that I use all the time"............

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Aug 25, 1999 09:21am | #3

   *True, wax sticks are better for vertical surfaces than for horizontal ones. Cats scratch vertical surfaces, such as, er...table legs, probably 98% of the time. Bob, the questioner, posed the question in the manner of a table owner, not as either a woodworker, or a restorer. No mention of damage to the top that I can see in the question.

1. 
   Bob_Harville | Sep 09, 1999 01:39am | #4

   *I thank you for your reply and will try your method. It is a satin finish. How do I get rid of or level the table surface of excess finish that I have applied to the scratch. I tried 0000 steel wool very lightly and seems to work. Your last sentence mentioned a book. Did you write it and if so, how do I get a copy....THANKS

1. 
   E._Michael_Moore | Sep 18, 1999 04:53am | #5

   *Good Evening Sir: As a professional repair and finish man I'll have to go with the artists brush and the applied stains and finishes as opposed to the wax pencils. Don't get me wrong, the wax pencils have saved my bacon more than once, they just don't stand up to hard use the way a good lacquer or polyurethane will. I don't much like poly either, but thats just a personal thing. Go down to your local furniture store, (Fine Furniture,not Heileg....) and ask their people for a copy of the "Mohawk" refinishing supplies catalog, they've got everything you could want and any advise or instructions you will ever need. They're the real professionals. Have a happy Mike