I managed to get 20 Gunlocke chairs at a thrift store. Their price new is absolutely ridiculous and the low price I paid for them was equally ridiculous. They are solid maple with a cherry finish and leather seats. The model is Bank of England. Each chair has the same position on the arms worn through the finish as if it was pushed up against a table every night. I am working to figure out how to repair these spots. I plan on sanding the area smooth and taping it off. I will apply a conditioner like shellac. This is the point where I am stuck. I have been practicing on a piece of maple and using different combinations of dyes I got from Woodcraft. I haven’t been able to match up the color as well as I would like. I am thinking I may need to try a glaze to get the overall brown color without highlighting the grain too much but I have no experience with glazes. What are the thoughts of others that have tried this? Thanks in advance.
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I believe that it will be extremely difficult to get a good match to the finish by “touch up”. You may want to find the cost a furniture restoration company would charge to dip strip them.
Given how discrete and consistent the damage looks from the photos (and how hard it might be to get a good match with a touch up to the finish), I might consider coming up with a decorative patch that could be used across the whole set. Something like a leather band wrapped around arm where the damage is and secured with tacks on the underside. Or you could sew the ends together and it would be entirely reversible if you didn’t like the look. As a bonus, that would protect against future damage to the same spot.
Thanks. I like this idea of putting a band around the defect. After much trial and error, I came up with what looks to be a good matchup on my test board. I sealed the wood very well with multiple coats of 3 lb cut shellac and three to four coats of a brown mahogany stain I made using dye. I will try it out tomorrow on my first chair. Depending on how it goes, I may look into the band idea.