Stain appropriate?

[saminmn]

I have a stack of fix-it projects the wife keeps finding for me. This one is the repair of a Fr. Provincial dresser mirror (think Ethan Allen). The decorative piece across the top has broken loose from the mirror frame.
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I can put the piece back in what is left of the groove,
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but putting a patch piece in to replace the front of the groove on the left half of the groove is beyond my knowledge/skills I think. Can I stain the exposed wood so the bare wood does not draw ones eyes to the problem area and not make a mess for someone doing a real restoration in the future?

Ideas?

[swampgator]

Sam, that looks like antique. Yes, I would try to glue it back in the original groove. After the glue has dried, try staining to cover the chip and any exposed wood. I would use Titebond III as it gives some open time and holds very well for a long time. Best wishes.

[holsgo]

Good looking piece. A color stick would work if you want to try. It's a wax stick. You can melt it into any voids and finish over.
http://www.kingdomrestorations.com/cata ... catId=6331

[curiousgeorge]

Good looking piece. A color stick would work if you want to try. It's a wax stick. You can melt it into any voids and finish over.
http://www.kingdomrestorations.com/catalog_i267402.html?catId=6331

The problem I can see with using a wax stick is that, in the future, if anyone tries to repair the chipped out piece the wax would keep any glue from sticking. I would suggest just some kind of jell stain so it doesn't run onto the existing finished wood. Also any finish on the defect would make it harder to repair. I would suggest having a professional re-finisher take a look at it if the piece is a true antique as any amateurish attempt to repair would probably ruin the value of the piece. Sadly this happens all too often to some beautiful antiques/heirlooms.

[Ed in Tampa]

The problem I can see with using a wax stick is that, in the future, if anyone tries to repair the chipped out piece the wax would keep any glue from sticking. I would suggest just some kind of jell stain so it doesn't run onto the existing finished wood. Also any finish on the defect would make it harder to repair. I would suggest having a professional re-finisher take a look at it if the piece is a true antique as any amateurish attempt to repair would probably ruin the value of the piece. Sadly this happens all too often to some beautiful antiques/heirlooms.

Antique/heirloom or not the fact that it is damaged lessens it's value. How much lower in value depends on what is done. If nothing is done it's value is the least. An excellent repair job the value is at it highest. Types of repair job in between put the value in between also. I guess a totally blotched repair job could lower it value below the value of the unrepaired piece but it would have to be a really ugly job.

The best repair would be glueing it back together and then using lacquer stick to fill and cover ant voids. Lacquer sticks are like wax sticks except with a lacquer stick you heat it to melt it into the void. Then polish it like there is no tomorrow until it totally blends in. Pro's can make the fix invisible to all but the most closest inspection by a very well trained eye.

[holsgo]

The stick Ed is referring to is what I'm talking about. This is actually he professional type of fix on furniture even 100 years old or more. Melt the wax and, using rotten stone bring to required polish or wear. This is a skill worth learning and I had, until recently the full set of tools for this from a guy retiring. Very cool to learn and can be totally blended to perfection.

[algale]

To build a little on what has been said already, a lacquer stick or shellac stick is the correct term (traditionally called a shellac stick because they were just colored sticks of dry shellac). They are very hard and somewhat brittle at room temperature. You use a heated "knife" to apply and level or shape the repair. Traditionally you heated the knife over an open flame but a lot of knives today contain electric or butane heating elements. You can mix bits of two or more sticks to get any color and they also come clear if you have a divot but the color is still there. The repair is called a "burn in" because you melt the shellac/lacquer stick into the damage and do basic leveling while it is still hot. If you aren't very careful, you can in fact burn the surrounding finish and make a bigger mess for yourself. Here's a video showing the fundamentals of the burn in repair using a shellac stick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZSWOtrX0f4

Many lacquer/shellac sticks today aren't really shellac or lacquer but may include or be made from proprietary polymers and may include silica or gosh knows what else to achieve a flat finish without the need to adjust the gloss of the repair down to the level of the surrounding finish. This is advertised as a time saver but in my experience it isn't. Unless the finish you are repairing is the exact same flatness at the stick, you are in for trouble because you can't polish up or down the repair's gloss. So after failing with these I have gone back to the traditional high gloss shellac sticks since you can bring the gloss of the repair up or down to meet the finish.

Gotta disagree with calling these wax sticks or using the terms interchangeably. A wax stick is something entirely different from a shellac or lacquer stick and little more than a glorified wax crayon. In fact, Liberon makes a brand they call Retouch Crayons. http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... ntmisc.htm At room temperature a wax stick is fairly soft or at least not brittle and is applied just by rubbing the wax stick on the surface (no heated knife). In my opinion a wax stick should only be used to touch up color not damage to a surface and it isn't even the best product for color replacement because it isn't particularly permanent. My opinion not withstanding, the manufacturers advertise these wax sticks as being suitable to both replace color and fill shallow repairs. Take that with a grain of salt. Perhaps a pinhole could be filled with a wax stick; I would never use one to repair even a very fine scratch unless I was absolutely sure the repair was in a place that would never ever be touched by human hands or other objects because the repair is so soft it will just squish if it is touched. It can be covered with a top coat to prevent smearing of the color but it still stays soft. I have some wax stick but hardly ever use them.

If you just need to touch up color alone, a far superior method to the wax stick is to use furniture powders which are finely ground pigments. The best known maker is probably Behlen like the ones shown here http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... rnpowders; I learned the padding method of applying these. You add a small amount of padding lacquer or shellac to a small pad of clean lint free cloth then rub in a bit of the furniture powder to the pad and apply with a quick french polishing stroke (think like a touch and go aircraft landing/take off). Additional colors can be padded over until you get the color match you want. You can even add grain lines by adding just a few gains of powder to the pad and pulling the pad across the repair. It takes some practice. The modern method uses a fine brush dipped in the padding lacquer and then touched to the powder and then daubed over the damage. It sounds easier but having learned the padding method I can't get the hang of the brush on method. Whichever method is used (pad or brush), after all is said and done, another top coat is put on to make sure the repair stays in place and the top coat can then be brought to the correct gloss.

Al

[BuckeyeDennis]

Yea. What Algale said!

And this weekend, I am going to study all those links and learn more than I ever knew that I didn't know!

[saminmn]

Hours a go I started this note. I got called away and I see that there has been more added But before I try to digest all that, I am going to post this. If this changes anyone's understanding or if I have miss understood let me know.

[INDENT]One thing I forgot to mention. The piece missing from the grove is, in fact, missing. We must have lost it when we moved to Northfield.

So, not sure lacquer/wax sticks will help. Maybe I misunderstand, their use, but sounded like they hide/fill holes or small crevasses. (Not used instead of wooden strip).

I am leaning toward tacking the decoritive top piece back in place with similar nail/pins to what I removed from backside after it broke off. And then using gel stain mentioned. Then if properly restored later, they won't be fighting my work to do the restoration[/INDENT]

[algale]

Hours a go I started this note. I got called away and I see that there has been more added But before I try to digest all that, I am going to post this. If this changes anyone's understanding or if I have miss understood let me know.

[INDENT]One thing I forgot to mention. The piece missing from the grove is, in fact, missing. We must have lost it when we moved to Northfield.

So, not sure lacquer/wax sticks will help. Maybe I misunderstand, their use, but sounded like they hide/fill holes or small crevasses. (Not used instead of wooden strip).

I am leaning toward tacking the decoritive top piece back in place with similar nail/pins to what I removed from backside after it broke off. And then using gel stain mentioned. Then if properly restored later, they won't be fighting my work to do the restoration[/INDENT]

Yes you are correct on the use of shellac sticks. They won't replace an entire strip of wood.