Help - Burned White Lacquer Tabletop

15 years ago

I put a hot candle-lighter down on my beautiful white lacquer tabletop. It's a solid hardwood table finished with three coats of white lacquer. The lighter burned through the top two layers, possibly all the way down to the wood, and left a black mark on the top layer all the way around the outside.

I posted photos at http://gallery.me.com/jonbines#gallery

I called the guy who designed it, and he said I need to have the hole filled with a viscous filler (NOT wood putty or bondo) ("even it out with primer" is what he said), sand it, and then repaint the entire table (3 coats custom white lacquer). I don't have a paint shop, and I'm getting quotes in the thousand-dollar range for the work.

Any thoughts about how I could repair just the burned area and not have it look horrible?

Comments (3)

User
15 years ago
Repair options depend on the material used for the finish. Lacquer is one of the few finishes that can be repaired---sometimes.

You will need some of that particular lacquer---since the color will vary from batch to batch. That means getting a half pint or so of that batch from the painter. The next best thing is a bit of the current batch of that color.

What I am going to detail next is a very long shot. Success depends on a great many variables happening correctly.

Using a rag dampened with lacquer thinner, rub gently in the burned area. Lacquer thinner will disolve even old dried lacquer, so you want to keep the material in the smallest area possible. If you are lucky, the burned area will dissolve away leaving the bare wood. Then you can begin to fill in the hole with new lacquer. You can blend the new with the old by using that(actually several rags---replacing as they get saturated with lacquer) rag just moistened with thinner. Lacquer dries rather quickly---thin coats can dry in less than a couple hours. If the first application is successful, try successive applications until the repaired area is as smooth as possible.

Then you will need to sand the entire top smooth and apply a coat of the lacquer. You might be able to find an auto body painter for that part.

The worst you can do is make the spot bigger and have to have the top stripped and refinished---which is what should be done now---that spot repair is not what a professional should recommend.

But, you did ask if there were any way to DIY the repair---I am not a professional finisher, but would try this method before spending a lot of money.
haricotvert
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks -- I may give it a try. Or have someone more qualified give it a try.
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bobismyuncle
15 years ago
I suggest you contact a couple of local furniture stores and see if their furniture technicians would be able to spot repair this. This is the kind of work I do. White is not a single color and it might be quite difficult to get a perfect match, but the damage looks superficial to me and I would investigate to see if it could be sanded and touched up as a simple solution. Otherwise, stripping and refinishing the top would be in order. I would do this for a lot less than $1000, so either I charge too little, or you need to look for a more reasonable estimate.