Removing scorch marks on wood

satchmo

Hi guys,
My brother's after burning his wooden desk. It's quite a new (and expensive) desk, and he left a nightlight burning on it while having dinner. He came back to find the nightlight ablaze (i thought the whole point of those things is that they're just meant to go out!!!), and the hot metal casing was after scorching the desk's surface quite badly. We've tried scrubbing it with lemon juice (read that on a website somewhere) which lightened the scorch mark a little, but didn't have that much of an effect.

Anyone here know one of those things-my-grandmother-used-to-do-for-that-sort-of-thing things?! Or do you guys have any suggestions as to what he might do about removing the stain? Any ideas gladly accepted!

woolymammoth

its not a stain.. its scorched. i.e. its burned..

try sanding it out, although you'll have to do the whole desk top, & revarnish.

satchmo

Well yeah that's the obvious thing to do, I was just hoping someone might have a suggestion that's a little less drastic (it's a pretty big desk).

Borzoi

Tricky...

Does the scorch mark go down to the bare wood? Or is it just a mark on the varnish?

Either way a very light sanding to remove the mark, then try to touch up the area effeccted, I've used a cigar ash paste on a french polish defect before - old trick which might work.

Otherwise like what the woolymamoth says: sand and revarnish.

satchmo

It's quite a deep burn alright, it might well go down to the wood. I don't think I'm going to find a quick fix, it'll have to be sanded I guess

feylya

How big is the burn? I'm assuming only the diameter of yer standard nightlight. IF you're lucky and if doesn't go through the varnish, get some 200 grit sand paper, a square 9v battery and some elbow grease. Careful, using the paper around the battery, sand the burn in circles very lightly. Keep going til the burn it gone. If you're lucky and the burn isn't through the vanish, some 1500+ sand paper should get rid of the scratches from the other sand paper. If you're not so lucky, and if you have some skills, get a can of Plastikote Polyurethane spray and lightly spray the area. (This is of course assuming that the table has a clear coat already on it.) Once you LIGHTLY sprayed over the area, having followed the instructions on the can, let it dry for a few days then sand it level with the rest of the table, using the very fine sandpaper, 0000 steel wool and some T-Cut if you want an ultra high gloss sheen.

I must also say that I have never tried this. This is just information I have on general guitar finishing. I hope it's of some help to you.

satchmo

Thanks alot feylya, that's a great help!