Water damaged Heresey, my attempt to repair the walnut veneer

[emmvette]

Below are a couple pictures of a Walnut Veneered Heresey with pretty severe water damage. The damage came from having a wet towel left wrapped around the speaker during transport. I'm guessing it was left on for more than a day. The first picture is from 6 weeks ago, a few days after the damage was done. The damage is severe on one side, it carries over to the top as you can see a little in the second picture. The second picture is from yesterday, during the start of the "repair attempt". It is after wiping the side and top down with plenty of mineral spirits on a clean cheese cloth, then a cotton rag with a few quick wipes of laquer thinner. The laquer thinner took off more stain, but it also whiten the water stained areas a little, keeping the difference in color about the same - not really what I was hoping for. After letting it dry for a couple hours, it was obvious this was not going to be easy.

I then considered a few options, including light sanding, more mineral spirits wiping, reveneering (not really considered very long), oxalic acid (lots of work)and then decided to do more of an internet search. This provided the next option, which I decided to try this morning. I realize now, maybe I should have started this thread BEFORE the second "fix" to solicit ideas, but it is too late. I admit - I'm impatient! I found a lot of "interesting" ideas about how to treat water stains. I decided to try out this old wives tale: Mix ashes with mayonnaise into a paste and rub onto the wood with the grain, while applying heat. I like trees, I have ashes in my fireplace, I also like burning things, mayonnaise is good.... must be a good idea. Full Disclosure: I'm an engineer, and this really strikes me as kind of wierd, but I like the idea.

The last picture is the "test plot" done at the bottom of the speaker where there is both white damage and a black stain from the water. The picture is taken after about 10 minutes of rubbing the area with the paste. I'm going to try to be patient and let it sit for a day or two and see how it looks as the area dries. Right now it doesn't look bad. Here are a few of my concerns / thoughts:

1. Not much will happen, it will dry and still look crappy
2. It will look better, and balance will be restored to the world. If this actually works, we'll have to give the speakers a new name, some combination of Heresy and Mayonnaise.
3. My real concern is that the oil in the mayonnaise will make restaining the speakers difficult
4. If all else fails, then oxalic acid may get the nod. I'm trying to avoid this right now.

This is just after wiping with mineral spirits on a clean rag. Then a couple quick wipes with laquer thinner.

The bottom 5" is the "test area" for the woodashmayonnaiseheat treatment. This is the part of the speaker that emits scent - I'm going to market this as a new technology the caters to your sense of smell as well as hearing.

If anybody has any input I'm certainly open to ideas. As you can guess from the mayonnaise experiment, I probably won't listen to your ideas, but I will consider them. I will follow up and let you know how this turns out so others can either try what I did, or know enough to avoid it.

[Malcolm]

Strip, lightly sand, bleach if you have to, stain and refinish...

[John Warren]

or paint (black "Walnut").