Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Jun 26, 2008 05:20pm | #1

   Matching new walnut with old can be particularly challenging.  It's quite likely that you will find when you check with a bit of mineral spirits that the new starts out darker than the old, and is also likely to be more "purple" than old walnut.  Walnut is one of the few woods that routinely lightens over time.  Color can be shifted, but there is no dye to make the new walnut lighter.

   If that is the case, you would have to begin by removing most of the walnut color with a 2-part wood bleach.  Do this on some of the scrap veneer too so you can test various dye colors and concentrations before you work on the actual chest. 

   Samples are crucial, especially with veneer, where stripping and sanding off a mistake isn't possible. 

   If you are lucky enough not to have the new darker than the old, you can proceed mostly as you said, though it would not be desirable to use a wash coat of shellac before dying the wood.  Walnut takes dye and stain without blotching. Then seal the dyed wood with shellac before using the pigmented stain. 

   Depending on how the rest of the chest has been finished, you may also need to use a pore filler.  This step would replace the pigmented stain step.  Plan on tinting the pore filler yourself since the chances of getting a good match from the "dark" or "walnut" colored filler would be slim. 

1. 
   PCM | Jun 26, 2008 06:09pm | #2

   Thank you, Steve, as always! I do have scraps, and will use them for a test.

   Pete

2. 
   [email protected] | Jun 29, 2008 06:42am | #3

   Depending on the year of manufacture, the factory may have used a tinted lacquer finish. 

   In the mid fifties Lane started using tinted lacquer finishes on most of their lines.  This had the advantage of amalgamating  the tone and color of the various pieces of wood in an individual piece, and the numerous pieces in the product line. 

   If your chest was manufactured after 56, you might want to strip the finish off the rest of the piece, and go with a tinted finish, to accomplish the same goal. 

   To determine the date of manufacture, just read the serial number backwards.  For example:  950101, would be 10/10/59. 

1. 
   PCM | Jun 29, 2008 11:39pm | #4

   Thanks for the info!

   The style # is 44944, serial # 12072X, where "X" is a number we can't make out. What would this serial # translate to?

   I have sent info and pics to Lane, now in Tupelo, Miss., for their opinion.

   I have stripped the entire case, and will match the new top to sides, front. Really beautiful walnut veneer!

   Pete