How to Lighten Timber

[prime]

Dear Woodworkers

I have an old cedar cabinet that I attempted to lightly sand and varnish. Unfortunately I sanded slightly too much in one region. The result is that the part that was sanded too much is now red while the rest of the cabinet is yellow.

How can I modify the colour of the timber so that it becomes a lighter colour (ie from red to yellow/orange)?

Note that the cabinet was varnished prior to sanding.

Best,

Prime

[Claw Hama]

Hi Prime, don't like your chances, I would say you'll have to sand the whole thing back to the same degree. Good luck.

[ian]

Prime
the answer depends on several things

what is the "varnish" on the cabinet? If it's shellac you might be able to modify the colour by applying a little bit of "orange" shellac to the sanded region.

you might be able to age the patch by leaving it under a UV or heat lamp for a few days -- shade the areas you don't want aged

[AnselmFraser]

We would use oxalic acid to bleach the top to the same colour and then colour up in the usual way.
Good luck.
Anselm.