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So.... I tried to get fancy and repair a piece of chipped veneer on an antique clock. I made a piece of mahogany veneer, stained it and shellaced it to match, glued with hot hide glue, etc.

The problem arose when i clamped the veneer while gluing. An impression of the clamp transferred to the shellac. So i tried to french polish it out of the new veneer.

The denatured alcohol has discolored the original veneer - a milky, opaque "film" over the original finish. Perhaps it was varnish? And the wrong solvent (DA) has caused this discoloration?

What can i do to fix this discoloration? Thanks

That whitish haze is most likely wax. You need to strip off all old wax and any other contaminates before you begin a finish repair. Naptha and a lot of elbow grease will take up old furniture wax pretty well. Now that you have finish over the wax it will be more difficult to remove. You may need to scrape it to get the wax off that is now sealed down.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thanks Brian!

Got it. that makes sense. I'm okay in terms of not having any finish over the wax because really I only finished the replacement piece and glued it in. Maybe not clear from the picture. I'll use naptha to remove the wax from that part of the veneer.

Brian, You were right on! It was wax, and came off nicely with a little Naptha, cotton, and elbow grease. Mission accomplished. Thanks.