How to repair damaged table surface

Hi guys, I hope to get some advice on this. The finish of my dinning table is damaged by water or some kind of liquid. The paint came off and wood is exposed. I wonder if there is a relatively simple way to repair/patch that surface. I know it will be almost impossible to restore to original and that is not my goal. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

First thing I would try is some denatured alcohol on a cotton swab. See if any color comes off when you rub the surrounding finish. If it's a shellac (wax), the alcohol will melt the finish, which you may be able to use to coat the bare spot. When the alcohol evaporates, the finish will solidify, (if it's shellac).

If the denatured alcohol does nothing, report back.

 

There is no paint on that table, that's some form of sealer, poly or shellac.
Look under the table and see if you see solid wood, to see if it's a veneer on the top or all real wood.

 

Simply painting or dabbing some new polyurethane or shellac into the damaged area is easy. The tough part will be getting it to match so it's not a glaring repair. What you do will depend on the finish that's there. So, do the alcohol test like XSleeper mentioned. You can do the test on the bottom or some other non-visible area. I'm betting you have a polyurethane and may have to tint the new poly to get it to match the existing.

I would NOT try staining the bare wood area. The minute you touch the spot with stain it's permanent so it's easy to get it wrong. If you add stain or tint to the poly you can keep retrying your blend until you get a color that matches.

 

I kind of wondered if a hot pan got set on the table without a hot pad underneath it.

 

You are looking for an easy repair, so this idea might not be good for you.

Do a search for Lacquer Sticks or Burn-in sticks. If nothing else you can see what they look like and what the technique is for dripping or knifing the melted lacquer into the depression. A burn-in knife is used to melt and apply the stick.
This is after testing the finish as X said.


I think you are aware a table top is the hardest to repair, but you can get it looking decent.

 

As bad as that top is I'd be stripping the whole thing and refinishing.