"Shadows" of old name on teak transom

[turnbuckle]

Transom was varnished, name and hail port painted on, then several coats of varnish over all. Has been several years now and need to change the lettering on the transom. After sanding the lettering off, they remain as lighter lettering compared to the remaining teak presumably due to the darkening of the non-lettered teak. Back in 2001 there was a topic on this and wonder if any new ideas or products have appeared since then. I had thought of "defining" the lettering area by sanding, staining, varnish, then lettering, essentially creating a sign board in place. I worry about a real sign board for 2 reasons: water gathering behind it, and the holes created in the transom that are not easily reversed. Help appreciated.

[Del Lansing]

Several issues back there was an article in WB about wood bleaches. The author recommended a product called "Te-Ka." An alternative was oxalic acid. Strong chemicals! use at least eye goggles, preferably a full face shield for splashes and rubber gloves.

[Mike Field]

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Depending on its size, the simplest solution might be to simply sand back the whole transom.
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[Paul Scheuer]

Don't the furniture guys use an amonia vapor to "age" wood ? Not sure how it would work on a selective basis. Instead of light and dark, you could get dark and darker.

[Bob Smalser]

Oxalic acid as a bleach is easy to use, but you've too much surface area to do for it to be practical.

Problem with even the best pigmented stains is they'll eventually bleach out on soemthing as sunny as a transom....and as they protected the wood from darkening by the UV, you'll have the same problem to contend with then. Dyes bleach out much faster than pigmented stains.

I'd sure try the ammonia....good thinking there, Paul. Reacts with tannic acid in wood to turn it dark. (Teak has tannic acid in it, I believe.) Furniture is done by bagging it with a space heater and pan of anhydrous ammonia (serious stuff not in your medicine cabinet) inside, allowing the ammonia to fume the wood.

See if your drug store has any reagent grade ammonia and be sure to use mask and rubber gloves when swabbing it on your light spots.

[Bruce Hooke]

Be prepared for some close questioning if you go around asking for anhydrous ammonia -- I believe it is used to make crystal meth...

[Siebert]

Hydrogen Peroxide also is an effective wood bleach. I have used in furniture restoration and on wooden strip floors to get out stains from ink, cat urine and other foul and tenacious stains with success. It is very fast acting and is a powerful oxidizer. It is very safe when handled correctly, as it does not produce itself or react with other common chemicals that that produce noxious fumes such as ammonia, sodium hypochlorite, etc. In crystalline form, it will burn at extremely high temperatures and is explosive. You can buy it cheap in a concentrated liquid form (4.0 Normal solution) and dilute it to the desired strength. Best of all, it requires no neutralization like oxyalic acid.

For woods like teak and mahogany it can bleach to the color of cyprus left to weather in the sun. for this reason it is best to let your work dry out first, test a few mixtures and application durations to get the desired effect and then hit the whole thing at once.

Goodluck!!

[Jay Greer]

Ok, here is the drill. You can trust me on this cause I do name changes on transoms from time to time, having been in the boat hand lettering trade for thirty plus years. Your transom is sun bleached everywhere but where the old name is or was. Do not use ammonia. Ammonia is a mordant that will darken Oak but it will have no effect on teak. Oxalic acid will possibly even out the color, but not to any great extent. Two part bleach will suck the color out of the wood and leave it looking dead, even if you stain it! Cleaning off the sun bleached wood with cabinet scrapers is about the only way to expose the color of the wood as it was.
You can follow up with a sanding if you wish. You should apply at least six coats of varnish prior to the new name going on and then two coats over the new name. Your sign painter can do a layout, possibly with shaded letters that will cover the old name so that it will not be that obvious. Sunlight will even out the color in time.
Another way to go is to cover the area with a hand carved arch board which can be rather handsome if done right. My own favorite for this is a banner with stars on the ends and the name carved in incised Roman letters that are gold leafed. I can do this for you if you wish.

[turnbuckle]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Was unable to get to computer as they are in the school and there was a strike by the support staff here in Cape Breton and we couldn't cross the picket lines, it's now settled!
Have not made any moves on the transom yet as the weather is just getting OK to work in the barn. Will carefully read all the suggestions and try to do something with it. May just end up with sign boards.

[Wild Wassa]

There is another option. Having worked along side conservators, they say, that the person following them should be able to see what they have done.

Simplifying this, one could fit the new lettering and then retouch the lighter areas if they are still evident.

That could retain a hint of provenance and age.

Warren.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

You will find a similar "shadow" if you lift a fitting (I am assuming that you varnish before securing the fitting, of course). It is simply the result of the covered area not being exposed to light and therefore not bleaching at the same rate as the rest. A season's exposure to light will usually bring it to the same colour as the surrounding areas.

[Iolaire]

As a follow up: I originally posted this as "turnbuckle" but have changed names following the name change on the transom. Well I solved the problem by going with sign boards and have been very happy with the decision. On haulout this spring I removed the boards (1 had to be touched up), varnished the transom, and reinstalled the boards. As expected the area under the boards is still not back to looking like the remainder of the transom. Simple solution and the added advantage of getting new sign boards with a new look in a year or two if the mood strikes.