Table trouble

[tabbypurr]

Got a varnished wood table, but it has 2 problems.

1. M8 nuts don't fit properly onto the studs embedded in the legs. By hand selecting I got 4 nuts to go on, but it's no good like that it needs all 8 on. Could they be something other than M8? (It's a metric era mass produced table from the developing world). I'd do a stud thread refresh but the tpi doesn't quite match M8 so it would trash them.

1. A kid has drawn with a pink felt tipped pen on the top in one corner, and I've had no luck getting it off. Failed: detergents, paraffin. Barkeepers friend makes a little progress with huge amounts of runbbing, but not enough to be practical.

Suggestions welcomed.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It may well be US threads. American Coarse. But UNC should fit. I've got glass tables, bought in the UK, where the 'legs' are.

[Martin Brown]

US thread maybe? Local fasteners specialist will probably stock them.

UV may show you which family of inks it is. If it glows then Eosin or Rhodamine are fairly likely as pinks.

Dilute peroxide or at a pinch bleach might see it off but might also damage the surface finish or the wood itself.

[Bill Wright]

?Acetone?

Bill

[harry]

Felt tip - methylated spirits.

[newshound]

A glance at online thread tables should give you an idea of probable nuts, and these are readily available from eBay in sensible numbers and reasonable prices.

8mm is near enough 5/16ths.

[tabbypurr]

Nice one. Will hit buy now if it chekcs out as 18tpi. Ta. NT

[tabbypurr]

30 vol 9% peroxide: zero progress Vinegar: zero progress IPA: zero progress Bleach: zero progress Jeyes fluid, not diluted: zero progress Melamine sponge: zero progress to my surprise All the above were applied on a cotton bud with much rubbing UV light: will dig it out when I can. I suspect the dye is encased in something very resilient though. I've not tried caustic, don't want to trash the finish.

NT

[Thomas Prufer]

Pink might fade in sunlight -- i.e. UV. Reds are prone to fading.

Maybe best to leave it an let it fade, as you've tried the dozen or so likely solutions.

I have done that with black Edding on stone, which bleached away within a year.

Thomas Prufer

[Martin Brown]

I suspect the dye has migrated into the varnish or even the wood so you may be into a strip sand and revarnish if you want rid of it.

Methylated spirits, acetone or more dangerous pure methanol (wear stout gloves) might be worth a try as progressively more aggressive solvents that will take out most permanent marker pen dyes. They may also permanently damage a varnish finish so be careful.

I think you may have to if you want rid of it. Or use another opaque wood stain marker pen to recolour the damage to "wood colour".

[Jeff Layman]

Eh? Unless you drink it, or set yourself on fire with it, methanol is pretty harmless - no worse than ethanol or isopropanol.

Were you thinking of some other solvent?

In any case, I doubt that any solvent will work (if the OP wants to waste money, I suppose he could try something exotic like DMSO). The whole idea of these permanent marker inks is that they penetrate the surface layer and dye what's underneath. Only removal of those subsurface layers will remove the dye.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Or bleach That will penetrate and change the pigment

[Martin Brown]

Methanol is a small enough molecule to be absorbed through the skin. It is considerably more nasty than ethanol. It is inclined to make some common plastics fall apart and varnishes craze too. It is really not what you want in your bloodstream as it detoxes to the more toxic formaldehyde and formic acid (aka IUPAC methanal and methanoic acid).

IPA is incidentally rather nasty in the eyes and so worth wearing eye protection when working with it.

I suspect that may well be the case. Moral of story don't give small children permanent marker pens to play with on your dining table.

[tabbypurr]

was already tried

[tabbypurr]

of course :)

The one & only thing that has made at least some difference is barkeeper's friend. So I have 3 options:

1. hand rub it for the next century until gone
2. use a dremel & cloth wheel
3. make a dam & leave it soak overnight.

Which, if any, would be advisable? I'm really not up for refinishing it.

NT

[Thomas Prufer]

Try the undiluted active component, oxalic acid. Used in beekeeping and bleaching wood -- so you may be able to get the small amount you need locally & thus cheaply.

Thomas Prufer