Refinishing

You might try steaming lightly with a damp towel on the wood and a steam iron. Sometimes that will raise dents and scratches. Just be sure to try it lightly and check the wood often.

-- Growing older but not up!

If you plane it down you will expose new wood. If the piece has been stained then the top will have to be color matched to the rest of the piece if you want them to look the same. But if the dent is not too deep then the steaming method can work.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

if you plane or sand the top at all it will show up much lighter in those spots after refinishing. if you don’t like the dents try what toolz suggests,but if the wood does have that great golden color i’d leave it be.

-- Roper - Master of sawdust-

I absolutely agree with the steaming technique to raise small surface dents.

As far as what may remain, that’s all part of the piece, isn’t it? I’d sure hate to lose that beautiful patina to a piece that looks brand new. Coaxing the beauty out of the wood is part of the fun of refinishing, I think.

I have crow’s feet around my eyes, too, but that’s because I’ve been around a while and won’t be trying to sand them off anytime soon :)

-- Ron, Bakersfield, CA. Measure twice, cut twice anyway.

I agree with most of the above suggestions, but if the gouges are deep you may want to go down to fresh wood. One part of woodworking is learning to match colors. Call it Chemistry 101. Many books on this subject, my friend—gotta learn it sooner or later!

Good luck and send photos!

I steam the bulk of it out, maybe take a light scraping on some parts to smooth it out prior to refinish it, but I’ll shoot to keep the bulk of the old wood in tact.

Marcb;
You actually have two things you would have to match if you decide to plane or scrape the surface. The wood over time has aged and has a patina as stated. You also most likely have a color (tint) that was left behind from the “weird green” that was on it.

I would vote to steam and then unless it is something you just cannot live with, leave it alone.

Roger

-- Roger1