How to correct oversanding veneer mistake?

[sassydog]

I'm refinishing a mid-century desk and made the mistake of not realizing it had a veneer until I had sanded through it. I sanded through to the bottom wood (it is wood underneath, possibly oak because the drawer sides are oak). The veneer is a walnut and I plan to stain walnut and finish with poly to match the top of desk. Should I stain everything including the overly sanded patch (about an inch long and quarter inch wide) or should I stain around that spot and color it to match afterwards with wax or something else? Please help. Thanks, Scout

[XSleeper]

There's no way to perfectly correct the mistake of sanding through the veneer, all you can do is try to hide it. You might get good results with a furniture repair marker (like a magic marker for wood) that is the same shade as the stain, or maybe a professional painter could hide the spot with some sort of custom mixed color of paint (a "faux" fix). This would be done prior to the application of your poly.

If you are lucky, the underlying wood will take stain the same as the veneer, and the spot won't be very noticeable, or at least will only be noticeable to you. If it's close and you can live with it, no additional repair would be needed.

[sassydog]

I was considering applying a new veneer, kinda of starting over. The existing veneer is well attached. Have you ever done this? or would you advise against? Thanks again!