Help! I've wrecked the dining table

Our nice dining table had grown a bit shabby, so the lads and I decided to sand it down ready to revarnish it. I thought it was solid wood. I thought the pale patches were accumulated dust from the belt sander. But having cleaned up afterwards, it seems the pale patches persist. I'm now wondering if it's not solid wood but a veneer, and I've sanded right through it.

Any ideas how I can fix this please?

 

Oops...someone's in the doghouse now.

 

Yeah, get it re-veneered.
Looks like MDF

 

Most furniture is these days, its not unusual.

 

It seems to solid to be MDF. I don't think it's really really old, but it was left here when we bought the house almost 13 years ago. It's got matching old fashioned chairs, and it's sturdy and well crafted so I assumed solid wood.

What if I just use a dark varnish?

 

Throw a tablecloth over it before your wife sees it!

 

Creosote might work.

Depends what you want to achieve, but it will never look good.

Probably the table cloth idea is best if you don't want to spend too much on it.

I've never used a belt sander on veneers, as you now know, far to aggressive.

 

@Clueless 1 v2 I had a problem with my dining room table a few years ago and I got a quote to re-veneer it - turned out it was cheaper to get a new table. I went to a big box store armed with a close up of one of my chairs so I could compare the colours. I landed up getting a new, bigger table for 1/2 the price to fix the old one.

 

Oh, and for the immediate future, it might look nice just painted with a solid gloss paint. Pick a colour that compliments your room perhaps?

 

Paint the top white and then paint it with woodgrain paint.

Ronseal Rustic oak Special effect paint 1.5L | DIY at B&Q

 

That looks like a good solution.

 

I can vouch for this stuff. My UK kitchen units got the limed oak treatment. The result was pretty impressive