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Hi there,
I hope this is the right forum to post this in, wasn't sure which one would make the most sense. But, I just inherited my families kitchen table. My Dad made this table for our family when I was a little girl, and our family ate on it up until the point that my parents had to move. The table is too big for them to use in their new home, so the table is now in my hands. It is very important to me and I would like to use it for my family. The table has gone through many years (and children). It’s probably 25 years old. It has some scratches (nothing majorly deep), and some craft paint marks here and there. But I want to refinish it and am looking for guidance on how to do just that.
Here is some more info on the table:
The table is big, not sure of measurements (I can measure if needed), but it can seat up to 8 people, or possibly more depending on size of people. But it is an all pine table, with 2 long pine benches that are used for the seating. It has been stained a light stain (to keep the original wood color).
I want to sand and restain…and get as many of the marks, and scratches out as possible.
Also, I want to replace the padding(to protect floors) on the bottom of the table’s base, and the benches.
I also want to get cushions for the benches (the type that can be tied or fastened on in some way). I imagine these might have to be custom made.
But, I have never done this type of project before, so I don’t know the proper way to do this. I’m a good learner, and can pretty much do anything I have instructions on to do
If any of you very handy people can help with how I would go about completing this type of project, that would be great. And advice is much appreciated!
Hmmmm...
I would probably use a belt sander, or maybe a random orbital.
I would probably not stain it at all, but I guess you want to match the rest (unless you like the look of a contrasting top!).
I would use 3 - 4 coats of an oil-based poly to seal.
I am a wood geek...but haven't done it in so long.
I could tell you such funny stories ... I would not use a belt sander unless you knew
what u were doing, ok, laughing now bec of memories
...Orbital, never...gotta go with the grain.
Forgot was there a varnish? Is so Zip Strip is best bec it is a gel.
Wear a good mask if there is varnish and you plan to just sand. Whew.
Find a sander that goes back and forth...what the heck is that name? Under $30.
The final sanding will be finer sand paper....then you will steel wool it with...
is it 000 fine steel wool? See? it has been so long. Use a tack cloth till like glass smooth.
There may still may be dark ring marks in the wood, keep sanding.
A stain is fine. A sealant is fine, polyurethane is fine at a certain temp, the best brush and absolutely
no breeze or dust around, many coats lots of complete drying
in between with steel wooling in between, using a tack cloth afterwards...
or Tung oil is fine...applied when immaculately smooth.
Depends what you'd like...how much care free living you want.
I go with SparVarnish and am done with it! (The coating you would
put on the oak of a yacht ...)
I am a wood geek...but haven't done it in so long.
I could tell you such funny stories ... I would not use a belt sander unless you knew
what u were doing, ok, laughing now bec of memories
...Orbital, never...gotta go with the grain.
Forgot was there a varnish? Is so Zip Strip is best bec it is a gel.
Wear a good mask if there is varnish and you plan to just sand. Whew.
Find a sander that goes back and forth...what the heck is that name? Under $30.
The final sanding will be finer sand paper....then you will steel wool it with...
is it 000 fine steel wool? See? it has been so long. Use a tack cloth till like glass smooth.
There may still may be dark ring marks in the wood, keep sanding.
A stain is fine. A sealant is fine, polyurethane is fine at a certain temp, the best brush and absolutely
no breeze or dust around, many coats lots of complete drying
in between with steel wooling in between, using a tack cloth afterwards...
or Tung oil is fine...applied when immaculately smooth.
Depends what you'd like...how much care free living you want.
I go with SparVarnish and am done with it! (The coating you would
put on the oak of a yacht ...)
oh man -- I have little circley swirls from my orbital sander.
Anyhow -- Pretty much agree with Miss Hepburn here. If your table top is thick enough and not veneer
there's a little more room for error and correction. Start out with a stripper, then go to mechanical sanders to get the most old finish off, but finish off with hand sanding. Nothing beats hand sanding, always with the grain.
On redoing -- thin coats are better. Lazy people like me want to do two thick coats, and most stuff is self leveling... but thick coats tend to get bubbly from air and brush strokes, leaving you with imperfections.
Better yet -- I would look around in your area for woodworking classes. Nothing beats hands on experience. Sometimes even Home Depot has them.
As for SparVarnish? I knew someone that used that on a door and out here it was tacky -- not as in bad taste, but as in touch -- sticky. It was like it had never dried completely.
Start with a paint stripper-
With that size of table it will require a few quarts and a few coats to remove all the finish. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.
You clean/rinse/neutralize with water. After a thorough cleaning I like to use denatured alcohol to remove any residual finish. It also helps to keep saturation at bay. Let it completely dry- a couple of days.
Sanding- use a quarter sheet orbital sander. DO NOT use a belt sander unless you want to use the table as kindling! Start with 80grit; this will remove raised grain and any gouge marks. Then go to 180grit- this should get the surface smooth enough to start refinishing.
The next step would be to apply a "sanding sealer"- 2 coats. No sanding is required between coats. Sand the sealer with 180grit.
Apply stain- the more coats the darker. Follow manufacturer's instructions. Once you have achieved the correct color and shade, allow to dry and then apply one coat of polyurethane. Once dry sand using fine grit sanding sponge- all of the sanding will be by hand from here on out. Use a damp rag to remove the majority of sanding dust.
Repeat at least twice- the final coat prep will be sand, vacuum dust, tack cloth then apply final coat- I like to thin it out just a bit to get better flow out. Best time of day is real early in the morning- no bugs, air bourne particles, or heavy humidity.
I would suggest that the first thing you do is an alcohol strip. You may find that the craft paint comes off with the alcohol. It will certainly keep any grease or oil from being sanded into the wood. If you're happy with it after the alcohol strip, then finish it. Otherwise, follow "K"s above method and enjoy.
I worked for a couple furniture shops between careers, building everything from tables and chairs to armoires.
Step one is chemical stripper to remove the old finish and craft paint. There are some very good benign citrus products these days, they use a concentrated turpene from the citrus skin to soften the finish. Even more effective are the old style stuff like Strypeeze (methylene chloride unless they've changed the active ingredient). Those work well too, but you need adequate ventilation and rubber gloves unless you like headaches and tingling fingers.
Last time I used the citrus stuff it worked just fine - brush it on and leave it 10 min or so, then scrape the surface with a putty knife or plastic bondo spreader. Usually one application gets as much as you're going to get. Wipe down with mineral spirits or turpentine to remove any further gumminess (this you may need to do repeatedly).
Step two is raise any dents and scratches. Since it's a table you can pour a bit of water on the dent or scratch, then put a wet rag over it and press down with a hot clothes iron. This will cause the wood fibers to expand and raise the dent. Usually you don't quite get it all, but it does get much better. This also won't cure scratches and dents where the fibers are cut (like by a sharp corner of something causing the dent), but even those get much better. Let it sit a day or two before sanding so that the swelled spot can equilibrate with the rest of the wood.
Step three is sand. I would not use a belt sander as they are very aggressive. I also don't like square orbitals because they can leave lots of squiggly pig tail looking scratches if you don't sand enough to get the scratches from the coarse grit out before moving to fine or moving to finishing.
I prefer a random orbital sander (they are round). It essentially orbits around two axes simultaneously, so scratches are randomly oriented "C" shapes. They blend in much better if a few sneak by your inspection. It is important to use these sanders with the full pad in contact with the surface (ie do not tip them) and with a fairly light touch to keep the random action. They also work far faster, especially if you can get a vacuum hooked up to them.
Inspect thoroughly between sanding grits, and wipe off the excess dust between grits as well. A good strong light that you can move from overhead to oblique is a big help for spotting scratches from the previous grit. You can also wipe down the area you are inspecting with mineral spirits - that usually makes flaws more obvious (as your finish will do).
I usually sand 80 grit - 100 or 120 grit - 220 grit - and sometimes 320 grit before finishing. You can stop at 220 also, many people do. Any finer than 320 is a waste of time and effort.
Step four is finishing - and there are whole books written about this. For a basic beginner project, I would suggest moving the table to a clean area or sweeping up several times first, then wiping all the surfaces down with clean rags and mineral spirits several times to get rid of any residual dust. You can also do this with a commercial tack cloth if you like.
Like at least one other poster, I don't much care for stains. They have their uses, but it can take a lot of practice to get something that looks good with one, and what wood the table is made of makes a huge difference in how much stain it soaks up and how blotchy it ends up looking.
For your purposes, a polyurethane varnish is probably going to be easiest. You can either brush it on or thin it down to make a wiping varnish that is applied with a small piece of clean rag. Good quality paint thinner or turpentine is fine to use for this, or naptha if you want low odor. Turp can smell really nice (to me anyway) so that's what I usually use.
I like to sand lightly between coats to remove any dust lumps and keep things smooth. Use 320 or finer for that if you do it, and tack cloth the surface before recoating. Number of coats will depend on the type of wood again, and the desired level of gloss when you're done.
You can also brush on varnish unthinned. I have less experience with that, though what I've done has come out well. The finish will build faster (so you need fewer coats) with unthinned varnish. You can also thin the coats a bit more each time as you apply them. Thinned varnish tends to level itself more easily.
Good advice above. Just wanted to add that you might consider using amber shellac for your finish. Pine often doesn't take stain well due to variations in porousness. Amber shellac gives a nice, durable, warm finish that looks naturally aged, and it's extremely easy to work with. I use it often on pine pieces and it always gives great results. It also comes in a clear variety if you don't want the aged orangey-amber look.
Since you are a new-bie at this, I would recommend only hand sanding. You'll do less damage..especially as pine is a very soft wood.
I'll echo the steam iron dent removal method. Works really well on pine.
I'd use Citrus-Strip. I stripped all my kitchen cabinets with it.
Then..how to finish.
Pine is a stinker to stain as the stain is not absorbed equally. It splotches.
I just finished a walnut burl lowboy. Used wood conditioner first......two coats on the edges to prevent over -absorption, then one coat wipe-on stain. Final top coat was wipe-on poly satin finish.
For a project so large.......and being pine........and your being a new-bie..........I'm thinking Danish Oil. It comes in natural.......or tinted. Really easy...and hard to screw up.
There are lots of very helpful videos on YouTube.
This is a large project you're undertaking. I'd practice first on scrap pine.
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