Himself and I have discovered the holy grail, the cornucopia of entertainment and cheap furniture - the State Surplus Property Office! We scored a couple pieces of REALLY FUCKING HEAVY furniture for him - solid wood, ex-university stuff. I’m going back today to pick up some more stuff (although mine, of course, will be so much cooler.)
Anyway, I want to get some practice finishing wood, since I’m working on learning all this woodworking stuff. The piece he got is a little beat up, not badly. I took some pictures, but the sunlight makes them confusing: Here’s the piece and here’s a closeup of the finish.
I guess I need some general resources for refinishing, which I really know nothing about, and I need to know specifically what kind of finish this sort of thing is going to have and what I need to do about it. Sand it? Strip it? And when I’ve done whatever, what are my options for refinishing - what would give it that “odor of education” like it used to have, or can I do it, say, teal? One assumes that at the least I’ll need to pick up a random orbit sander, right?
You definitely should look around for a few good books on the subject, especially if you think you’ll get into this for the long haul. By far the best I’ve seen is Bob Flexner’s Understanding Wood Finishing (published by Reader’s Digest a couple of years back, so it should still be around). He discusses the various finishes available in great detail (how they work, how to use them, etc.). There is a chapter on stripping old finishes, but you may want to look elsewhere for more info. I usually hesitate to recommend specific books around here, but this sucker is good.
As to the specific piece you picture: it is, of course, somewhat difficult to tell from photos, but this looks like the sort of piece you can just sand down. At first you’ll have to change sandpaper fairly often since the old finish will tend to clog it. And, of course, you’ll sand, and sand, and sand, and . . .
As to the finish on the piece you have, it’s likely some old non-polyurethane varnish (these days you have to look pretty hard to find anything that isn’t polyurethane ).
It appears to be a nice piece of oak. A nice random orbit sander would remove the top finish that’s damaged and let you apply several coats of polyurethane.
Hey, it’s yours! You can do whatever you like to it! I’d second sanding, rather than than stripping the finish in this case. Random-orbit sander is good, particularly for something with lots of flat surfaces, like this. And I’d also second the Flexner book.
I should also mention that getting a good finish is pretty hard, though it sort of depends on how picky you are. For example, with oak, if you want to fill the pores and get a dead-flat finish, it’s a lot of work. However, if you’re satisfied with wiping Danish oil on, it’ll be quite a bit easier.
Well, it cost about twelve bucks and weighs about a million pounds. (Seriously - we got ready to lift it off the truck, and I got down and got ready to lift with my knees… lift… lift… I couldn’t even move the bastard. It’s like it was part of the truck.) Reading online, it seems that if I do want to change the color (screaming red would be fun!) then I’d definitely have to go with a paste grain filler and an enamel?
ETA - assuming some bastard hasn’t gotten there ahead of me I’m going back to snag a big cabinet and a wooden table. The table is pretty scarred - solid oak, well made, but looks like it’s done duty in a science lab! I want it for a project table in my garage. Should it be possible to just sand down through marks and scars and acid burns and such? And then would a polyurethane finish be durable enough for assembling furniture and doing electronics projects on it?
It’s your table and you can color it as you want. Quite frankly unless you were going to invest hundreds of hours in labor and hundreds of dollars in stains and tints, I wouldn’t bother with the paste grain filler. The beauty of oak is in the grain. Filling it in makes it look like every other plastic covered desk.
Grain is distinct from the pores. Fill the pores, and you’ll still see the grain – better, even, if you use a dark paste wood filler. I happen to like that look, reminiscent as it is of fine antique furniture, which just about always had the pores filled (over the last two centuries, anyway). But to be sure, it’s a pain in the ass to get that look, because it involves a lot more fiddling, and more steps. And I’m not sure how relevant it is to what Zsofia is doing.
Once you’ve sanded to raw wood and thoroughy cleaned away the dust and grit, then you can move up to the next grit. I might go 60, 80, 100, 150, then do a final hand sand with a sanding block at 220. Basically, after the first grit (60 in this case), the wood should be nice and level, such that the next grit should go fairly quickly. Just go over everything once or twice with the sander. The idea is just to get out the scratches made with the earlier grit, but I’m not sure if there’s anything you’d see as an indicator that you’ve done enough. I usually just assume that a couple of passes is okay.
You’re right about the trim – there you’re forced to hand sand, though I suppose you could clean up a roundover or a bullnose with the sander. Go lightly so you don’t change the profile.
Things are going MUCH faster with the rougher grit. It’s no Kentucky Derby, but I’m starting to see real progress.
I still don’t know what the hell I’m going to do when I get it sanded, though. All this work seems like a waste just to cover it up with paint, but I’m not sure I can even get fun colored stains here in town, and Himself needs his furniture back ASAP.
Finishing or re-finishing isn’t a deep, mysterious secret like some woodworkers would have you believe, but hurrying through it is a recipe for disappointment or disaster. Take your time and do it right. Once you get the old finish off, wipe the dust off with mineral oil across the grain, which will help fill the pores and give you an idea of what the piece will look like with polyurethane on it. Let it sit a few hours…overnight is better…then wipe it off again. This should get rid of most airborne dust particles that have settled onto the surface. Then just follow the directions on a can of semi-gloss, water-based poly. You can buy cans that are pre-tinted. Spanish oak is a good choice for that piece. It will stain, seal and finish all in one, although you should allow time for at least two coats. I usually apply finish with a rag, since it seems to allow more control.
You can make a colored glaze with Floetrol, which is a latex paint conditioner, and acrylic craft paint. You will want to experiment in an area that won’t show to get the look you want. Top coat with an acrylic sealer which stays very clear. Polyurethane will look yellow.
But on the other hand, enamel should hopefully turn the 70’s curves into Art Deco curves. Particularly once I add hardware. And possibly do the drawers in a different color.
But on the other other hand, I feel sorry for the tree, you know? It’s growing, growing, and then the loggers come and it asks its mother, what will it be? Will I be quartersawn into beautiful Arts and Crafts furniture? Will I become a farmhouse table? Will I be a rocking horse? And what did they do? They made it government furniture. And not incredibly attractive at that. (Granted, you couldn’t buy it today for twenty times the price, ugly or not - the only thing on this homely lump that isn’t solid hardwood is the drawer bottoms. The drawers are also dovetailed. The homely government desk I work at has the sorriest drawers you have ever seen.) So there it sits, abandoned, alone, at the surplus warehouse, and we come along. Pick me! Pick me! It thinks it’s going to have a new life with a family who might appreciate it, and it comes home with us only to find that we want to grate its skin off and paint it turquoise.
So, yeah, I feel a little guilty about a dead tree’s aspirations and dreams.
).