Materials for refinishing wood?

[92GTA]

I have a Olhausen table with what they say is "American Walnut Finish on Oak ". I am looking to remove the current finish and re-stain the wood after repairs then spray a lacquer clear coat over the stain. The finish is currently a VERY light brown which is almost all worn off anyway.

1) What is recommended to complete removal of the current finish? Just sand paper by hand or a chemical remover? All by hand would be allot of work on the carving on the legs. Pad sander would be good for all the flat surfaces though. What chemicals/sand paper grit is recommended?

2) Next, what brand/type of stain would come out the best on this type of wood? I'm wanting a medium to dark cherry look, something rich. I'm just guessing a couple coats would do it then I can hit it with the lacquer clear to preserve it. Lastly, is there even something other than a lacquer clear you guys would recommend to preserve it the appearance? Note that there are children and pets in the home so I need something tough, I was originally thinking an epoxy like a bar top but then though a lacquer clear would be better.

3) I would like to put something on the bottom surface of the feet, like a thin piece of rubber or plastic that will also work to hold the bottom together against cracking, chipping, etc. What is recommended here?

Thanks!

Alex

 

[jfred0826]

Table Refinish

92GTA,

In a furniture (or pool table) refinish, a chemical strip is the preferred method to remove color. Sanding will remove too much wood and can ruin the fit relationship of the featherstrips, cloth, and cushions to the rail cap. Sanding can also prevent the wood from accepting the stain uniformly.

There are three general "types" of stains. Pigment, dye, and shade. A fourth type is a mixture of pigment and dye.

Pigment stain is colored powder suspended in a liquid that will evaporate, thus leaving the colored powder embedded in the wood grain. An analogy would be a spot of blue pool chalk on a white tee shirt.

Dye stains actually the dye the wood fibers to a desired color. Think of an ink stain on a white shirt.

There are combination stains that contain both dye and pigment.

A shading stain is a dye or pigment suspended in a clear liquid finish like lacquer or polyurethane. When the liquid dries and cures, the color is in the finish itself, and not embedded in the wood surface. Shading stains are used on many pool tables because they provide a uniform color without splotches or dark/light spots. Consequently, raw pieces of wood that don't match in color or grain pattern can be masked by a shading stain.

In your case, after stripping, you might start with a pigment stain. If it dries with no objectionable deviations in color, then shoot the lacquer top coats. If it dries with light or dark areas, then bring the light areas to the proper color with some mist coats of shade.

Lacquer is preferable to epoxy due to ease of repair. Sherwin Williams has a great line of finishes. Minwax, I believe, is now owned by Sherwin Williams, and has a decent line of finishes.

All of this is just an overview of the refinish process. I'm cutting it short to prevent boring the hell out of everybody. :boring2: PM me and I'll fill in the gaps.

jfe

 

[92GTA]

Great info, you are not even close to boring me!

So which brand/type of chemical stain is going to be the best? I'm hoping there is one which can simply be neutralized with water that won't leave a residue or contaminant the wood?

Dye stains are typically what I'm used to working with and considering I'm going from a VERY light almost an ashe color and I want a very dark red cherry, would not the dye stain be the best choice in this case? I have both denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner so I will try those before going to a stronger more toxic type remover I guess.

I was going to use Durhams Rock Hard putty to fill in any imperfections or small cracks in the wood. I've used for years on wood in the past with good results.

I'm fairly good at working with wood but I'm more experienced with varnish working on boats than anything. Very little stain expertise.

Attached is a picture of what I'm starting with and a pic from a website of the color I want to end up with but with royal blue felt instead of burgundy...

Thanks! Alex

 

[jfred0826]

Refinishing a Pool Table

Alex,

I, personally, don't have the patience for finish stripping. My wife does, so she always did it for me. She's the real stripper in our family.

She uses Formby's brand.

Most of my practical experience is in applying original finishes in stock colors, but I have done a little stain matching. Years ago, I had great success matching some new oak to an existing dark cherry finish very similar to the one you want. I went with a pretinted oil based pigment stain from Sherwin Williams as a base. It dried way too light,so I had to hit the desired color with a few coats of a shading stain. By the way, I think in many circles, the terms shading stain and "toner" are synonymous.

On the advice of the chemists at a Dallas area SW Chemical Coatings store, I mixed up a lacquer toner. As I recall, the recipe was one ounce of the pretinted stain mixed into one ounce of solvent, then added to about a pint of SW thinned nitrocellulose lacquer. I shot successive coats of the toner onto the stained oak until I hit the desired color.

That was ten years ago, and I'm not sure of the solvent they recommended. I have a pretty good idea of what it was, but just not sure. The SW Chemical Coatings store is in Garland, Texas. I would call them for that info before I would risk mixing up a recipe that could ruin all your work.

Although toner finishes obscure the grain a bit, they will allow you to bring all the individual parts of your table to the same color or shade. For instance, the solid hardwood rail caps may require three coats of toner, while the plywood cabinet may require two coats. Anyway, just apply one coat to everything, then start with the lightest parts and add coats to them to hit the shade of the darkest parts.

A simpler method of making a toner is to use TransTint liquid dye and add it directly to clear lacquer. TransTint is made by Homestead Finishing Products and is available in 1 ounce squirt bottles at many local woodworking stores.

Good luck to you. I'll bet you will be happy with what you end up with.:thumbup:

Joe

 

[92GTA]

I thought I would bring my old thread back from the dead :grin:

The weather is just about perfect now to finally start the project, I had to move last year so I postponed the project.

I just bought from Formby's paint remover wash from Walmart and I'll be taking apart the table and stripping everything starting next weekend.

Based on the advice from Joe above I'm still working on exactly what I'm going to buy or mix up for the dying process to get the color I want. Then I'm going to apply with a brush a thick coat of clear epoxy to the entire table as well.

It's going into my dinning room so I want it protected best as possible from wear when done. I plan on a full leather cover and then a 2-piece wood lid over that so it can double as a dinning room table when not in use.

Alex

 

[tjohnson]

I thought I would bring my old thread back from the dead :grin:

The weather is just about perfect now to finally start the project, I had to move last year so I postponed the project.

I just bought from Formby's paint remover wash from Walmart and I'll be taking apart the table and stripping everything starting next weekend.

Based on the advice from Joe above I'm still working on exactly what I'm going to buy or mix up for the dying process to get the color I want. Then I'm going to apply with a brush a thick coat of clear epoxy to the entire table as well.

It's going into my dinning room so I want it protected best as possible from wear when done. I plan on a full leather cover and then a 2-piece wood lid over that so it can double as a dinning room table when not in use.

Alex

Looks like a great project! One bit of advice: Buy a few small pieces of lumber that match the raw lumber of your table. Try out your various finish combinations on these scraps first and you'll be able to see what looks best. Do all the steps from stain to top coat on each piece.

 

[92GTA]

Looks like a great project! One bit of advice: Buy a few small pieces of lumber that match the raw lumber of your table. Try out your various finish combinations on these scraps first and you'll be able to see what looks best. Do all the steps from stain to top coat on each piece.

For sure! I actually plan on using the inside of the side panels :thumbup:

 

[speedi]

stain mix & match

I am a furniture maker and have done a lot of mixing of stains to get a particular color/effect on various woods. Did you know that Varathane makes small sample packets of all of their stains?
Each packet is about the size of a ketchup packet that you get with french fries and they cost about $1.50 each. So, you can buy 10 or 15 packets of their stains and mix and match to your hearts content until you get the color you're looking for. One word of caution!! Mix all the stains in a good natural light. Not flourescent, or artificial light of any kind. Good old sunlight and plenty of it. It will give you the true color. Varathane makes a wide variety of colors and they are high quality, too. Why other mfgrs. don't make the sample packets, I have no idea. I guess they want to sell you 10 or 15 cans of $12.00 stain.

Anyway, I hope this helps and best of luck with your project.

Speedi

For sure! I actually plan on using the inside of the side panels :thumbup: