Shopsmith Forums

Well to strip the old finish off I used MEK and a light steel wool and let me tell you something it took forever but was worth it cause when I started rubbing with the steel wool everything came up and I simply wiped off the lifted stain and poly with a towel. And all the detail of the legs stayed.

I then used 220 sandpaper to get the large marks out and finally went over the whole table with 000 steel wool to get rid of the sanding marks.

The stain I picked was Old Maple and to get the shade the wife wanted I applied 4 coats. 24 hours between coats and I let the stain sit on the wood for 20 minutes each time before removing and letting it dry.

Then finally I used a Clear Satin Poly and put 3 coats on. with 3 days dry time between coats. When I had it all done I buffed the table top with Johnsons Paste Wax.

Outstanding job on the table. It looks fantastic. MEK. That is my initials. I have not tried it. It has been quite a while since I have stripped finish off furniture. I think my luck might be about to run out though. I have used a heat gun a little. It is teadious but it often does not distort the stain too bad.

Mark

Be careful with the heat gun around MEK (flash point is 30 degrees F).

Gary

sambofl - Terrific Job of not only removing the old - but applying the new finish! I'll bet your wife is as happy as you should be proud. Thanks for reporting your chosen method(s).

Right.

Heat and the fumes from most refinishing chemicals (stirppers in particualar) can be quite hazardous to breath. I do not use any chemicals before I am done with the heat gun. Then I try to get away with only denatured alchol. The idea of the heat gun is to avoid chemical strippers.

Thanks for the compliments. I am very proud of the way it turned uot and so is the wife. Now she wants the chairs and the China Hutch to match so it looks as if I have become the restore guy instead of the build your own stuff guy. But I will knock out the chairs first and then tackle the Hutch but this time I will get before and after pictures.