Restoring a 150 year old table

[sambofl]

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.

[tchwrtr55]

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

[greitz]

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

Gary

[charlese]

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).

[tchwrtr55]

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.

[sambofl]

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.