Questions tagged [refinishing]
Techniques, tools, products and safety related to removing finish from a piece and reapplying a new finish.
96
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Removal of hardware from drawer front
I am refinishing a bedside table that my late husband made many years ago. I have just realized that when he assembled the drawer he attached the hardware to the front plate with screws and then he ...
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1
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Can veneer be patched or do you have to peel it off and start over?
When trying to refinish a piece of furniture, a lot of older pieces had/have veneer and more often than not (in my experience) the veneer is damaged and chipping around the edges.
Is there a good way ...
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9
votes
4
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Recycling "pre-loved" lumber -- techniques?
(This may be multiple related questions; assistance in breaking it up would be welcome if so.)
Many woodworkers have learned that a surprising amount of lumber, including some surprisingly good/...
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3
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Removing existing stain from intricate woodwork?
I have a coffee table that has a lot of decorative work along the outside, such as flowers/leaves and rosettes that are part of the original woodwork (i.e., not created and fastened on after the fact)....
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How to find out what kind of finish is on a piece of furniture
I have several old pieces of furniture that have issues with the existing finish. I would like to do a gentle restoration of these pieces while maintaining the original look. I am not sure if the ...
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Curved wood pealing away from table edge
I've recently acquired an old oak table from my parents. I'm going to refinish it, but I have a problem to deal with first. I doubt I can describe it better than the pictures, so without further adieu....
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What is causing this poor refinishing result and how do I fix it?
I followed the procedure of stripping, sanding, staining and then polyurethaning the top of two antique, about 75 years, dressers. The one came out beautifully. The other has questionable results.
...
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Letting the under-paint show through
I have an old painted wooden bench that I want to refinish. The existing paint, dark blue with some toll-work flowers, is firmly on (no chipping or flaking) but faded and rubbed through in many places....
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Should I attempt to stain to all of the trim in a room (floor to ceiling)?
I have a dining room with some nice oak wainscoting, ceiling trim and faux beams.
There are also four windows, and two doors. All with trim.
I have stripped off all of the paint applied by prior ...
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6
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Remove white paint from old wood fence
I used some reclaimed wood from a ~12 year old fence to build the top of a farm table.
The paint on the fence is white, faded, and powdery. If you pick up a board it dusts up your hands a lot.
What ...
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Polyurethane Book Case is Rough, Sand in Place?
There is a book case in my parents' house that me and my father built about 6 years ago. It was built to fit around a dresser and mirror. It's a log house so everything is "rustic". We had to build it ...
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How to re-finish solid oak cabinets?
I have solid oak kitchen/bath cabinets, build in 1990s, which are generally in a good shape but the finish is not so much. They are covered with some kind of a satin clear finish, applied very thinly, ...
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My contractor sanded our plywood seating... Is there any way to fix the finish?
Just like the title says... any way to make this look less bad?
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Do I need to worry about incidental contact between a finish and its thinner / solvent once it's cured?
This is probably most applicable for water-based finishes, but I suppose it could be generalized to all finishes.
Once a finish has dried / cured, do I need to worry about incidental contact between ...
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Is shellac really a "universal binder"?
I recall reading that shellac is supposed to be a "universal" binder which can be used as an intermediate layer between otherwise incompatible layers of finish.
Say, for instance, you are refinishing ...
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Can I remove existing wood finishes using a jointer or planer without damaging the cutting knives?
From time to time I get hold of a piece of a salvaged wood stock that has been previously finished. If it is a good species, I would like to reuse it, but have always been concerned about removing ...
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Is this a good approach to fixing damaged mdf holes along the edge?
Please note that I tried to break this question up into three relevant sections, separated by the large headers
Here's what happened to the cabinet
I was moving an empty wood file cabinet down some ...
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Refinishing teak patio table
A couple of years ago, we purchased a beautiful teak outdoor table. I sealed it with Semco sealer (recommended by the store for teak) a month after we bought it. To protect our investment, we also had ...
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How to remove finish on T&G solid wood pine paneling on walls?
So, we LOVE our country cedar home, with pine walls EVERYWHERE. I've painted over them in the kids rooms and it looks great! But I don't want it to come to that in the main rooms. The stain is ...
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1
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What type of hinge is this?
I have a hinge and I'm having a bear of a time replacing it. It's from an old Bakers box and it's the cabinet/tray hinge and has a peculiar shape. It hangs down a bit so the door is actually lower ...
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How to find replacement body paint for Record #07 handplane
Question
I'm restoring a Record #07 hand plane (see Images section below). I
plan to use electrolysis to clean the rust out of the nooks and
crannies, and I suspect doing so might also attack the ...
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3
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How to re-seal a kitchen chair seat
Long story short here of several rookie mistakes that have led me to this question...I have a couple of kitchen chairs that I refinished recently. I chalk-painted everything but the seats, and left ...
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Can I spray Minwax water based polyurethane clear satin?
I sprayed a water based polyurethane (Minwax) on a lot of cabinets, but it was about 15 years ago. It was relatively noxious, but it sprayed great out of my inexpensive HVLP gun and compressor. I'm ...
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Problem with "Bubbles" in Table Finish
I'm in the final stages of trying to build my first dining room table - a Christmas gift for my wife. All has gone pretty well until this last coat of Arm-R-Seal (Satin). It's the 5th coat, and now, ...
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362
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dylon material dyed wood and watco oil and wax finish on oak
I have stripped down a 60s oak dinning table and chairs with paint stripper, then washed with TPS as per paint remover instructions. I then dyed the wood with Dylon material dye "deep blue".
The ...
3
votes
2
answers
408
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Good methods for scuffing/sanding ready-built furniture with contours for repainting
FYI - I am in the UK
I am wanting to do a few upcycling jobs on pieces of furniture that have some interesting compound curves and details (think of beaded panel doors etc). My goal is to paint them a ...
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2
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115
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What glaze or surface treatment to repair this bar?
I have a bar that has a corner that was damaged in a move:
It seems as if the wood underneath the finish is MDF. But, how do I identify what the finish is that was used here, so that I can identify ...
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1
answer
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How to get writing out of a soft wood desk top
I recently purchased a beautiful office desk made from a soft wood. Before I could set up proper safeguards, my son laid down a piece of paper and went to writing -- and pressed all of his words into ...
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Advice for retouching old oak/maple furniture at home [finish losses]
I am reframing a question from before as my requirements have changed.
I have found a great old oak table and chair set which the neighbours wanted to get rid off. The table has a manufacturer label ...
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How to remove a heavy wire-brushed finish?
I bought a (solid) 32x70in white oak dining table that has a pretty heavily wire-brushed finish, something like:
The crevices extend over 1mm below the surface.
It's really quite impractical as food/...
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Why won't stripper remove the finish on this bamboo desktop (from Fully/Jarvis company)?
I bought a Jarvis/Fully bamboo desktop and am trying to darken the finish. To do this, I first want to remove the existing finish. But I am having issues with doing so.
Note: pictures are at the ...
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2
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Remove old oil stains from oak table before refinishing
I've bought an oak table to give it a second life as our dining table, our plan is to refinish it with (hardwax) oil.
It was quite stained and originally treated with some kind of oil. So my ...
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Salvaging Failed Spar Varnish/Danish Oil Finishing Layers on Redwood Live-Edge Slab
This question is a follow-up/continuation to another SO question of mine with added detail and hopefully a better explanation of my approach and current state of the board. The state of the wood slab ...
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1
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Applied wood conditioner for water based stain in error
I am refinishing a cedar chest. I took it down to the bare wood and applied water based wood conditioner. I was almost ready to stain but luckily I realized the stain I was about to apply is oil based....
3
votes
1
answer
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Grain filler to reduce milky/ white-ish appearance on poplar burl
I have recently acquired a guitar and ended up sanding though the clear coat of it, as described in this question. Now I am trying to find the best way to refinish the body.
In the picture below we ...
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3
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2
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How to freshen wooden box
I have an old Chess set which has been in storage in what would appear to be less than ideal conditions. (Photo taken with flash.)
One half of the box (on one side only, ie the half that is not shown ...
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1
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Refurbishing Posts & Beams in a Modern 1954 House
I'm trying to refurbish the posts and beams in my house. They're quite beat up in some spots and have water damage streaks in the existing finish(es) in others, so I've decided to strip the existing ...
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3
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195
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Help IDing what the type of wood finish this is
The project is to renew these handrails, but I found it hard to figure out which type of finish this is. I sanded a part of wood, tried various finishes:
Interior wood varnishes (all kinds: gloss, ...
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2
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586
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Could there be lead in the finish of a mid-century piano?
I have an old british piano from the 1950s with some kind of varnish/lacquer/shellac finish. I wasn't thinking and sanded it down (which messed it up but that's another story), and now I'm worried I ...
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votes
2
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72
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Overpainting corner hutch
I would like to refinish the inside of a corner hutch. Below are images of the current condition.
Click on image for a larger version of the image.
Click on image for a larger version of the image.
...
2
votes
3
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refinishing soft pine floors
My home has random width knotty pine flooring throughout (even in the bathrooms!) and it is in terrible shape in the kitchen. It is beautiful so I'd like to salvage it rather than replace it but I don'...
2
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1
answer
103
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How to fix failed attempt to remove spot on table?
I built this table out of ash, and finished it with Osmo Polyx hardwax oil, about 2 years ago. Recently a brown stain about 1/2" circle appeared. It looked to be down deep in the wood. The Osmo ...
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1
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Is it possible to smooth over sides of re-finished area?
This will be a very basic question, but I'm not sure I trust Googled results. For example, there is a suggestion that I "feather out" polyurethane finish; my experience tells me that it is ...
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1
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Used paint stripper on interior trim, wood now looks stringy. Is this repairable?
This trim is 60 years old and had at least 6 different layers of paint which resulted in it being difficult to see the delineation between the multiple layers of trim.
I used smart strip. It worked ...
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2
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1
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Proper way to re-oil a wood swim deck?
I’ve had the swim deck pictured below on my boat for a few summers now and the finish is getting pretty faded. I bought some teak oil to re-oil (right term?) it, but I’m unsure if I should just apply ...
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1
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366
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How to refinish artificially textured surface?
I'm having a bureau used as a working place (for writing, working, studying).
Its top has artificially (I suppose) texture finished with lacquer or varnish. It looks OK, but using it as intended (to ...
2
votes
2
answers
79
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Restore to originality
I would like to restore a 1946 lane coffee table to the original. Was the original finish lacquer or shellac?
If no one knows I will go with lacquer over a shellac base.
2
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1
answer
71
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Refinishing - how to deal with streaking caused by a filler used by a previous owner?
I am trying to refinish a fairly ornate architrave around my front door. I think it is probably around 140 years old and made of solid wood, but I reckon it was most recently refinished in the 1960s. ...
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2
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Can you apply wipe-on poly over a varnish?
Can you apply wipe-on poly over a varnished surface without stripping the varnish off? I have kitchen cabinets that were finished with varnish 3 years ago and would like to put a more durable finish ...
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
281
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Prep for refinishing shellacked dining room table
I was gifted with a dining room table whose top is now worn enough that it's probably worth refinishing. Current evidence is that it's finished with shellac, though I need to make sure I'm not just ...
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