Hello All
I am helping on a project that has 6000 arm rest at a Convention Center in FLA.
I believe they are all maple, all need to be sanded and refinished.
What would you recommend for the finish?
Some have suggested Rubio Oil but that would take forever with the application suggestions.
It does need to restand quite a bit is use throughout the year.
I appreciate your help.
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Replies
Convention center? Catalyzed lacquer. It might be cheapest to sand and clean them up, then have a professional finishing shop spray them. They have access to more durable finishes than you can do in a home or small pro shop.
I would not want to do 6,000 armrests one at a time. Nope.
Such as this one?
https://www.mlcampbell.com/product/magnamaxh20/
There’s also something called a conversion varnish that is used at a local finishing shop but I don’t know the brand.
6000 chairs to be refinished would seem to need an industrial solution and performed by people that already know the answer to your question!
Are they dissasembled or attached to a chair?
Removed from chair to shop for refinishing-
Sanded down to bare wood in place? Are the chairs upholstered? Is a hazmat team arranged for the clean up before you reopen up to the public?
If not to barewood then lightly cleaned and sanded( scuffed)and i would think the finish should most likely then be whatever they were finished with originally and that information might be available from the manufacturer ---and is the hazmat team in place even for that? Every chair tarped and taped as well as the floor to protect from dust and finish. Are the chairs moveable, like foldable or something, loaded into a couple of 18 wheelers and the work done someplace else?
If the arms are removable are the chairs manufactured perfect enough that they are interchangeable between chairs when you go to reassemble them? .... or do you mark every one, like- row 31 seat 23 left? Is this a $100 or $200 per chair deal ,oh I mean arm, more maybe? Anything less -is this convention center operated by a charity?
Then for sanding, we used 3 tools in sequence, a edge sander for the flats if there are any, an inflatable drum sander for the curves and rounded edges and a flap sander to blend it all. For finishing, you will need racks that hold the parts using their attachement feature and spray varnish them with a fast drying conversion varnish.
Thank You
I'd post this question on WoodWeb. It tends to draw a more 'industrial' woodworking crowd who've actually done projects like this.
That said, something sprayed certainly seems the most likely route. That implies some infrastructure, not somebody's two-car garage.