Replies

1. 
   lonebadger | Dec 07, 2010 04:14pm | #1

   Good Lord

   After reading some of the posts below, I think I might be in over my head.  I can barely understand a word you guys are saying.  My mother refinished this table herself 30 years ago and it seemed fine to me.  I can't imagine she did anything other than sand, stain, and a couple coats of finish.  Please just give me a simple way to finish this table.

2. 
   GretchenTHE FIRST | Dec 07, 2010 04:28pm | #2

   You are FINE. Take a deep breath!!.  With the poly stripped, make absolutely sure you have removed ALL of the stripper with some mineral spirits.  A light sanding never hurts--with the grain.  Wipe the wood down with the mineral spirits and see what the color is then. That is the color you will get with a clear finish like varnish. Maybe that is good enough. If not, then others will have to advise you on staining. I don't do that.

   BUT when you are ready to finish, do it with a non-poly varnish and wipe it on. You will love the ease and the result.

   You might be able to get the color you want by using a Watco finish, and then putting the varnish topcoat.

3. 
   lonebadger | Dec 07, 2010 05:03pm | #3

   Finish?

   Should I use varnish or polyurethane? This is our everyday table.  We eat all our meals at it as well as do homework or congregate around when we have company.  I t gets beat to @@@@ is what i am trying to say.

1. 
   DonStephan | Dec 07, 2010 08:50pm | #4

   Few will agree, but for a table that gets rough treatment you might consider a danish oil finish, perhaps 3 coats on the undercarriage and 4-5 coats on the top.  A film finish likely will chip over time, and chips can be quite difficult to repair.  Danish oil is a much more tactile finish as you can still feel the wood.  Every year a light sanding and quick re-coat and the table looks newly refinished again.  I think a shop made danish oil of equal parts mineral spirits, boiled linseed oil, and P&L 38 varnish gives better results than commercial "Danish Oil" but that's personal preference.  At minimum I'd strongly suggest putting 3 or so coats on a piece of scrap wood and see if you are satisfied with the look and feel of this alternative, before touching the table.

   But first, did you strip the prior finish or simply sand it back.  If the latter, there is likely residual finish that will interfere with any attempt to color and topcoat.

1. 
   lonebadger | Dec 07, 2010 09:11pm | #5

   Strip or Sand

   I actually stripped it using a non toxic product called Citristrip.  I was leary about using this product but it is winter here(Wisconsin) and my wife is ultra-sensitive to smells.  She even complains about this product and I can barely smell it outside the room where I am using it. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked, or at least appears to have worked so far.  After one coat left on for an hour or two, 95 percent of the finish is removed with more stubbon spots needing a recoat for another half hour or so.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 07, 2010 10:05pm | #6

   With a stripped surface it should be possible to get a great looking table.  I surmise that you think the table is too light colored with out adding some color beyond the color that it would be if just wet with mineral spirits.  The temptation is to find a can of stuff that looks about the right color and apply it.  Unfortunately, that approach will give you pretty mediocre results, which is why people haven't actually answered your original question about what color stain to use.  We wouldn't want to recommend a method that would give results that would likely be uneven in color (blotchy) and limited to being only a pretty light shade no matter what the sample in the store looked like.  Maple is very hard and doesn't accept such stain well.

   If you want even color, and particularly if you want a color that is darker than medium light, then you should use a dye.  Dye colors by infusing itself into the wood at a molecular level.  There are no particles of pigment to obscure the grain.  It's small molecules are absorbed evenly in all parts of the wood.  You will, however, have to get dye from either a specialty woodworking store such as Woodcraft or Rockler, or on-line.  For example one good brand is called TransFast and is available on-line at http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com.  Another line of dyes is made by the W.D. Lockwood company.  It is available on-line at http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com  and also under a house label at http://www.woodworker.com  Lockwood makes a very wide range of colors. You can mix the dye powder with distilled water in high concentration to get a dark shade or with low concentration to get a lighter color.

   Dye is easy to apply.  You just flood it on using a sponge as applicator.  Start from the bottom and work up, so any drips and runs only run onto areas already wet with dye so they can be wiped up with no harm done.  By satuating the wood surface with the dye, the concentration you mix up determines how da rk it gets. 

   I agree with Gretchen about using a wipe on varnish.  Considerably more durable than an oil/varnish or Danish oil type finish. Yes it can scratch but so would the wood with a oil/varnish finish.  Chipping off would not be a meaningful risk with a good non-polyurethane varnish. I recommend Waterlox Original/Sealer for all but the lightest colored finishes.  The wipe on method is easy and gives good results.  It does require more coats for really tough results, but each is quick and easy.  We can talk more about the method should you decide to go this way. 

4. 
   lonebadger | Dec 07, 2010 10:56pm | #7

   thank you

   Thank you all for the tips, you have been very helpful.  I will keep you posted on my progress and if I should have any questions, I know who to ask.

1. 
   GretchenTHE FIRST | Dec 08, 2010 12:42pm | #8

   Totally agree with Steve, of course. The Danish Oil will also allow water marks, hence the need for a protective topcoat of varnish.  I (and Steve and others) are partial to a NON poly varnish as Steve has recommended. It gives a much more "In the wood" look than poly.

   But DO wipe the wood with mineral spirits and see what the color is with that test. It can be a true revelation with some woods--they darken dramatically, although maple not so much.

5. 
   lonebadger | Dec 09, 2010 05:43pm | #9

   UPDATE

   Sorry, but the table is actually birch not maple.  I don't think it makes much difference as the two woods are 'fairly' similar.

1. 
   lonebadger | Dec 09, 2010 09:00pm | #10

   All Decided

   I have decided to leave the birch natural and just use the wipe on NON poly varnish.  I'm not completely happy with the look but the desire to have the table the way it was originally intended to be is a deal sealer. Of course I'll be the only one who knows that is the way it looked 50 years ago but oh well.  Now for those dang chairs....

6. 
   lonebadger | Dec 14, 2010 11:03pm | #11

   Varnish Problem

   I have been using the Sherwin Williams standard varnish cut 50/50 with mineral spirits and I keep getting mottling.  Is that the right word?  It is not smooth is what I am trying to say.  I did two coats then sanded with 400 grit.  Two more coats then I noticed the undulations.  I have sanded between the last four coats, with undulations each time, before finally dropping down to 220 and the finish seamed smooth until I added the next coat and it would not go on smoothly.  Looking with the light you could see major undulations.  Any suggestions?

7. 
   lonebadger | Dec 15, 2010 06:28pm | #12

   Got It (I think)

   After doing some surfing, I figured out that they should call it 'Wiping off varnish'.  I was wiping it on as thinly as I could but it was still pretty much equivalent to brushing it on, and of course, it built up thicker in certain places.  Thankfully I started with the apron but now the leaves are looking much better.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 15, 2010 06:54pm | #13

   Howard Acheson has given a good analogy of how to wipe it on.  Think of the bus boy or waitress clearing your table in a restaurant.  They wipe it off with a damp cloth.  It leaves just a minute film not the sort of coating left by a brush.  It does take more coats to achieve the same thickness (about three or four wiped on coats to equal one brushed on coat.) 

1. 
   lonebadger | Dec 16, 2010 01:20am | #14

   They wipe it off with a damp cloth.   

   Damp with what?

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 16, 2010 03:01pm | #15

   Waitresses use a cloth damp with water.  But the wiping with a wiping varnish is with the varnish of course--the analogy is to suggest that it's best not to use the pad as substitute brush, but as a tool to just wipe on thin, just damp, coats of the varnish.