Hello all, I need some advice on refinishing my daughter’s oak kitchen cabinets. They are currently a light honey oak finish and she would like them refinished in a dark finish. Spraying is not an option because the face frame and carcases have to be done onsite. The doors will be removed and done in my shop. My current thinking was to scuff sand with 220 grit sandpaper, apply a coat of Zinsser’s sealcoat, then a dark glaze followed by topcoats of varnish brushed on. However, I am open to any advice on how to properly do this. Thanks in advance for you help. Jim
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
At some point you will need to de grease or wash the existing finish to ensure good adesion .
your schedule to refinish sounds good. Maybe you can do the inside of one door in your shop just to test your steps.
If the glaze doesn't make the cabinets dark enough - then use a more aggressive sanding with a 120 grit - and try a penetrating stain before the seal coat and glaze. Again test it on the door first.
SA
Dark glaze works well when you can apply it so as to get "hang up" in crevases and texture on the surface. But, to get an over all, even darkening, you are using it as a toner and without spraying it is very hard to get an even appearance. I'd want to test the appearance with a very critical eye before you ended up with hand application.
I'd not want to do that by hand enough that I would most likely bite the bullet and strip the finish--as awful a job as that is--so I could get a good even stain job over bare wood. Clear top coat by hand is easy, toner by hand, not so much (for the worst case think Polyshades.)
Before you scuff sand you would need to thoroughly clean the cabinets. First with someting like TSP to remove water soluble dirt, and then get the oily dirt with naphtha using many rags or paper towels so you are wiping dirt off not "around". Sanding first actually makes things worse, driving dirt more deeply into the material.
Why can't you spray on site?
Why can't you spray on site? It's done all the time, lots of masking and plastic sheeting....
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled