How easy to strip and re-stain this table?

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

Soldato
Joined
16 Nov 2002
Posts
11,301
Location
The Moon
Hi all, we inherited a pretty big solid wood, extending dining table when we bought our house which is a nice table for the most part however the Mrs wanted a more "country farmhouse" style of table so short of offloading this one and buying a completely new set i was wondering how easy it would be to "upcycle" it.

Here are a few pics (sorry about the quality).

IMG_20150714_164812212.jpg

IMG_20150714_164832410_HDR.jpg

IMG_20150714_164837561.jpg


I'm taking it that it would take a lot of sanding to get back down to a barer wood as we'd like the top to be a bit lighter than that really. Is there anyway to strip out the stain?

We'll probably change the legs too and replace them with newel post type legs and paint them white.
 
An electric sander shouldn't take very long at all. Dismantling it and doing it piece by piece will be the easiest way, then there are no crevices and difficult internal corners to do.

No way I'd try doing it by hand though...
 
If its solid timber then a belt sander would do the job fast, but it would destroy the table if it is veneered.

If it's veneered then I doubt you would be able to sand deep enough to remove the stain and you'll end up with a patchy mess that needs staining again.
 
Skiddley said:
As soon as you mentioned replacing legs...surely just buying a new table would be easier.
Click to expand...

Possibly - the tables we like the look of have been £250-£300+. New legs are probably going to cost about a quarter of that. All depends on if we can find legs are the same size as the ones that are fitted atm. If we can't it's probably a none starter haha.

Amp34 said:
An electric sander shouldn't take very long at all. Dismantling it and doing it piece by piece will be the easiest way, then there are no crevices and difficult internal corners to do.

No way I'd try doing it by hand though...
Click to expand...

Yeh I've got one of those black and decker mice type sanders, not sure if that will be much cop but i'm willing to give it a go.

Mark A said:
If its solid timber then a belt sander would do the job fast, but it would destroy the table if it is veneered.

If it's veneered then I doubt you would be able to sand deep enough to remove the stain and you'll end up with a patchy mess that needs staining again.
Click to expand...

99% sure it is solid wood and not veneered so hopefully shouldnt be too much of an issue.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-...qid=1436991937&sr=8-2&keywords=scraper+blades

Get some blades like this, hold them up right with a little bit of a bend in it and scrape towards you. This will take the wax and oils off without you blocking up the sandpaper immediately. A few scrapes and then sand down. A belt sander would be best but any sander will do in figure of 8's.

I did a chest of drawers the other day with a kitchen knife, saved an hour and lots of those expensive mouse sanding pads.
 
Hmmm I hadnt thought about taking the top coat off, I was just going to go straight in there with the sander haha.

I'll see about getting some scraper blades. Did you just use the blades in your hand or did you use a scraper with them to go in? I do have a scraper somewhere but not sure if I whizzed it when I was throwing away some bits and bobs.

A kitchen knife?! What did you do? Just scrape it all then sand?
 
Hmmm thats interesting. Was it easy or difficult to do it with the knife. I imagine doing a big table is going to be a ballache.

Watched a few videos and they seem to recommend using a paint stripper on it and then sanding it down as one of the final steps rather than going straight in with a sander.
 
Yeh my friend mentioned that who is a joiner but I don't particularly know the best way to go about it. Do I just get some slabs of wood that are the correct size and ask them to make them into spindle type?

Something like this is what i'm after - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261830387288?euid=12bb66d7d5af41da9828bbd90c1c8726&cp=1

But we need 65mm x 65mm so they are a straight swap. Having difficulty finding anything at the moment though. Would I just ring a carpenters to get some custom made?
 
The sideboard was 3ft x 2ft and took about 10 minutes to scrape back then 10 minutes with a palm sander. There's no need for paint stripper unless you want to make a mess.
 
That will be last port of call but if it comes to that I'll probs just buy one that looks like we want as I imagine stripping services aren't cheap!
 
A quick sand using some 80 grit sandpaper left me with this. Looks like it may not be stained and may just be varnished or it may be a stain that hasn't really penetrated. Either way, looks pretty positive that we'll be able to take the top back to bare wood and get it to a lighter colour. Might try giving it a whip over with a black and decker sander that my Dad's got.

IMG_20150716_202151576.jpg


I tried using a scraper I had but it did naff all really so sanding I think may be the best way to go.
Managed to find someone who can supply some replacement legs but farmhouse style for about £40 so could be a decent little project!
 
Last edited:
No haha, was a little scraper that i use with filler!

Luckily my brothers friend has got in touch and said he will sand it back for me for free, turns out he can also make farmhouse style legs so I may just end up getting him to sand it, re-stain it and pop some new legs on!

Will post some more pics up soon if we get it sorted!
 
Family friend nipped round yesterday who is a carpenter to have a look. Turns out the top isn't solid timber but a veneer of some kind but the rest of it is!

He's going to whip a thin layer off the top for us anyway to get rid of the stain (or try) then we can see about restaining it. I've ordered a couple of sachets of Osmo Polyx Tints in the diff colours to see if there is something we can use to bring to a similar walnut'y colour of our worktops.

He will also be able to supply us with some new legs for cost which is good news!

I'll try and post some more pics after its been sanded but its a nice little project which even if it doesn't end up working out all i have lost is £7 on buying the sachets of Polyx Tints so worth a punt whatever way you look at it if I can get it sanded for free!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom