Oak? Table Refinishing

[Skeety]

Hi All,

Picked this table up last night after buying it at auction.

Overall it's in good condition with a few knocks and dings and a few pen impressions on the top from kids etc. I bought it expecting to refinish it anyway.

Pretty know what i'm going to do which is sand from 80-320 then finish with Fiddes hard wax oil.

The current finish i'm not sure of but guessing some type of sprayed PU\Varnish. It's solid so have plenty of time to sand it off and wood thinkness to play with.

The question i have is around the edges, the end grain is along the long edge and what to do there as i'm sure the finish will have penetrated it and how to deal with it.

I have an idea (feel free to laugh) to put the center section in, marking the orientation. Carefully align it then take 2-3mm off all 4 sides with the plunge saw and then use my router to put a small roundover back on once sanded? There is easily 150mm overhang and the construction tells me that there shouldn't be any metal in there.

Is this a reasonable approach? Or is there a better way?

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Personal view - I would sand the sides heavily and finish as suggested on a small test part. You can then assess whether the end result is acceptable before completing the rest. This is low risk.

Plunge saw and router is more "invasive" on end grain - it may leave you a decent finish, but could equally make a complete mess and leave you with a rather bigger job than planned for.

 

[Skeety]

Thanks

Will try that, seems a less invasive approach!

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[Reffc]

I regularly finish edge grain by fine sanding and sealing using fine finishing oils. There's no problem. I've used Fiddes and Osmo Poly-X extensively but these days favour pretty much for most work Liberon fine finishing oil and just build coats as thick as needed for durability.

 

[Skeety]

Hi All,

Bit of an update, started on the extension part of the table to see what I was up against. Started off with 80G on my DeWalt RO which skated over the finish (some sort of hard varnish or laquer) switched to 40G which started to shift it but used 3 genuine sanding discs just to do the top surface of the extension part. Haven't used the sander for a while and the white knuckle\fizzy arm was not pleasant, nor was the noise. Very quickly put ear defenders on over plugs.

Long story short, new Festool ES-ETS 125 with a selection of Rubin 2 and Granat for the finish. This was a huge comfort\performance, the granat p60 did a great job or removing the finish with a few passes then switched to Rubin and sanded most parts to P120 to remove the light damage to the surface. Forgot to buy and P150 so whilst waiting for them started on the edges which i hadn't been looking forward to. With the edge sanding attachment the Granat made light work of this so now almost all edges are done.

A couple of the rollers that help the ends as they open are no longer rollers as they are bent. No idea where to get them so will probably design some and 3D print them.

At the moment with how the wood (Oak) is coming out at P120 i'm happy with it but only plan to go to P150 now before a clean\tack cloth and applying finish.

Is this too far\not far enough? Anything else i should do before the final sand\finish?

Thanks for the advice so far.

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[COWS]

My first thought before you suggested was take 2mm off each edge but looks like you've found a solution so good.

Have you 'raised' the grain between grits? It may seem really smooth after 150 but if you've not raised the grain, it will when you apply your finish. I'd take to 180 too.

 

[Skeety]

My first thought before you suggested was take 2mm off each edge but looks like you've found a solution so good.

Have you 'raised' the grain between grits? It may seem really smooth after 150 but if you've not raised the grain, it will when you apply your finish. I'd take to 180 too.

Thanks, 150 then 180 it is

I haven't raised the grain, had heard of it but never done it. went and got a spray bottle yesterday, watched a couple of YouTube videos on it.

Roughly how long to do need to let it dry? Thinking today will be ideal as it's windy to assist. My workshop is currently my back garden

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

Nice looking table, fairly unusual to have the staves running across the width of the table rather than length.
If all of the wood is at the same thickness, a good find. Do you mind telling us what it cost (including auction fees?)

 

[Skeety]

Hi,

Yes, all the same thickness (25mm) The table also came with 4 matching chairs.

Other half is recovering the chairs with the fabric below.

All in I paid £55 for the table and chairs. Fabric was £15.

Even with the purchase of the ES-ETS included it will still be a cheap table. The guy i bought it off paid £2k about 7 years ago.

 

[COWS]

Roughly how long to do need to let it dry?

Normally takes about 15-20mins in my workshop. Outside on a sunny day would be less that that.

 

[Skeety]

Normally takes about 15-20mins in my workshop. Outside on a sunny day would be less that that.

Thanks,

Didn't take that long yesterday, brought the bits back inside as it was raining. One thing of note is that raising the grain made a noticeable difference to the previously "smooth" surface. Could feel the microfibre cloth picking up on it. Described to to my other half as like stroking a cat, it feels very smooth. Apply water then stroke the cat backwards. It's not smooth.

So todays plan post raising the grain is resand at 120, 150, raise grain, sand with 150, 180, raise grain, resand with 180. wipe over with white spirit, once dry tack rag wipe over then apply Rustins hard wax oil.

Fingers crossed.

Many thanks for all the advice, it's really appreciated.

Cheers,

Jon.