Refinishing an old desk?

[Mike Phillips]

thanks for all the suggestions so far...

I pretty sure I only want to stain it, I don't want to coat it with any kind of paint or product that's going to create a layer on the wood.

The top is solid as this desk must weigh about 200 lbs or more...

If it was originally finished in lacquer there isn't much left so it will be fast and easy to sand it down to fresh wood.

I think I'll try to tackle this project on Sunday after church and let my son help me, or at least supervise me so I don't make a mistake.

[Ranger72]

Mike, I highly recomend that you put some sort of prtoection on it once its stained! You are never supposed to leave would with just stain on it, the poor of the wood are left exposed and "staining" can and will occur. # coats of latex poly are super easy to apply!

[Jbirk]

I have unprotected wood and it is just fine.

I have a clock and a table that is unprotected. It is simply stained. I do use Pledge at times though.

To be honest I have some staining from a glass that a friend left on it overnight. I have a big ring. The good news is this table is about 2 inches thick, so I will probably just sand the whole thing and re-stain it.

Mike could easily sand and restain.

[Superior Shine]

You are never supposed to leave would with just stain on it,

You know me I never make a mistake so I had to point this out-WOULD-LOL!

Also, 5 years ago we installed brand new kitchen cabinets. TO save money we bought them ubfinished with plans on finishing them ourselves. Fast forward 5 years and they are still unfinished. They are stained (finger prints, food , water...) and don't close right because they dried out some.

I vote for some kind of top coat/protection for Mikes desk.

[the other pc]

Do you know what kind of wood it is?

Without some kind of finish almost all woods are more likely to have problems, cupping, staining, warping, checking, splitting, etc. If the bottom has old finish and the top is stripped bare it will be subject to differential expansion/contraction and much more likely to cup and warp.

Some species with high oil and/or silca content can be stable enough unfinished, Teak, Ironwood, Bubinga, Lignum Vitae, etc but none of the common American furniture woods, Walnut, Maple, Oak, Cherry, etc are typically stable enough.

I would highly encourage some kind of finish, even a simple oil finish.


PC.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by the other pc
I would highly encourage some kind of finish, even a simple oil finish.


PC.

Is that the same thing as an Old English type of product that you apply every few weeks or so?

Meguiars has a nice furniture oil that I like even better than Old English.

[the other pc]

I haven’t used “Old English” oil. I don’t believe it can be used as a stand-alone finish and is meant just for cleaning and beautifying an existing finish. I use Meguiar’s F07 Lemon Oil.

Man, if you think car finishes are confusing check out wood finishes. Even just the “paint-like” varnishes come in a bewildering variety, cellulose lacquers, acrylic lacquers, latexes, solvent based urethanes, water borne urethanes, oil-based alkyds, two-part epoxies, two-part urethanes, UV-cure urethanes, power coats… Sheesh!

Traditional oil finishes can be penetrating oils like boiled linseed oil, tung oil or “Danish” oil that harden after being absorbed into the wood or even just plain old slippery oil. Makers of classic wood cutting boards tell you to wipe the bare untreated surface with mineral oil to preserve it without adding anything you wouldn’t want on your food. Plenty of “old timer” books tell you to dispose of used motor oil by brushing on your siding or fences (I think the EPA frowns on that these days). Of course there’s good old bug based shellac.

Then there are other treatments as well as combinations and permutations of all the above. I have a maple butcher-block workbench that was made for the food service industry. The factory finish is a combination of mineral oil and paraffin wax. (Which reminds me, I need to re-wax it some time, hopefully soon.)


PC.

[rusty bumper]

Whew!........Sounds like a lot to learn!

I remember applying a stain to a wood project that I did in high school years ago, and the wood was stained darker in places than it should have been. The teacher said that was due to a lack of sealer that I didn't apply.

If Mike uses an oil finish/stain, then I guess he would need to use a sealer first?

[Mike Phillips]

I could go for an oil finish after staining?

I was trying to avoid a layer of clear something, so I could put the desk right into use without waiting for the clear something to dry and set-up. My monitor is heavy as is my printer and I didn't want them to leave imprints in the fresh coating, thus the reason I just wanted to sand and stain.

Because this desk is important to me, I could go for applying a coating of something that has to dry and then wait until it completely dries and sets up, at least that way I could polish it down the road...

I'm so not a wood guy... (Ask Lynn, she won't let me build anything )

[BenP]

With that desk, assuming it's solid timber and not veneered, I'd simply sand it back and apply a few coats of Danish oil. I've done this to my kitchen table (it's got 4/5 coats on it) and now water just beads off - I haven't retreated it in about two years.

The other benefits os oil that I like are:

1. It gives a nice satin sheen, not a high gloss look.
2. If you get a mark on the finish that won't wipe off, you can simply sand the effected area and apply more oil.
3. It's really durable.

Simply sand back the surface and remove all the dust, apply a nice thick coat of oil (with a paint brush) and let it soak in for 30-60 minutes, then wipe of the excess and let it dry, unless you want to apply more coats when you can do it straight after you've wiped the previous coat off. I find the best finish comes after about three applications. For a really smooth finish, you can apply the oil with a scratch free scotchbrite pad to further burnish the surface.

Hope this helps (a bit),
Ben.

[Ranger72]

Mike the latex poly is the way to go! Each coat only take 25 or so minutes to dry! you can get all three coats (4 if you would like) in one day. I can give you a play by play for the whole desk project if you would like.

Oil is great, dont get me wrong, one coat= one day to dry. Also oil WILL yellow over time. Noticealbe with in the first 3 months.
The latex is very durable and cleans up with ease.

[the other pc]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
...I remember applying a stain to a wood project that I did in high school years ago, and the wood was stained darker in places than it should have been. The teacher said that was due to a lack of sealer that I didn't apply.

If Mike uses an oil finish/stain, then I guess he would need to use a sealer first?

Traditional wood stains are just like ketchup, wine or blood stains on clothes, they soak into the fibers. If the wood doesn't have perfectly uniform fibers and cells (and no living thing truly does) some will absorb differently than others and you get blotching. End grain always absorbs differently from face grain. Some woods can also have large variations in face grain absorption (Cherry is notorious for this). Like your teacher said, a sealer can be used to combat the effect. Nowadays you can also use "gel" stains that act more like a tinted varnish and don't absorb into the fibers and blotch.

Finish oils like the "Danish Oil" Ben uses aren't stains, they're clear (well, very light amber usually) so they don't blotch. They give you a "natural" look. You don't need a sealer because you want it to absorb into the wood.

I'm a big fan of oil finishes. They're beautiful, they "look like wood should" (to me anyway). They feel great too, the grain is all there at your fingertips. I can't walk past an oiled piece without touching it. Like Ben said, they're easy to maintain. Unfortunately they generally aren't as durable as a "hard" finish.

Picky-$%# side note: if you use .5mm mechanical pencils a lot an oiled desktop (or any finish with exposed grain) can be a pain when trying to write/draw fine lines on paper. The lead tends to follow the grain.


PC.

[papi_Jay]

Strip it , sand it smooth etc etc make sure it's free of chemicals and stain it , then use some type of lock in sealer .
THEN - get a piece of bevled glass cut exact same size as the top maybe 1/2" thick - beveled edges to cover the top and protect it .
Probably about $60

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks everyone for all your help and information, here's where it's at...

Taped-off and sanded with 220 using my G100 (Took all the work out of it). There were some pretty bad stains in one area that I couldn't sand all the way out...





2-Coats of MINWAX Red Mahogany 225






I started out using a paint brush to apply the stain and then switched to an old Ultimate Bonnet which really worked well as I was able to really work the stain into the wood. It's not perfect, but it's about 90% there. After one more coat Lynn will let me bring it into the house.

[Jbirk]

It looks very good.

If you really were unable to sand a stain out, you would just need something more powerful like a planer or your good old fasion rotory.