Refinishing an old desk?

[Mike Phillips]

Refinishing an old desk?


I recently acquired my old desk from work after remodeling took place. It's really big, solid as concrete and in dire need of refinishing. I really like this desk because it old, it came from Meguiar's and it's huge! Plenty of room for printers, products, monitors, etc.

I'm not much of a wood person, as in refinishing furniture but I would like to do something to this before I move it into my home office. I don't want to spend a lot of time or money, but I do want to do something good for the desk. I'm thinking of sanding it down and then staining it?

I would love to hear some other ideas or recommendations from any of our members that do fancy themselves to be knowledgeable and experienced with refinishing wood.

Thanks!


It's on end in this picture but I think it's standing about 7' tall.



Here's a close up of a stained area from something that was leaking out of a jug?

[Superior Shine]

Get Berry Meguiar to sign it and put it on Ebay!!


Actually refinishing wood is very popular. You local homedepot will have tons of products to help you achieve your goals.

Lets see a pic of the drawers and/or any fancy trim on it or other wood work already on it.

[MB///HRV]

Re: Refinishing an old desk?

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Here's a close up of a stained area from something that was leaking out of a jug?

OK who put the Wheel Brightener on your desk?

On a serious note, don't forget to "Evaluate the surface", Most office desks are a veneer so be careful if any sanding will be involved. You also may want to bring these photo's in with you to a local paint store ie Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore, at least in my neck of the woods they tend to have more experience and better advice than the folks at HD or Lowes.

[Wayfarerwalk]

Mike, you do the 5 step method

1. Lightly sand
2. Use a stripper
3. Clean
4. stain
5. Poly

I give the piece a light sanding and then use a stripper, something like Formby's (sp?). I let the stripper do the work. Don't rush it, let it sit and do it's work. I then clean it with mineral spirits and lightly sand again. Depending on how far you want to go with it, you may have to reapply the stripper. Depending on how deep they are that should take out the ring stains shown in your picture and even out the finish where it looks like the finish was removed by a spill.

When I stain I use an old t-shirt instead of a brush. No reason I just have better luck that way. I like a lighter stain, so I use the shade called "fruit wood" It seems to blend in with the different shades in the wood grain. Apply however many coats until you're satisfied with a light sanding in between.

On the Poly, if you want it. Find a self leveling poly, you apply it, with one of those foam brushes and let it sit. again you lightly sand and reapply until you're satisfied. You can find a stain that has a top coat in it. Kinda like a polish/wax combo. Those are nice and they take this poly step out so you save time.

Tools needed:
A scraper (I use a plastic puddy knife) and a brush to use with the stripper
Oil Rag (Can't remember what it's called) to wipe down the desk before finishing. The oil attracts the dust, like using QT and MF.
Rag/Brush for the staining and polying
Sand Paper and sander if you have one. You'll need it with a 7ft desk.

I know this is as clear as mud but I hope it helps. I know I forgot something but I'm sure someone will fill in the blanks.

[Murr1525]

Perhaps you can use the Meguiars wood care products in some way to show us how they work.

[Jbirk]

Here is what I would do.

1. Find a website specialzing in wood and visit a forum. Honestly, if you go to a Lows, you will get the same quality advice you would get going to AutoZone and asking how to detail a car.


Another option is to use something like Google to see how other people do this process.

Here is what I am thinking. Forget the strippers and all those chemicals. Instead, just sand it.* you will want to dry sand this time, Mike. I know that may be different for you.

* The only way to remove a defect in the Wood's finish is to remove some wood You will need to remove enough to get you to below the problem area.

For something like that, I would use a belt sander. Think of this as your rotary. You could also use a random orbit, but the belt sander will be easier to control. Perhaps 120 to 200 grit something that will serriously take off the problem area fast.

Now, switch to something like an ocilating or vibrating sander that does not remove much wood. Think of this as your G-100 and you will use something like 200 or 400 Grit paper.

Now, keep sanding and sanding until you get it as smooth as you can. If you aren't happy, throw on some 600, 800, 1000 grit. You get the idea.

Maybe Wet Sand with 2000 grit to get a glass like finish



Now, you have essentially, washed, clayed, and cleaned. You will now want to polish to bring out the natural luster.

I would go get a polishing oil for wood such as Danis Oil Medium Walnut for Oak. Essentially, whatever you get it is just an oil that you rub in with a rag. You can apply as many coats as needed. You can get a light to a dark oil depending on what you want. You might actually think of this as the paint or rather stain.

When you are finally done, get some varnish or a clear acrillic or wood resin, poly... Get something that is clear and tough. Something that you can put a glass on and get water on without having to worry about the stain.

Apply many coats of this clear varish material Make it thick! Think of this like your Clear Coat.


After it is all done, there is no reason you can't machine buff the top of this table with something for very soft surfaces. You can probably find something for tables, or judge for yourself and buff with something for cars. The G-100 should work wonders.

You can get this to where you can see your reflection in the wood.

Your very last step is to Wax the table with a table wax. Yup, there is carnuba wax for tables. I will let you figure out the waxing as it should be similar to a car. Just put down several coats of wax for protection.


Final

It should stand up to a glass with ice water sitting on it overnight... and water should bead up without damaging the finish.

Good news is if you do damage it, you should be able to buff out the damaged area easily and safely since you have many coats of varnish. Just think of it as an extra thick clear coat allowing you to buff anything out of it without worry of going thorough.


Post the pictures when you are done, please

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Jbirk
Here is what I would do.

1. Find a website specializing in wood and visit a forum. Honestly, if you go to a Lows, you will get the same quality advice you would get going to Autozone and asking how to detail a car.

I thought about that but because we have such a diverse group of people that make up our community I thought I would take advantage of both our membership and our Break Room forum which is specifically designed for off-topic subjects.

I think the table may have had lacquer on it at one time, but if it did, it's mostly gone in the major touch-points. Also, this is an old desk, that hunk of wood that makes up the top portion is solid, just one of the reasons I wanted to keep it, plus I like old stuff, need I say more...

[Superior Shine]

need I say more...

no, but lets see some pics of the front of it!!!!!!!!!!!

[the other pc]

Hey Mike,

There are a number of good woodworking suppliers in OC and, as it turns out, one of them is on your way home from the office, right off the 55 freeway.

Rockler Woodworking is at 1955 N Tustin, Orange, CA 92865 (between Katella and Lincoln, on the east side of the street). They have an excellent selection of finishing products.

I have some good books and magazine articles on wood finishing if you’d like to borrow them.

Just looking at the pic I think the surface would clean up OK with a DA sander.


PC.

[Ranger72]

Mike my current day job, while I save for a detail shop, for the last 5 years is beinga home paint contractor which includes sanding/ staining/ finishing and sometimes refinishing wood. There are some products out there that can restor it somewhat with out haveing to sand to bare wood. However, I would instead sand down to fresh wood and start fresh. I'm sure you have acces to a D/A sander for the flat expances. Start with 100-120 grit (depends how hard the finish and wood are, you just have to see what works best) After your done to bare wood, follow that with some 220 grit on a palm sander (the oscilations are mutch mutch tigther with one of these) If you still see pig tails being formed, then the wood is really soft and you need to jump to an even finer paper. The same papers are to be used by hand for the areas the sanders can't reach. Also I believe blacn and decker makes this sander called the mouse that has a small triangular head that fits in tight places. just a thought. Now that you have blonde fresh would everywhere you need to restain it the color of your choice. I recomend Minwax stains. To do this you have a couple of options, it just depends which your more comfortable with. First latex gloves are a must! and a couple of pairs because stain will slowly eat the gloves making them stretch. First method is to have two rags (T-shirt style cotton, not terry lol) one rag to apply the stain for 100% coverage and the other to remove all the excess stain. Your other option is to use a china bristle (or even any old nylone brush) brush to apply the stain then use a rag to remove it. YOu can do a fairly large area at once, just don't nuts LOL. Now that its stained you need to "lay down your clear" haha lol. For this I recomend two different polly urethanes, latex or oil. I have latley found that the new latex's have come along way and hold up really well! I use latex 99% of the time. It drys so fast you can get as many coats in one day as needed and it alos doesnt yellow like oil. I don't know if Benjamin Moore is popular out west or if Sherwin Williams is more prevalent. I have used both companys products and will tell you B.M is a better company/ product. Ther are other brands I think Mckluskys (sp) has a latex as well. Mike do yourself a favour and use latex polly, it so much easier to use! Get yoru self a nice 2 1/2" angled nylon brush and latex polly of your choice of sheen (flat, satin,semi-gloss, high gloss) and lay down a nice wet coat all over the desk, keep your strokes going generally with the grain. Let that dry, (doesnt take long, maybe an hour) then add another coat and let dry. Now after that is dry scuff everything (with the grain) with soem 220 by hand just to knock the highs down, you will be able to feel what I mean. after that wipedown the desk with a DRY rag and maybe some compressed air. A tack rag would work nice. Add another coat of polly, let dry and see if it 100% smoothe. If not you may have to do another light 220 but mro than likely you wont and it will just need a fouth coat. Well thats your basic information, just post if I was vague on anything (its 2:41 am eastern lol) Oh yeah, to clean a stain brush you will need paint thinnger (mineral spirits) and for the latex polly soapd water.

[rusty bumper]

I wished I could help you here, but it was a long time ago since I took woodworking class in high school.

But I liked what Murr1525 said about using a Meguiar's wood product on it (After it's restored of course).

Meguiar's red furniture oil (Natural Finish Furniture Preserver) would look good on it.

Edit: Now's a good time to try using a G-100 on it, as Porter Cable made it for the purpose of sanding wood anyway.

[RLdetail]

I too would sand it completely. Start with 120-150 and work up to a 320 as a final step if needed. I have never found a reason to use finer than 320 on any wood but I'm sure that there are soft woods that need it.

If your happy with that "color" of the wood then just use a poly on it as it appears that it was just a varnish that was on it. Or get creative and pick a stain color and stain it first then poly.

I believe that Minwax makes a stain/poly mixture that goes on in one step.

Rockler is a top notch place to go for products or advice!
They have tons of stuff and have been helpful in the past for me.

[the other pc]

Originally posted by Ranger72
... First latex gloves are a must! and a couple of pairs because stain will slowly eat the gloves making them stretch...

You might want to try nitrile gloves. They have much better resistance to most chemicals.

They're not sold everywhere but they're getting more common because they're also absolutely safe for people with latex allergies.


PC.

[Ranger72]

Originally posted by RLdetail
I believe that Minwax makes a stain/poly mixture that goes on in one step.

I have tried this stuff, the only time we use it is to match a new door to old existing doors which have yellowed because of the oil polly.
the other pc, thanks for the heads up! The stain is all the quick at eating the gloves, and I also don't get that much on them because well I have done it alot. But someone starting out might get them more soaked and cause the latex to fail more quickly.

[jfelbab]

I recently restored two of these types of desks circa 1938. Both were solid mahogany. They had about a quarter inch of varnish and paint on them. I used a gel stripper to remove the old material. Brass and stiff nylon bristle brushes come in handy to get in the corners and crevices. Don't overdo the remover as it can harm the glued joints. After you have things clean check these joints. It may be necessary to re-glue or otherwise strengthen some joints. Adequate ventilation is mandatory. After stripping I went through a few sanding stages to smooth the surface. Wet the surface and let it dry and re sand. I suggest you get a couple very good tack rags to remove all dust. Staining and finishing is like painting a car. Dust is your enemy. I put a final coat of urethane varnish on each and they look fantastic. Apply this varnish with as little brushing as possible as brushing a lot will introduce air bubbles. They are both in use in my office today and are great computer desks. They are certainly heavy though.