Linking up with Furniture Feature Friday for the first time at Miss Mustard Seed.
Stripping and refinishing help needed, please!
We were told that our table is solid walnut. (Full history below pictures.)
The table and benches are very solid, but are in great need of refinishing, as you can see from the pictures below.
My husband is interested in taking it apart and using a biscuit joiner to put the top together again tightly. (Thank you Tom Silva from This Old House for the tool tips!)
We have never stripped or refinished anything and would like to do it well. I have a small bookshelf I could practice on if someone could please point me in the right direction!
Thank you so much!
Our table, aka best e-bay purchase ever.
Close-up of the end.
And, the other end.
The history:
We purchased this table, after searching for quite some time, in April of 20007. We were a family of seven at the time and added another son in 2008!
My husband found the table on e-bay by searching for dining tables within a 200 mile radius of our home.
Our table came in just under the mileage wire and we were the only bidders. The table and two benches cost us the minimum bid, a whopping $50!
The owner had it stored in a shed and was in the process of moving. He told us his father had made the table 40 years prior.
My husband and oldest son, nine at the time, took the seats out of our 12-passenger van and loaded it with the help of the owner. (The owner taught my husband how to unlatch the doors on the back of the van so they would fold flat.)
They arrived home late and had to take the hinges off our back door to get it in. It was all the three of could do to get it into our kitchen.
The table is so heavy, that when our second son got up the next morning and tried lifting the end up he asked if it was bolted to the floor.
Thank you for your help!!
Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV)
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Beautiful table! And it looks heavy just from the pictures! Good luck with redoing it. I posted a few refinishing tips if you are interested in checking them out.
http://simplychictreasures.blogspot.ca/2012/08/a-tutorial-on-refinishing-furniture.html
.
Did you want to strip it and restain it? Or paint?
If you want to strip it, 3M has a great stripper called “Safest Stripper.” You can use it right in the house. Just follow the directions. It will take a bit more elbow grease than using normal stripper, but SS has no smell and can be safely used indoors.
If you are going to paint it, don’t strip it at all. You can use milk paint and paint right on top of the current finish.