Should I refinish these 2 cherry tables?

[wahoowad]

I have 2 cherry tables that are not high end pieces of furniture, but at least are solid cherry with no particle board and of solid construction. Over time they have developed scratches in the clear coating, some pretty unsightly from cats who jumped and left gouges.

One is a small end table at the end of my couch about 24x28" including 2 drop leaf sections. The other a long, narrow side table about 12"x48". I'm trying to assess the level of effort to refinish myself given I have never refinished any furniture. Part of me thinks it will be easier to refinish rather than trying to me and the wife to go shopping and actually agree on new tables .

I loosely understand the process...buy some finish stripper in a jug and scrubbing pads from Lowes, make a mess stripping it, probably also buy some kind of stripper remover to use with rags afterwards. Then use my orbital sander and hand sanding to remove scratches. Lots of finish sanding, remove sawdust, reapply a stain, topcoat with some kind of clear finish which includes repeated applications and brillo pad rubbing between coats.

Starting to sound like a nightmare already. Only the top surface is scratched, maybe I can get by with just refinishing the surface?

 

[gzecc]

Try an oil like, tung or danish first with 0000 steel wool, before striping.

 

[yooperdave]

Any number of woodworking websites can give a great answer.

 

[Bobbin]

I say go for it. The pieces don't seem to have any great "antique" value and the scratches bother you enough to consider refinishing them. Do a little research about what the clear finish is on them (pretty easy) as this will tell you what sort of stripper to use (you use different chemicals to remove polyurethane, shellac, or lacquer). And I'd prolly sand by hand and as minimally as you must. Go easy on the stripping... if the problem is on the tops, limit your work to the tops!

I've done a lot of "rehab." over the years (learned at Mum's knee!) and enjoy decorative and faux painting, so I regularly pull candidates off the kerb and rework them. It's not hard, at all! just be patient and move carefully. You're right, furniture "quality" is basically in the sewer nowadays... odds are excellent that you would be unable to match your tables' quality without first choking on the price. Good luck!

 

[johneh]

Having done Antique restoration ,furniture refinishing and fine furniture construction for the last 20 years
I won't try to give you a coarse in refinishing . Just buy the cheapest stripper you can use paint scraper ,rags,old toothbrush
and 3 M scrub pads( no soap ) to remove finish Sand with grain, remove dust , stain ( oil or water based )
Wipe excess stain off allow to dry. Use any finish you want just remember to sand between with 0000 steel wool 3 applications
should be enough Note after first application sand to remove all dust particles This is your last chance to do so
Have patients and DO NOT RUSH IT Good lock

 

[drewmo]

Having done Antique restoration ,furniture refinishing and fine furniture construction for the last 20 years
I won't try to give you a coarse in refinishing . Just buy the cheapest stripper you can use paint scraper ,rags,old toothbrush
and 3 M scrub pads( no soap ) to remove finish Sand with grain, remove dust , stain ( oil or water based )
Wipe excess stain off allow to dry. Use any finish you want just remember to sand between with 0000 steel wool 3 applications
should be enough Note after first application sand to remove all dust particles This is your last chance to do so
Have patients and DO NOT RUSH IT Good lock

Couldn't you use an orbital sander to remove the old finish instead of using stripper? What's the benefit to the stripper? To save time?

 

[GENECOP]

Come on nobody in this Forum is going to suggest Burning them?

 

[GENECOP]

Couldn't you use an orbital sander to remove the old finish instead of using stripper? What's the benefit to the stripper? To save time?

The stripper removes finish,,,,the sander removes wood....both approaches work, if the piece has a lot of details and value....strippers are advised...

 

[johneh]

You could use a sander if you are just doing a flat surface It would take additional time and cause
considerably more dust. But if there are mouldings, curves or round legs a stripper is better and faster.
Stripper also helps clean out areas that a sander can not reach It also removes any silicon wax that
may have been used on the furniture. That type of wax will cause fish eye in the new finish if not
removed or you have to use a fish eye remover in the finish which is a pain in the behind.

 

[BrotherBart]

Come on nobody in this Forum is going to suggest Burning them?

I sure thought about it.

 

[semipro]

Sanding may not go well depending on the type of top coat. It may basically melt and clog the sandpaper.
There are a variety of strippers out there. The nastier ones with methylene chloride (if I recall correctly) work faster.
The 'safer' orange ones work but take lots longer in my experience.
I'd try the repair suggested by gzecc first. Some repairs work amazingly well.

 

[jebatty]

Can't help it ... cover the tables with high end cherry finish plastic laminate, won't scratch ever again. Darn, Nature's real wood is kinda crappy.

Real wood, with scratches and scuffs, water stains, etc. has the character and story of time. Some of our heavily scratched and well used solid wood furniture actually gets envious comments from others.

 

[Ehouse]

Can't help it ... cover the tables with high end cherry finish plastic laminate, won't scratch ever again. Darn, Nature's real wood is kinda crappy.

Real wood, with scratches and scuffs, water stains, etc. has the character and story of time. Some of our heavily scratched and well used solid wood furniture actually gets envious comments from others.

I agree. I like patina on wood surfaces, but the raw look of fresh scratches is a turn off. I just rub the area with some stain, preferably a shade darker than the wood. Try some test pieces. Colonial Maple is a medium tone and works great for pine. Cherry is a bit darker and I'd try a Mahogany stain on it.

 

[ironpony]

Can't help it ... cover the tables with high end cherry finish plastic laminate, won't scratch ever again. Darn, Nature's real wood is kinda crappy.

Real wood, with scratches and scuffs, water stains, etc. has the character and story of time. Some of our heavily scratched and well used solid wood furniture actually gets envious comments from others.

I actually did this on a dining room table, it had a small lip that I routed the laminate to. Had to grind a special flush cutter but it came out really nice. You had to look closely to tell where the seam was. Never scratched again and most of what was left visible was real wood. Even did the 2 leaves, so when they were in you would not see the difference.

 

[Dune]

Just say yes Dear and forget the chemicals and elbow grease. She would love new furniture and why would you care what she picks out?
Unless you are retired furniture finishing is not fun.