Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: Woodworking help

This is pretty OT, but I've got a question that someone here might be able to help with.

Some of you might know that I've been building an entertainment center for nigh on a year now. It's almost done, but I really screwed up the finishing part of it, and I need some advice on fixing it.

The project is white oak. I'm using Minwax oil based finish and a separate polyurethane (brush on). I put on 2 coats of finish, and one coat of poly. So far, so good (beautiful, actually). Then I read the instructions on the back of the poly can that said to sand down the poly before applying a second coat. So (here's the stupid part), I got out the orbital sander and some 320 grit sandpaper, and proceeded to sand that mutha. Oops. I seem to have gone through at least one level of stain (and the poly, obviously!) in most areas and left pretty awful scratches on it. I would just resand the whole thing (sigh-that's a lot of work!), but significant parts of it are white oak plywood-which has already been sanded a bit with 180 and 320 grit paper. I don't want to risk taking off all the veneer. I tried just repolying on side of it and it looks horrible. Anyone have any ideas or do I just need to hand sand it very, very carefully?

My current thought is that I'll try to sand off the poly and just restain it.

BTW, this is my first major project, and the first thing I've ever finished.

Thanks, guys!

I've done a bit of refinishing on garage sale furniture (solid cherry night stands, solid maple coffee table and end tables, solid birch bedroom set, etc...) and I've found the best results are to be had by applying the clear coat with a small cloth (not a brush), allowing it to dry completely, then using something like steel wool to buff off any bubbles, and covering it again with clear coat. It won't ever be perfect so once you get it done to where you're satisfied - STOP!
As far as that one spot goes, why not just slap some stain on the exposed part, let dry and re-cover with the clear?

As a last last last resort, you could always paint it.

[ducks]

DIE DIE DIE!

There. You got what you wanted.

Ken, i did something similar to an Ikea dining table about 3 years ago, except without the big booboo. The table came out quite nicely for one of my first major wood finishing projects.
You may hate my answer...but...here's my amateur recommendation: You really should sand down the entire face area that contains the little mistake, restain then re-poly.

If you try to restain just the spot, you might be able to make this patch work but i'm guessing it may come out rather visibly different than the rest of the side.
Note to self for future: i hand sanded the poly between coats LIGHTLY just to remove surface bubbles (micro bubbles at that) just as Bigwill suggests. Think of it like a car polish at this stage. The hand sanding takes longer, but you lessen the chance you will go through the poly coat.
After the first sanding and cleaning, the 2nd poly coat should feel alot more solid and thick. By the third coat, it should be as smooth as Peter's baby's bottom.

Perhaps I was not specific enough. I screwed up the whole darn thing, not just one little spot. This is what happens when you do your work at night in a garage lit by a single bulb-onna-hook.

Got the sanding bit for between the poly coats down, now, I think. 320, by hand, not very much.

On a more serious note, I agree with chess. Sand down as only as much as you need so that whatever remains looks uniform. You don't have to sand all the stain away unless that's what you need to do to make it look good. There should be enough thickness left to accomodate that unless the stain penetrated really deep. Oak is a hard wood so that shouldn't be the case.

BTW, Ken's turning 28 this weekend. Everyone buy him a gift cert!!

The slightest of buffings on that poly. Just enough to take the shine off and give the layer some tooth.

Well in that case Ken, i reiterate:
You really should sand down the entire face area that contains the little [now large] mistake, restain then re-poly.

The poly coats do not take much to sand, you've got that right. Just like car polish, no serious grinding. Kinda like wiping your face with a damp cloth.

Hey, thanks for the plug!

Well, from the sound of the advice so far (keep it comin' if you got it!) I'm not in as deep a yogurt as I thought. Basically, even it out, then restain. I can deal with that.