Advise on how to refinish this table

dashcamdanny

Hi.. I got this table and chairs at a charity shop for 80 euro last week. Weights a ton and is solid and strong.
I thought I might be able to give it another lease of life.

Its soild oak. I plan to reapolster the the seats, but my first task is dealing with the table top.

I have a decent palm sander but no idea on what grits to use. I would also like to leave the color light oak.

But at the moment it is absorbing wetness from cups and dinner. I have small children. So it would need sealed ..

Any advise to give it a quick 2 day turn around.

Just the top. Legs are fine.








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recipio

Good buy for 80 quid. The ideal thing is to strip it back to bare wood and reseal.
A pad sander is OK but will take a while. If you could rise to a random orbital sander it would be more efficient. Start with 80 grit which will strip the old finish , then 120,240 and 320 grit to get a super smooth finish. Vacuum off the dust. I would use three coats of polyurethane applied with a good varnish brush. Ronseal is a good brand and will not look like liquid honey !

dashcamdanny

Thanks. Took your advise.

Varnish is quite difficult. Was think and gloppy. Hard to get on even. But i got 5 coats on and the table should last a long time.

New vinyl on chairs as well. .. Not perfect but I recon if I did everything again, it would be perfect.






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recipio

Well done - looks great. Polyurethane varnishes can vary a lot - the cheaper brands tend to be like thick honey. The whole trick with getting a good finish is to invest in a good brush and look after it for the next job.;)