I want to refinish my kitchen table that I just received second hand. It is a 2″ thick x 5′-0″ diameter maple butcher block. I tried sanding it down with 120 grit, and my sandpaper just gummed up. So I put on a coat of citrus gel paint stripper. I let it soak in for 5 hours. Afterwards I scraped it off and cleaned the surface with a odorless mineral spirits and then let it evaporate overnight. The next day I tried to sand it again and the same thing happened. I decided to try a more aggressive sandpaper and used a 36 grit on my belt sander. Same results, it just gummed up. Now the table has blotches and it’s all gummed up and looks terrible. When I questioned the previous owner, they told me they have been rubbing it down using baby oil for the past three years! I’d hate to think it’s a lost cause.
JGreen
Edited 12/10/2008 6:45 pm ET by jeffreyg582
Replies
Jeffrey,
Thank you for the post.
I am forwarding your question to Gary Rogowski.
Sincerely,
Gerald
Hi,
Boy it sounds messy. I'd try scraping off all the finish or old surface you can. Sanding I fear is only heating up the crud that's on there and gumming up your paper. If you can scrape, you'll eliminate the heating issue. Clean up the surface as well as you can with a scraper, do some light hand sanding to smooth things, and then oil the butcher block with an oil. I would go with a tung oil base product. This should "re-stain" the wood so that it's all one uniform color. Try it first though on the underside of the butcher block.
If this doesn't blend the color back, then I'd try a linseed oil base. Stay away from a non-drying oil like baby oil. Let the oil dry for a week or so and then topcoat the butcher block with shellac or a water based polyurethane. This should seal in the oils and give it the protection it needs. Good luck.
Gary Rogowski
http://www.northwestwoodworking.com
Thanks Gary!
I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. I'll give it a try.
Jeff Green
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