Large wooden table top finish question ?

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
At work there is a large wood table top in the break room - the table was made with multiple kinds of wood cut and laminated together in a star pattern - the finish that was there is totally worn off - They asked me if I would be willing to refinish it - I have not decided on the project yet - Because this table gets so much use and wear I was wondering what would be a good finish to maintain and thought I would ask on here for some ideas
Random orbital sander up to 400 and then hand sand some before the finish ? any thoughts ......thanks Dan
 
i would sand up to 220 and then seal with dewaxed shellac, to avoid any silcon problems that maybe there. then use a hand applied wipe on like glenn uses or spray it with precat lacquer.. bothe will give you a good wear surface.. but to me sanding to 400 is way over kill..
 
For heavy wear resistance, I'd sand it to 220, like Larry said, then apply multiple coats of Behlen's Rock Hard Tabletop Finish, sanding with 320 between coats.

It ain't the easiest finish to work with, but the results are worthwhile. I did our dining room table with it about sixteen years ago, and it still looks like new.
 
I agree that sanding to 400 would be over kill if a film finish is going on it - yes i see your point.....220 would be good.......I will look into both finishes and thank you for the advice
 
I have a bias towards water based finishes. If you are going to sand the old finish off, to the bare wood, I would stop at 150 or 220. I would then use Target EM1000 sanding sealer (does a good job of popping the color and grain, as well as giving a very smooth base for a finish). Most of the sanding sealer should be sanded off, using 220 or finer. I would then use EM8000cv which is a clear conversion varnish - a harder finish than lacquer.

The good news is that the 8000 is very easy to spray. The bad news is that, as a varnish rather than a lacquer, the final coat has to be full thickness - no burn in.

With the sanding sealer mostly sanded off (don't build thickness, but coat and sand until the surface is perfectly smooth), and perhaps two coats of EM8000 you will have a very excellent looking finish - no plastic appearance. But if you want a thicker wear layer because of heavy use, you could use 3-4 or more coats of the conversion varnish.

A second formula, that I used on a counter in an auto repair shop, would be EM1000 sealer, EM6000 lacquer (because of ease of use), then a final coat or two of EM9300 polycarbonate top coat. After a few years of customers sliding their keys across the counter, it still shows no wear.
 
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