New refinish project

Jim Burr

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3,633
Location
Reno, Nv
Back in the "day" I used to help one half of Burl Brothers make furniture...Steve Seigel is my BIL. As payment for a huge slab job on the coast...Granite Construction was hired to remove the trunks!!, They made me a big redwood coffee table; just short of 6' long, 3 huge burl legs...it's a center point for our living room. But over the years...and it has been a few, the top scratched and scuffed. I thought the top would be a fun refinish project. I know Steve shot it with catalyzed lacquer and that's not gonna happen. I have at my disposal a Makita 4x4 pad sander, PC belt sander, and a Mutabo 3" ROS. The finish does have a bit of sheen to it so I'd like to keep that. I do have a 1qt automotive gun, PC pancake compressor. I can do spray or brush/wipe on finish.
Thanks folks...this table is important to me...just because of the history.
Starting point and finish ideas ladies and gentlemen? This is my first refinish job.
 
well jim you need to talk with dave,, catalysed lacquer is the worst thing to strip,, you can over coat it though.. and i wished i knew of your affiliation with burl brothers sooner, i had 4 pieces of their stuff.. now i am down to just a glass topped coffee table.. those pieces were probably touched by you at one time..
 
Couple of pics for a visual...
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Whatever else you do, put that belt sander back on the shelf! It'll gouge out divots in a tabletop quicker'n you can even think about it. Use the ROS, and finish with hand sanding.

The scratches in the existing finish don't look deep. Any chance you could just polish them out with some automotive compound and a buffer?
 
Agree with fine sanding with an ROS until it is smooth.

If you still have sufficient thickness in the finish, increase grits gradually to 800-1200 for semi-gloss. If you want higher gloss, go to 4000 or more, or go to rubbing compounds, which take you to the equivalent of 12000 or more.

If you don't have sufficient finish thickness, I would add Target Coatings (yes, I am biased towards them) EM6000 with is a water based lacquer that has burn in, even to a degree into solvent lacquer. Or if you want an extremely hard finish, I use Target EM9300, which is a polycarbonate finish. My test case was an auto repair shop, where there were no apparent scratches or wear after 3 years of customers sliding keys across the counter every day. After that experience, I started ordering EM9300 by the gallon.
 
Agree with fine sanding with an ROS until it is smooth.

If you still have sufficient thickness in the finish, increase grits gradually to 800-1200 for semi-gloss. If you want higher gloss, go to 4000 or more, or go to rubbing compounds, which take you to the equivalent of 12000 or more.

If you don't have sufficient finish thickness, I would add Target Coatings (yes, I am biased towards them) EM6000 with is a water based lacquer that has burn in, even to a degree into solvent lacquer. Or if you want an extremely hard finish, I use Target EM9300, which is a polycarbonate finish. My test case was an auto repair shop, where there were no apparent scratches or wear after 3 years of customers sliding keys across the counter every day. After that experience, I started ordering EM9300 by the gallon.

Charlie...what if I go to bare wood...thoughts? Don't worry Jim D...I love my belt sander but it was just on the "In the shop" list ;):wave:
 
i think if you got to bare wood your going to regret it with the edges causing you troubles jim..

I agree with Larry.

If you do recoat (without going to bare wood), Charlie's choice of EM6000 is great. I've used it, too, and really like it. Haven't tried the EM9300 (yet), though.
 
If you get to bare wood, you need to get to bare wood over the entire surface.

If it were current finish, I wouldn't worry about a bare spot, since the layers of lacquer would burn together.

Since the old catalyzed lacquer makes burn in hard, you may get a witness line around the old finish, which will show through the new finish. Thus sand the entire surface evenly - all with a base of old lacquer, or all bare wood. The witness line won't show around the edge if you only do the top.
 
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