refinish table

ken lutes

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98
Location
Winchester Ky.
I have an oak table that has an oil and paste wax finish. It needs to be refinished and a poly finish applied. What method do you suggest. Is there a cleaner that can be applied to get the wax off and out of the grain?
 
......Is there a cleaner that can be applied to get the wax off and out of the grain?

I dont know of any wax removers that might get all of the wax out of the grain. The best method would be to use a commercial stripper with a methylene chloride base. If used properly, it should remove all of the wax. Then give a few washdowns with lacquer thinner keeping the rag soaking in thinner. I dont use poly so I dont know if it is prone to fisheyeing or not. But any wax contamination remaining behind will affect the finish so be thorough.
So, how come the change from oil and wax to poly?
 
Tony is right abouth metholyne chloride. You can get it in s\everal forms but I prefer a striper called Dads easy spray. I buy it from true value. It will strip out all of the wax as well as anything else. You can neutralise it with water when your done. I use a lot of poly in my refinishing business and find they are very forgiving.
 
Stripping

When using stripper. keep several things in mind.
1) Always wear eye protection no mater what. If you dont wear respiratory protection, you will get cancer in 40 years. If you get splashed in the face, you will be blind instantly.
2) Stripper usually works best at about 75* liquid temp which may actually be about 15* lower than the air temp. It will probably boil at slightly over 95* liquid temp. and we dont want that. If the chemical is cold, like around 50* it may not work at all.
3) Let the chemical do most of the work. Wait for it to blister the paint, then just scrape the whole mess off with a plastic scraper which looks like a paint scraper but it is usually a black plastic.
4) For the legs, carvings and grooves etc. it would help if you had a High Pressure washer. Let the paint and stripper blister and blast the sucker off. Watch for splashing - the eye thing again. If you dont have a pressure washer, with gloves on, grab a handful of woodshavings or sawdust and rub this hard into the cracks and carvings and this will pull out most of the old finish. If you dont have either, use a scrubby pad.
5) Get the stripper in paste form rather than a liquid. The paste will stay in place on vertical surfaces until you are ready.
6) Most stripping chemicals will neutralize with water or lacquer thinner so wipe the piece down good when you are done. Let dry overnight and prop the legs on scrap 2 X 4's. They absorb the excess water and dry out. If you put the legs on concrete, they will stay wet for weeks.
 
couple things you can do. If you not set up for using high end chemicals. Don mentioned Dad's spray stripper. Home Depot sells a good stripped in a spray can. After you strip it and broad knife the finish off use a denature aolchol and a purple or green synthic pads to remover the film left over.This will also pull any wax out.
Or you could just use the denature aolchol with the pads to remover the wax. Many time when we are refinishing kitchens and stripping is not reguired that what we will do to remover the wax and clean the old finish before any sealer coats are applied.
Naptha will also remove wax with the scruby pads.

Tony;" If you dont wear respiratory protection, you will get cancer in 40 years. If you get splashed in the face, you will be blind instantly. "

2 misleading statements. 1st; If you ware a mask with the use of Methal Cloride the chemicals will get trapped in the mask, this is very dangerous. Venting the stripping room from the floor is the best way to remover the MC fumes sence they are heaver then air. If you are going to use a resportory system it must me a closed system.

2nd ; getting stripper in the eye will not cause you to go blind instantly. All spray rooms are required to have a eye wash system in a spot easly accessed in case of and emergy. I've used mine more then once. If one dose not have the eye wash system eye wash can be bought and placed in spray bottles. The irratation around the eyes is bad and can burn the skin but so far I have never heard of any one going blind with haveing a eye wash system in place.
 
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......2 misleading statements. 1st; If you ware a mask with the use of Methal Cloride the chemicals will get trapped in the mask, this is very dangerous. Venting the stripping room from the floor is the best way to remover the MC fumes sence they are heaver then air. If you are going to use a resportory system it must me a closed system.

2nd ; getting stripper in the eye will not cause you to go blind instantly. All spray rooms are required to have a eye wash system in a spot easly accessed in case of and emergy. I've used mine more then once. If one dose not have the eye wash system eye wash can be bought and placed in spray bottles. The irratation around the eyes is bad and can burn the skin but so far I have never heard of any one going blind with haveing a eye wash system in place.

While you may be technically correct, you are making some basic assumptions. One is that a person is better off with no respiratory protection at all than wearing a chemical respirator. That is up for serious debate. The other assumptions are that the average woodworker has closed system respirators as well as spray rooms with eye wash stations in their shop and if they did get a serious splash someone is there to help them with the eye wash station because they cant see. Ventilation low down is important and I should have added that to my recommendations.
 
Tony , I know you have your ducks cover but the avg wood working crafts person dose not. All the help we can give them to be safe is good.
Eye wash is cheap and a bottle of it should be keep at hand when stripping out side - inside to grab easily.
 
Dave

Another item I keep handy by my flowover tray is a garden hose. Its quick and easy to use. I make my help work in slow motion and even at that, the brush bristles send minute particles flying. I always tell them if they get splashed, dont wait for it to burn because it surely will, just get the hose and wash down.
It is a constant wrestling match trying to get personnel to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I assure them (jokingly sarcastic) that they are getting paid to put that stuff on. By day 3, they are history if they forget anything. I have a checklist posted at the trays.
 
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