Sanders

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:13:16 -0400, "Frederic Elias" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I just bought an old kitchen table made of maple wood.
>The varnish on it is quite old, and would like to redo it.
>
>I've got a couple of question, cause i want to get this right, and i want
>the result to look as if it was made by a pro.

I recommend starting with this:

Bob Flexner's book

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0762101911/qid=1083285336/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5293205-2428652?v=glance&s=books>

or this:

Jeff Jewitt's new book

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561585920/qid=1083285369/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5293205-2428652?v=glance&s=books>

and practicing on the underside of the table.

You are really new at this, so go slow. The project is doable, but
"pro" looks do require some study and practice, or you risk destroying
your nice table.

You MUST know what to do ahead of time, as some steps will have time
limits to come out right. With some knowledge, you can choose the
proper materials and tools and do an awesome job!

Barry

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:13:16 -0400, "Frederic Elias" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I just bought an old kitchen table made of maple wood.
>The varnish on it is quite old, and would like to redo it.

I'd really consider stripping it using some type of finish remover - Strypeeze
or the like. You'll spend a whole load of time trying to sand the whole thing.

>I've got a couple of question, cause i want to get this right, and i want
>the result to look as if it was made by a pro.

Then you may want to take it to a pro. You can certainly do a very adequate job
if you do your research (like you are doing) and take your time. That said,
it's not often that you can attempt something for the first time and get the
result to be like that of a professional.

>I want to get a sander. I think the best sanding device for this would be
>one of these palm sanders. I've got the choice between (1) sanders on which
>you can attach velcro-provided pre-cut sanded paper pads, and (2)
>clamp-provided sanders, on which you just cut square pieces from a sheet of
>sand paper and clamp it to the moving pad of the sander. I remember using a
>device such as (2) once, and i got really annoyed at it cause the paper kept
>ripping over and over again along the clamped portion. Is it because it was
>a poor quality one?

There's a thread currently running called "Random Orbital Sander with PSA Paper"
that gets into the pros and cons of Hook & Loop (aka H&L, Velcro) versus
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) that you may want to take a look at. I'm not
overly fond of the clamp style, and I haven't even had the troubles with tearing
that you experienced. I'd personally go with H&L as you can swap out grits
quickly and easily - and reuse them too.

>On the other hand, i'm relunctant to buy a device such
>as (1) because then i'd be dependant on buying sandpaper pads from the same
>brand of the manufacturer of my sander, which i'm sure cost SO much more
>than regular sheet of sandpaper. What do you recommend?

Not necessarily true. If you purchased a Festool detail sander for example, you
may have trouble finding non-Festool brand paper, but for a 1/4 sheet palm
sander you'll have no trouble finding competing brands and pricing.

>Then, i've got a choice regarding the movement of the plane of the sanding
>device. It seems i've got the choice between (1) random, (2) orbital, and
>(3) rotary. What should i get for such a job? I'd like to have a tool with
>which i can do both sanding and polishing.

The choices are (1) Orbital and (2) Random Orbital. (You really don't want a
rotary sander, nor a belt sander either - for this job.) The palm sander you
describe typically has an orbital action, so if you want the square shape you
may be out of luck if you want RO.

Do you plan on disassembling the table to strip it? If so, I'd go with a ROS
with H&L pads. Take it apart and label each piece. Strip each piece. For the
larger flat surfaces you can use the ROS. For the narrower ones, you should use
a sanding block so you don't round the edges too much. For the curves you'll
have to use elbow grease. Once you've got all the finish off (you can tell
'cause the paper won't "load" anymore) you're ready to wash it down one last
time in lacquer thinner and start finishing.

This forum is a wealth of information Fred, so you may want to do some googling
on refinishing, stripping, finishing, etc... to get as much info as you can
prior to starting. I've given you a very rough sketch.

JP
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Scrapers anyone?