Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 12/7/2008
Posts: 3
Points: 9
Location: Salem, OR
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I am looking for some advice and suggestions on refinishing a table. It is a round dinning room table, about 42" dia. I believe that it is oak.
We (the wife and I) have refinished it once, but have not had much luck with the final product. It was originally a clear coat type finish, such that you could see the grain. We stripped it, primed it, then painted it black, and finished it off with polyurethane. But it has been showing water spots, gets divots in it just from the underside of dishes sitting on it, and has had paper get stuck to it (and apparently become non-removable without also removing the finish). It isn't a high value item, but it needs to be functional, and we like the black painted look.
What can we use as a finish/wear layer that won't exhibit the problems above? What normally gets used for dining table surfaces? They don't normally show water stains and get scratches or divots from dishes...
Thanks,
Justin
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Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 12/4/2008
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Location: Battle Ground
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I used Behlen's Rock Hard varnish about 15 years ago on large pine table top that I made for our dining room and it still looks great. It's not exactly user friendly though, it requires a couple of coats and then sanding it down level and bringing up the polish again. A more user friendly finish is Minwax Waterbased Polyurethane. Use a rectangular paint pad to apply it. This goes on milky but dries fast and clear. It is easy to apply and very durable. I would not recommend a gloss finish, satin or semi-gloss won't show scratches, dings and dents like gloss would. Look it up on Fine Woodworking Knots.... http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Community/CommunityHome.aspx
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 12/7/2008
Posts: 3
Points: 9
Location: Salem, OR
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I double checked with the wife and she did use a Minwax polyurethane finish on it. It was a water based (acrylic) one, I think. Would it be better to use an oil based version?
(It was actually called Minwax Polycrilic.)
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Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 12/31/2009
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Location: Seattle
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I'm not an organic chemist or much of a woodworker, but I am spending some time to improve on the later. I am familiar with the MinWax Polycrylic and I have had some experience with water based and oil based polyurethanes. The polycrylic and the polyurethanes are very different products. I have used the satin polycrylic to refinish my college desk which I made from a solid core door with a oak vaneer as well as my woodbench which I made of 2 x 8 douglas fir. The desk has held up very well for the last 5 years. The workbench has not. Doug fir was not a good choice for my needs and the polycrilic is quite soft. Shortly after finisihing the workbench I read an article in Fine Homebuilding where the author compared about 6 products including MinWax Polycrylic. The polycrylic performed poorly compared to all the other products which did include polyurethanes from what I remember.
I used Valspar gloss waterbased polyurethane to finish a white Oak floor I installed in our kitchen. It looks great. It is very scuff and stain resistant. I can't make any recommendations regarding what you should use to cover the black paint on your table, but the polyurethane recommended by the other reader and the polycrylic are quite different performers. Regarding the use of waterbased and oilbased, what I have read is the performance difference is marginal and often not worth the mess of the oilbased, but I've not had much experience beyond my 3 projects with waterbased products. Whether your black paint was oilbased or waterbased can be an important factor in your choice of a waterbased or oilbased finish from what I have been told.
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