How do I prepare and stain an unfinished pine coffee table?

Question

I want this to be my project for the weekend. I need to know the steps involved, and what items I will need to buy. I would like the finished product to be somewhat shiny, and I'm going to have a piece of glass cut to place on top of it when finished. If you have website links, or pictures of this type of table that would be great!

Answer 1

This will be a fairly easy thing to do, just sand the coffee table with a fine grit sand paper 220 grit until you feel no rough spots. Take a damp sponge and wipe off any sawdust, being sure to rinse the sponge out often and keeping the sponge damp not soaking wet. Apply a stain of your choice and wipe off with an old rag. Let the stain dry for 24 hours. If you want a good shine use several coats of High Gloss Poly, let dry between coats and lightly sand with the 220 sandpaper and tack off with the damp sponge and apply next coat, repeat same process between coats. If you don't want a high gloss shine use a satin or semi gloss poly. The secret to a good finish is using a good quality brush and taking your time , on table tops I usually use at least five coats of poly. If you have a store that sells unfinished furniture they usually carry a poly that you wipe on as well as the lint free cloths to apply it with, have used it several times with good results, still need to sand between coats.
Good Luck

Answer 2

Your best chance is to get a sander (or by hand) and sand the parts that are red until all the red is gone. After that you will have a small indentation, hopefully not too big. I doubt the wax got very deep, but this advice is only if it is shallow. After you've removed all of the wax take some water and drop it onto the indented parts. The surface tension will keep the water together over those parts. Don't let the water spread to other parts. After the water dries up, continue to add more until the indent becomes a lump. For details its like this the surface of the table is 0, a dent is - and a lump is + you want to make sure that there is no - anywhere, once they are all gone let it dry completely. Now to sand it flush with the rest of the table top you need a block sander. Just sand i until it is even and flush, repaint or revarnish and you're done. If you start sanding and you find that the wax is embedded very deep into the wood, you will have to mill the entire table top down until all the wax is gone. You will have to find someone with specialized wood working tools, you could do this with a router, but you need to know what you're doing.

Answer 3

A good polyurethane varnish gives a strong, durable and resilient finish for a table top. It can take a hot mug without leaving a ring and most minor impacts that a table takes during its life. It comes in either clear or pre-coloured that will stain and finish all in one. You can choose between matt, silk or high gloss, The silk looks best on a table and allows the figure of the wood to show through. With Pu finishes they tend to darken or yellow in sunlight after a time so you you could use an acrylic water based finish which is not as tough but does not yellow. It also dries quite quickly which will allow several coats in a day.

Rub down well with a fine sand paper and then ensure that all dust is removed from the surface. Paint in another room so that there are no airborne dust particles to ruin the finish. Apply the first coat slightly thinned so that it sinks in well and when dry use an old bit of sanding paper (that is worn out) to de nib the surface before apply further coats.

Danish oil is another finish to consider but i do not think that it is as good fro a table top.

Good luck with your project.

DWD

Answer 4

No offense to the first answer, they have so many things spot on,,,, BUT DO NOT USE WATER. After sanding, especially with that 220 grit paper, use a Tac cloth, and more than once, to remove debris.

The water will raise grain and small textures from the sanding.

If you then stain, use a non varnish type, just a straight color.

Gently tac cloth again, after the stain dries, to remove dust particles that have settled.

If you use polyeurethane you'll never need wax, but applying any gloss end finish may at the very least require fine steel wool to remove any air bubbles. Certainly to lessen the air bubble possibility you don't "shake" just gently stir, any clear coat.

Rev. Steven

Answer 5

I think Steve W has some good additional pointers. I would suggest one more.

I have stained a lot of pine. It does tend to splotch because some of the wood is softer than other parts. I always use some MinWax prestain conditioner before I stain. It really keeps the splotches to a minimum.

Answer 6

Judy has the info....I used the same method and the table turned out beautifully.