Refinish Furniture

Picture frame, metal waste container, string for stripping, sanding cracks

Do It Yourself


We have lots of picture frame information. Do-it-yourself frame making can save you a lot of money. Restoration and repair of old picture frames you might have or that you can get at thrift stores can save you a tremendous amount of money.

Use a metal waste container to protect against spontaneous combustion of waste rags and paper towels when stripping old paint or finishes.

Use string for stripping the tight places on spindles.

Take a look below for information about telling if minute cracks are from sanding with too coarse of a grit of sandpaper or if they're wood pores.

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Universal Tints compatible with most water, solvent, lacquer and oil based stains, coatings, shellacs, epoxies, waxes, varnishes, wood fillers, etc. Using these tints can make matching the stain color of a finish repair in a furniture finish much easier than mixing stains.

Picture frame, metal waste container, string for stripping, sanding cracks

Our Picture Frame section has lots of information about do-it-yourself custom picture framing, custom matting, frame assembly and repair and picture frame restoration.

Gold leaf up to 23.75K, which is very close to pure gold, or a less expensive imitation gold along with all of the necessary material to use the gold leaf is available and we give you information about how to use it to restore old picture frames.

Picture mats can make a world of difference in how people look at a picture. Either single mats or double mats will draw your eye to different places in a picture.

Follow the picture frame link above to find out how to repair a picture frame corner or to refinish the picture frame. There's lots more information too.

Metal waste can

When you're stripping furniture, keep a metal waste can with a metal lid handy to store the residue and used rags and paper towels. Most chemicals and oil based finishing materials can cause a fire by spontaneous combustion when soaked into rags and other material and left in a pile.

Check with your local landfill people to see how to dispose of your waste material responsibly.

After you've finished refinishing or restoration procedures for the day move the metal container outside away from flammable materials just to be on the safe side.

String for stripping tight spindles

When you're stripping turned spindles with tight places, apply lots of stripper and let it work for the maximum time, then take some coarse string or twine and rub it back and forth, like you were shining shoes, in the tight places. It may take several applications, but it's a lot easier than trying to pick the old paint or finish out without getting wood too.

Sanding cracks

I realize that I rant and rave about sanding, but even I will admit that sometimes it's necessary to sand. Although the following email question concerns Teak, my reply would pertain to any species of wood.

wondering if you can help... i have a similar question to one you've replied to but i might need more assistance cause I may have made a rookie mistake.

I have an old teak coffee table (triangular) quite beautiful, from my parents. They gave it to me when I was a student and I treated it like a diving platform on a boat. It was in awful shape when I decided to re-finish it. I sanded it down with some pretty heavy paper and now I seem to have exposed tiny hairline cracks (cracks is too strong a word) in the wood (thousands of them)... i've sanded the table down with a much finer grain and I'm now at the point where the wood looks quite good apart from those tiny cracks which seem to be part of the original grain. Is there anything I should do before I apply copious teak oil?

thanks
Gavin

It sounds like you may need more sanding. The cracks are possibly grooves made by the grit in the sandpaper.

You should try sanding with a 180 grit, unless you've used a finer grit than that already. Sand with the finer of 180 or what you've used until the cracks get smaller, then sand with 220 grit until it sands out any marks from the prior grit, then sand with a 400 grit. Since you plan to only use an oil as a finish the 400 grit will give a good smooth surface.

Have patience with the oil and leave a good healthy amount on long enough for it to soak in as much as it will before wiping the excess. The smoother the surface is, the longer it will take to soak in, but it will be much easier to maintain.

If you're planning to stain after sanding, the smoother the surface is the less stain it will absorb and will be lighter than if you had stopped with a more coarse sandpaper. For instance a surface sanded with 400 grit sandpaper and stained with a walnut stain would be much lighter than a surface sanded with 220 grit and stained with the same walnut stain. Stopping with 180 grit will make the stain even darker.

Since you're seeing thousands of tiny 'cracks' it could also be the pores in the wood. You'll need to use a wood filler to make the surface glass smooth.

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