r/finishing • u/Maisymine • 1d ago

Question Help for this table?

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Hi everyone, I’d like to help this table if possible. It’s not an heirloom for sure but I love it. I got it from World Market over 20/25 years ago . Since then, it’s been thru 3 kids (now adults) countless art projects, a couple of different houses & many moves! As you can tell, it’s been thru the wringer. It’s not just a little scratch or two. Haha
BUT it is actually real wood & still solid as can be. I love the shape & style too - kind of a tall pub table.

I can live with it like this if there’s not really a practical solution. I’ve read all sorts of warnings about a “Restore a finish” type quick fix so I. Wondering if a real refinishing is the only option?
Any thoughts?

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2

u/JaguarOwn2076 1d ago

Really hard to tell from the pic but that looks like plastic to me

1

u/Quorng 1d ago

Solid wood can be stripped and refinished but that table looks huge. If it is, it would be beyond my DIY skills.

1

u/Full_Detective1745 1d ago

If that were mine, I’d paint it. It looks pretty beat up. I’m not convinced that stripping and sanding wouldn’t make it look worse.

1

u/BrightVersion4098 1d ago

It appears to be a rubberwood top. Made that long ago, it's most likel a solid piece glue up. Not veneered .They are very refinish able. You should dismantle as much can after marking every piece and it's position. A chemical stripper containing methylene chloride would very effective. But, they require a cautious handling to safely use. Other strippers could work. Both types would be better and less frustrating than trying to sand off the finish. The wood will be popcorn white. You should also find that the many knots will have filler in some or many of them. The color that it is now results from an overall staining, then glazes used to swipe on the dark marks. It"s also coated in a tinted lacquer. After it's stripped and sanded, ready to stain, you could use aniline wood dyes and then oil based stains to color.

1

u/Separate-Document185 1d ago

It could be rubber wood… But it could also be veneer… But the main problem is that it’s an absolutely huge job just to get the old finish off… And you don’t want to sand it off you want to chemically strip it off… And if you’ve never done work like this, this is not the Piece to learn on… Dining tables are among the hardest things to do, especially if you don’t have any experience or any knowledge of how to do them… Sure you can watch a ton of YouTube videos, but, putting that into practice and actually ending up with a professional or even semi-professional looking job that will be durable is a huge lift until you’ve done several of these tables… but I certainly would stay away from smearing something like Howard’s on a Dining Table like this… It’s just a Band-Aid anyway, and likely will not stain those light spots because it’s Parwood, which has a natural latex in it and resists color…