|
Do you have a piece of furniture in your attic or basement that is in dire need of restoration? Or perhaps your grandmother has left you a bureau or chest of drawers that–while holding considerable sentimental value–has seen better days. Or you may have even run into an old desk in a local yard sale that is steeped in history, but could use more than a little TLC. In all of these scenarios there are several solutions that each present themselves as the ideal course to take, and one of the most logical ones would be: refinishing. Refinishing can turn even the most rundown, ragged and just plain worn-out pieces of furniture into a seemingly brand-new, shiny masterpieces. Refinishing can save more than one household item from the garbage dump or landfill. Refinishing is a somewhat complicated process. Space limitations prevent us from going into too much detail about its various intricacies in this article. What we can do however, is cover some of the most basic fundamentals, and these will hopefully motivate you enough to undertake some more research on your own, and perhaps even inspire you to take on some refinishing tasks in the future. The first thing that you will have to do in any refinishing work is to remove the old finish that is already present. Admittedly a tedious process, this is nevertheless a crucial step that will ensure the integrity of the new finish that you will apply later on. Sanding is by far the best method of removing this unwanted coating, and you may also opt to use any of the many chemical strippers that are sold in the market. After you have removed every trace of old finish from the surface, you will then have to subject it to another sanding procedure, this time to prepare the wood for eventual refinishing. Start off with 120 grit sandpaper to smoothen out any rough spots and completely remove older finish, then shift to a 220 grit sandpaper which is finer to make a smoother finish ready for pre painting or staining. Now you can apply wood stain to give it the right tone. Make sure you leave it to dry before you apply the first coat of clear lacquer to seal it off and leave a mirror glossy finish. You can build the lacquer to get a deep, thick coat but always make sure that you sand in between the coat with 1000 grit super fine sandpaper to top off the shine before applying another coat of clear lacquer. Some quality wood furniture needs as much as nine coats to turn out rich and classy. | 
