Refurbish kitchen table

Hi guys,

I have a kitchen table that I recently bought. It has some feltip marks on and the varnish has come off (I know nothing about furniture restoration, but I presume its been varnished).

Pictures:

Is this a simple case of sanding it with sandpaper and then re-varnish... or put danish oil on? Would I need to do the same things to the legs?
Thanks

There will still be varnish , a paint stripper is a simple way to get back to bare wood, then oil or varnish, legs may be in better condition? but can have the same treatment.Clean down with white spirit and wire wool before finishing.

Thanks foxhole. The legs are actually really bad - when I lift the table up it leaves saw dust on the floor!

What do you mean when you say varnish has come off? If it is cracking then that rules out oil.

You really need to determine what the finish is. It could have been waxed over bare wood, or a finish such as acrylic, oil, nitrocellulose or polyurethane varnish possibly followed by wax. Many paint strippers are ineffective on acrylic varnish, and okay on nitro, and oil. You need to remove all of the finish for a good result. If you don't, and then put on oil, the result will be patchy. the key to success is preparation.

The top might unscrew which will make life easier when you work. I'd use a power sander on the top surface, but be careful, then finish with hand sanding using a block. You'll go through a fair bit of abrasive paper. I'd be tempted to try sanding rather than stripper for the frame, and see how it goes. Use a block on flat surface, start with grade 80 abrasive paper, but once the varnish is nearly off, go to grade 120 as 80 is very coarse. Careful on edges! If it is acrylic, bad luck! Meths will soften it, but slowly. I'm trying a specialist stripper from an inline seller as the stuff is so damn hard.

Oh, and the quality of abrasive paper varies a lot. Some is scheisse.

Oh and as for the finish, you have many choices. Wax is nice but soft. Danish Oil is nice, but not tough. Hardwax oil is tougher and water and acid resistant, but pricey. Varnish is tougher, but I don't like it, many do.

Wow - awesome reply - you may have inspired me not to do a bodge job on it!

That table could look really nice.

By the way, wire wool with stripper is good for the curved leg bits, very hard to sand.

Forgot to add that when you have stripped the table, don't fill dents, spit on them, and the wood will expand. You might have to spit, and lightly sand when dry, many times to remove scratches and dents, but many come out, not all.

Don't like the sound of the "sawdust" bit, are you sure it's not riddled with woodworm?.

WalksWithTurkeys: Thankyou - I will certainly try some or all of the things you have suggested.


trialscot: I can see some woodworm holes, but hopefully theyre long gone. As you may have gathered, Im a bit of a newbie at this! I have some cuprinol somewhere I could apply!