Help with painting & varnishing battered Victorian doors

[rossy87]

Hi all.

Long time lurker and this site has been a great guide for all sorts over the years but would finally like to ask someone in the know.

We've recently moved into a Victorian flat with battered old Victorian doors. We've sanded them but previous occupier used a weird coloured filler across all 8 doors. I've used some wood stain as can be seen but the ugly scarring still shows when we'd really just like to see the orignal knotting/character, not the abuse they've had over the years which is pretty evident.

Missus and I are having constant tantrums about how best to go forward lol. We'd like a slightly darker oak stain but as can be seen with the small test I did using dark oak stain, the scarring remains which was expected. Any tips/ideas would be much appeciated. TIA.

 

[opps]

image number 1 looks like 2 pack filler. You can sand it back to the bare timber, if you have the right sander. Then use a chisel to rake out the remainder.

The same is true of image number 2. That is to say, sand it until you get back to the naked timber.

It is a lot of sanding though.

Image 2, A decent random orbital will make light work of the job. Image 1, far more difficult though. And with image 1, you will need to gouge out the filler and find one that is the correct colour, which will then need sanding. I have a multitool (read oscillating saw) with a triangular bade that I cut down in to a thin strip. If you don't have access to one, consider getting some narrow bits of timber and using PVA glue to glue the abrasive to the timber..