Refinish Wizard

The table is from the 1970s and it was stored in a shed for awhile and was subjected to wide temperature fluctuations. The wood itself is not cracked, but it may have expanded and contracted to cause the cracks. Or maybe epoxy expands and contracts. I don't know, but the cracks are deep. They go rig...

I have this tree stump table from the sixties. It has "jewels" stuck in the cracks of the wood and secured there with a thick coat of epoxy. It's kind of cool except that the epoxy has cracked in several places. We're talking major cracks, all the way down to the wood. I would like to fix ...

I goofed. I put the sealcoat on the table as you suggested and then followed up with a coat of Minwax cherrywood gel stain. I liked the reddish tint, and I figured I could put something darker over it if I didn't like it. The stain went on nice and even. Sealcoat is a great product. But unfortunatel...

A few years ago, I glued and clamped a split in the planking of a table I was working on. It came out fine and has held for years. But over time, a crack appeared next to the repaired place. I'm thinking that this wouldn't have happened if the glue I used on the original crack had been pliable. I ha...

"...badly scratched, stained, and watermarked" doesn't sound salvageable to me. But I hope it is, since refinishing is a ton of work.

Your table is gorgeous. Please post photos when it's finished. Thanks.

I would strip all three pieces and refinish them the same way so they coordinate. If you leave one with the original finish, it will look different from the others. Also, these pieces were never designed for the finish to last 70 years, so I'll bet it's not in the best of shape. I have been strippin...

Thank you, Bob. I know I've got some Sealcoat around here somewhere. I'll send you finished pics when I'm done.

Hi, I have a midcentury table by Paul McCobb that I think is birch. I stripped the top and I want to stain it to give it back its darker, older-looking patina. But birch absorbs stain unevenly. Is there any product I can put on to prepare the birch wood to absorb the stain evenly? And what color sta...

I have these amazing chairs designed by Eero Saarinen in the 1960s. In good shape, they are worth a lot of money. Unfortunately, mine need complete restoration. The legs are a mess, as you can see by clicking on the link below (for some reason, I can't post pics here). My question is how to repair t...

I recently acquired some valuable chairs that were designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll in the 1960s. Unfortunately, they need complete restoration. My immediate concern is what to do with the bent plywood legs, which are in really bad shape. I'm pretty confident that I can replace the chipped and to...

Hi Bob and Sonny, This worked incredibly well! I have a mid century modern walnut chair with arms that start at the top of the back seat and curve downward, like a bow. To make a piece on a curve like that, you'd have to cut across the grain as well as along it, and I found that it absorbed stain ve...

Heywood Wakefield furniture has a wonderful finish that Bob Boardman told us about that is halfway between a stain and a paint. It effectively mutes the grain, thus emphasizing the form of the piece rather than the wood itself. Many mid century pieces, especially those made out of walnut, have a fin...

Thanks Sonny. I can't wait to try your suggestion of filling in the gaps with liquid shellac. Do I color it with regular oil-based paints? Would model paints work? I like using model paints because there are so many colors and you can mix them to get near-perfect color matches. Regarding the chipped...

I have a beautiful mid-century teak and teak veneer console that has chips in the veneer. I replaced some of the pieces, but I'm not particularly happy with the results (see pics). There is one place left that still needs repair. I'm not sure whether I should do it, since I could really bomb and mak...

Thanks, Sonny. That's what I thought. I was trying to decide whether to buy the piece on Craigslist (it's so great looking otherwise). But I had a feeling that mess on top would be a deal-breaker. Since people on this list are so incredibly knowledgeable, I thought it was at least worth asking. But ...

I have a really nice credenza that is a mess on the top (see Flickr pics). Short of replacing the whole top, is this repairable? Could I somehow slip a knife under the veneer and scrape the particle board back down and then reglue the veneer? Or is it, as I suspect, a hopeless case? Rebecca http://w...

Your observations are really helpful. Thanks. If I'm correct, to heat the inlay, I would run an iron over a wet cloth to melt the glue and then clamp it. Is that right? I've never had great success with this. How long would you suggest I hold the iron over the spot? And how hot should the iron be? A...

Thanks Sonny. I just posted photos on Flickr. I hope these will give you a better sense of my concerns.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54183354@N04/?saved=1

Best,
Rebecca

A friend has asked me to refinish the top of her antique mahogany dining table. I'm an experienced refinisher, but this table worries me. It has a band of inlay around the outside edge that is chipping, has little pieces missing, and is dry and brittle. I'm afraid that using conventional stripping m...