I'm in the process of refinishing a hardwood (oak?) chair. I've got it down to the raw wood, but there is still some persistent pigment left in the grain. Any tips?
I started with stripper, followed up with mineral spirits and now I'm sanding with 120 grit right now.
My plan is to seal it with BSL for a natural finish.
About all you can do is use coarser paper and sand the pigment out before you sand with finer paper. If the stain is too deep you might have to accept a darker color and use a stain.
Oak, of course, has a very coarse grain. Try applying some more stripper in a small area at at time and brush with the grain with one of those small (like a large toothbrush) brushes with fine stainless steel bristles. Work with short strokes so that the bristles can get down into the pores and remove the old pigment. You may have to use the same tool and technique when rinsing the stripper. This may not work but, it has a good chance of, at least, helping. I have done it successfully.
IMO, BLO is not your best choice for a finish on a rocker. It dries very very slowly (some say it never does). At best, it is a soft material and is not durable enough for the rigorous use a rocker (or any chair) usually gets. Danish oil or a mix of BLO, MS, and varnish (poly) would be a little better.
I don't know if I would use a wire brush on those spindles. A wire brush would remove the soft wood leaving the hard grain giving it a washboard texture to it.
The chair isn't oak. It's maple or birch.
How solid is the seat? It appears to have a glue joint that is failing. Be sure to address that while you are working on it.
I'm with Steve. That doesn't look like oak and I don't think wire brushing is going to do you any good. I refinished a similar rocker earlier this summer that looked a lot like yours after stripping. I think the remaining color is dye and you likely won't get it out without taking some extreme measures. I refinished mine with garnet shellac to which I added some additional Transtint dye to change the color some. The top coats are water based poly. The result has some color variation with some darker places but, I am satisfied with it.
About the only way to thoroughly sand spindles is cut a narrow strip of emery cloth about a foot long to wrap around the spindle and work the sandpaper back and forth like a shoe shine guy uses a cloth.
Have you tried a scrapper, , dental picks. I have refinished furniture and to get into tight intricate locations these tool have come in handy. With the scrappers remember to burr the edge with a smooth steel. You can make your own by cutting a tin can.
Here's the finished product, folks. I ended up going with a maple stain and gloss seal. Not perfect, but a fun project. Thanks for your help!
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