[chris lewis]

This table went under during hurricane Ike now going to fix it its walnut any suggestions ? On how to fix it giving it a light sanding with a random orbit sander 120 grit

 

[Steve Neul]

The first step should be to chemically strip the parts to get the finish off and bring it back to bare wood. I use Kleen Strip paint and varnish remover. Then since you have have it apart I would sand the parts through 120 grit paper and assembly it. Then after it assembly, I would sand it to 180 grit paper. The wood is walnut so when you start finishing I would start with a pastewood grain filler. Sherwin Williams makes a good grain filler but it is a natural color. They can add raw umber and red oxide tinting color to it to make it a walnut grain filler. The grain filler is like a thinned wood putty. You brush it on and allow it to thicken and rub it into the grain with a clean cloth rubbing in a circular motion. After drying overnight lightly sand the wood to get the excess off the surface and stain if you wish or use a clear finish over the top. I would recommend Behlen rock hard table top finish for a finish.

Picture loaded after I posted. It appears to be some glue joint problems with the top. You probably should break or cut the bad joints apart and reglue them.

 

[chris lewis]

The first step should be to chemically strip the parts to get the finish off and bring it back to bare wood. I use Kleen Strip paint and varnish remover. Then since you have have it apart I would sand the parts through 120 grit paper and assembly it. Then after it assembly, I would sand it to 180 grit paper. The wood is walnut so when you start finishing I would start with a pastewood grain filler. Sherwin Williams makes a good grain filler but it is a natural color. They can add raw umber and red oxide tinting color to it to make it a walnut grain filler. The grain filler is like a thinned wood putty. You brush it on and allow it to thicken and rub it into the grain with a clean cloth rubbing in a circular motion. After drying overnight lightly sand the wood to get the excess off the surface and stain if you wish or use a clear finish over the top. I would recommend Behlen rock hard table top finish for a finish.

Picture loaded after I posted. It appears to be some glue joint problems with the top. You probably should break or cut the bad joints apart and reglue them.

Is Their a safe way to to break them the top is 6 parts if I cut them the carving won't look right the smaller sec. Is flat i don't think it was varnished ever it was darker the sun bleached it out over a year or two

 

[Steve Neul]

What I would attempt to do is clamp the table top to a work bench where the glue joint is right at the edge. Then push down on the part hanging over and see if the joint fails. Just don't get too agressive with it. If it's going to break it should do so easily. If you get too agressive it will break somewhere else than the joint and you will have a really hard time fixing it. There is nothing you can do to fix the joint without taking it apart. The edge needs to be exposed as new wood. If it will break you can run the wood over a jointer and just barely take the glue off and straighten the joint. Even the joint where the carving is if you don't trim too much off some sanding should blend the joint in or you might take a sharp chisel and blend the carving in. If it's necessary to cut the joint you might set up a straight edge up and run a hand held circular saw through the joint with a thin blade. The saw will cut both sides of the joint so it should straighten the joint to where it will just glue together.

To me the picture looks like the wood has some type of film coating on it is why I recommended stripping it. If it just had an oil finish you could get by with just sanding it.