Refinishing Wood Furniture

[Ronni]

OK, I have a shelf that my dad made a long time ago and I've decided I want to change the stain color. I first tried a stain called PolyShades directly over the old stain and that didn't look good at all. So, I scraped all of the old stain off and started over. We'll, I didn't do a very good job of sanding after I scraped and so when I added my new stain, it didn't look good at all.

My question is, can I just sand over the stain I just applied without having to strip or scrape the stain off? Or do I have to strip it first and then sand again?

Thanks!

[Charles Schuler]

Sanding usually won't work unless you REALLY SAND. Use paint remover. Buy a good brand ... go to a paint store and get their recommendations.

[betsyb]

I'd strip it first and wait a day or so then sand it. Follow the directions on the stripper can. Then try the stain of your choice.

[Norminn]

The typical way to finish wood is to put stain IN the wood .. you wipe or brush it on, it sinks into the wood. Then a clear protective coat of varnish or lacquer goes on to keep anything else from soaking into the wood. So, if you want the wood a different color, you need to strip or sand off both the clear coat and the stain. Only way to get all of the stain out is to sand it away. Stripper will remove the clear coat and most of the stain. When you sanded, it sounds like you still had some clear coat on part of the wood, which would keep the second stain from soaking in evenly. If you do a hack job of sanding, you are likely to ruin the shelf. Safer to get some stripper, follow the label instructions to remove the old finish. Try to find out what kind of wood you are working with, as soft wood will soak in more stain than harder woods. Plain oak or maple might be beautiful without stain, and just a clear coat. Good luck.

[mm]

Is this just a simple shelf, or something more complicated?

If the first, I wonder if it is worth the effort this would take. If the second, it is worth it more, but will also take even more effort.

Maybe painting it would be compromise idea. Perhaps some shade of brown.

I have a stepstool my grampa made. It was wider than the legs and if you stood outside the legs, it would tip over. I used it like that for years, but eventually decided to fix it and kept cutting parts off the ends. It still isn't perfect but would look funny if I cut off any more. So I've gone back to trying to make sure I stand in the middle. Fortunately it was already painted glossy white, so I don't have the issue you have.

[Mark French]

[Ronni]

Thanks for all your replies!

Actually there is no clear coat or anything, its only the stain that I have added. The reason the sanding doesn't look good is because i went against the grain and it made scratches in the wood. I couldn't see the scratches until I added the stain and now the scrates are darker than everything else.

Also there are two peices of the shelf made out of a different kind of wood than the rest of the shelf and the stain looks much, much darker on those peices, what should I do about that? I've heard that a wood conditioner might help? Anyone know about wood conditioners?

[Mark French]