Table from hell, or just say no.

basilisk · 2010-04-08T15:52:03+00:00

At the urging of SWMBO, I agreed to refinish a small tablefor a friend of hers, with the caveat that I wouldn't touchit if it contained any plastic, MDF or particle board.The table shows up a few days later, it is a roughlymission style, with a white painted skirt, legs and frame,a piney wood top coated to look like someones idea of maple.Approximate new retail cost of about $20.I would think if I ask someone to refinish a table pro bono,that it wouldn't be too much trouble for it to arriveclean, but it showed up with dirt, grime, cobwebs and all.I removed the top, scrubbed the frame clean and noticedthat one of the bottom rails is cracked.When I attempted to spread the crack a little to work someglue in, I finished snapping it into, good, now I can glue itproperly, three bessie clamps later it is fairly straightand well clamped.Now for the top, it is only 16 x 30 and the finish appearsquite hard, so I'm planning to sand the finish off.The stuff will clog up 80 grit paper almost instantly,finally cleared about 2 square inches down to bare woodafter changing the paper in the palm sander 4 times.This isn't working, I get out the heat gun and bring thesurface to near charring temp, the finish doesn't budge.I don't have any of nailshooters high powered strippersbut I do have a can of kleenstrip, I apply it liberallyand it beads on the surface like water on a freshlywaxed car, it won't even stick to it, much lessdissolve the finish.Time to quite fooling around, I get a cabinet scraperand scrap the crap off, it is at this time, I see thered blothes on the top and it occured to me that somewhere in Taiwan there is a chemical coating engineerthat devised a finish that is impervious to all knownsolvents, heat and abrasion that will freely passunknown red stuff to dye the surface underneath,he is a genius.Next day.Remove clamps from broken rail and sand down joint,the reason for the break becomes obvious, there is a knotthat takes up the entire piece, apparently...

Apr 08, 2010 20 Replies

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Larry Jaques 16 years ago

On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:54:14 -0500, the infamous snipped-for-privacy@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) scrawled the following:

Close, but different sisters. Methyl, Ethyl, and Ketone. Strippers extraordinaire!

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

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Table from hell, or just say no.

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