Difficulty Level: Refinishing chairs to match dinning table

[Alexander Prikhodko]

I am in the process of re-decorating the dining room, and an opportunity presented itself to purchase some fairly high-end chairs for a very reasonable price. The only drawback is that the chair legs are a different color than the dining table . The question I have to the forum, is how challenging it would be to sand the legs down to bare wood, and re-stain to match the table? Brown Oak would be refinished to match Mocha.

I am a novice woodworker and have incredibly limited experience with wood staining. None to be exact I am blessed with some nice equipment in a form of a Fuji 4 Stage HVLP system. The plan is to take off the legs, sand-off the finish, and re-stain to match the table. If you were in my shoes would you undertake such a project, or would you cough-up the dough and buy matching chars at full retail?

I was also thinking that to minimize the risk I would purchase some oak boards, and experiment with stain application before working on the actual chairs, and to make sure that the stain color would be a good match.

Thanks in advance.

Here are some pictures of the chair and table:
prod1630018.jpgTable.jpg

[Allen Breinig]

Alex
I don't think those legs are coming off. That means you are sanding and staining right up next to your upholstery. You'll need to be very careful and tape off or something. But the legs are small, go for it.
Allen

[Rich Engelhardt]

If you were in my shoes would you undertake such a project, or would you cough-up the dough and buy matching chars at full retail?

I'd try it first - since buying new is an option, you have zip to lose if it's more work than anticipated.

If the legs do come off, then I guess you could always make new legs too if removing the old finish is too time consuming, and stain th new ones to match.
That's the route I believe I'd go - however - I need a real good excuse to buy a 14" bandsaw that will stand up to the scrutiny of SWMBO....
She's always cool with the idea of me buying a tool to do one specific job if it can be used over and over and over for other stuff down the road.

[phil harold]

I now this sounds sacrilegious,
but how about spray paint?

[Howard Acheson]

There is very little wood in the chairs. If you have any finishing skills, it would be a snap to remove the existing finish and and re-stain the legs. Certainly a lot cheaper than buying new chairs.

The only advise I would give you is to use a chemical paint stripper containing methylene chloride to remove the existing finish. Sanding will not remove the existing finish that has been absorbed into the pores of the wood. Any residual finish will impede the even coloring of the new stain. After they have been stained--be sure to exactly follow all the directions on the label of the stain--let the stain fully dry for at least 48 hours and then mask the fabric and spray on 3-4 coats of a spray can lacquer. Practice spraying on some cardboard boxes before you commit to the chair.

[Alexander Prikhodko]

Thanks folks, I am still on the fence, and the wife is reluctant since I have a bunch of other projects that are of higher priority. I am going to see if I can get the seller to come-down a few more bucks for the chairs, and if he does, I'll pull the trigger and proceed with the project.

Howard, thanks for pointing out the flaw in my process associated with sanding. I will have do some more self-edumacation regarding paint stripping using a chemical agent and the best way to prevent old finish contaminating new finish.

[Jim Rimmer]

If those legs can be taken off easily, I would say go for it (following Howard's advice on removing the old finish). If they can't be taken off, I would buy new chairs because you'll end up getting stain on the upholstery somewhere along the line.

[John TenEyck]

OK, I'll be the voice of caution. Matching color and sheen is one of the hardest things to do, even for an experienced finisher. Having to do it on the upholstered chair makes it even harder. If you do decide to plunge ahead, I recommend you (strongly) consider choosing a different shade of color than the table, instead of trying to match it. Way easier.

John

[Jim Becker]

I'd paint the legs to match the table hue...much easier and more practical... especially with those particular chairs...and it will not really be noticeable to "normal humans". In fact, many of the dark "stains" on mass-produced furniture are closer to paint than stains/dyes. Do use a 100% acrylic product, not "house paint", for best results.