Refinishing Birch Dining Room Table

[Jerry Sorensen]

I am in the process of making two additional birch table leafs for our dining room table. The table is approximately 50 years old and desperately in need of refinishing.
This is relatively new to me and I have several finishing questions.
1. Are there any special tips that I need to be aware of in
stripping off the old finish?
2. Will I need to use bleach, of some sort, in order to obtain a
match with the new wood when I refinish the table?

I want a nice finish but not the original high that was on the original table. I want something that will bring out the beauty of the wood and the convience of being able to touch up spots as needed in the future.
My current plan is to use a high gloss Tung oil for the finish. (Suggestions?)

It is also my understanding that I should use a water based dye to avoid re-spreading the dye when I begin applying the tongue oil. Is this correct? I've noticed in the past when using a spirit based stain that the finish often reconstituted the stain and mixed with finish material making a soupy looking mess.

Thanks,

Jerry

[Steve Schoene]

The most effective strippers are those with Methylene Chloride. It is fairly nasty stuff and you need serious ventilation--not just a couple of open window. Protective gloves too. The coarse 3M pads are good for removing stripper and old finish. Your original finish was almost certainly lacquer.

It will probably be easier to put a light dye on the new wood to darken it to match the old than to bleach the old. (You have very little control over exactly how light bleach turns out.) I like water mixed dye for the reason you give. Table leaves are often a little lighter colored than the table itself because they usually while away most of their days in the back of a closet.

There is no high gloss tung oil, pure tung oil won't make a finish shinier than satin, and has other problems. There is a product by that name sold by Formby's. But the Formby's product is not tung oil, was made with little or no tung oil, and doesn't behave like tung oil. It is in fact a varnish, with enough thinner added so that it can be wiped on with a pad instead of being brushed on. Repairing it will be essentially the same as repairing any thin varnish coating. If you want a gloss finish, then the Formby's or other gloss varnish will work fine. You would save money, and not support a company with on the verge of deceptive marketing, by thinning another good varnish. Pratt & Lambert 38 and McCloskey Heirloom are both good, light colored varnishes.

For ease of repair, there are two choices. One would be an in-the-wood finish from a mix of oil and varnish. Watco is a well known brand. It is applied, let to penetrate for a bit, and then thoroughly wiped off the surface. After 3-4 coats it will provide a satin finish. It's not very protective, but it can be renewed with another coat or two quite easily.

The other easy repair option is shellac. Unlike the oil/varnish mix, this can be allowed to build a glossy film on the surface. It can be scratched, and cleaners with ammonia can damage it. But damage can be repaired in a matter of minutes. Water, and the alcohol in beverages won't damage the finish unless left for hours.

[Jerry Sorensen]

Hey thanks for the input Steve,

This Methylene Chloride sounds like wild stuff! I'm familiar with StripEze and while it seemed to work pretty well, it still wasn't the greatest thing to play with. This Methylene Chloride sounds even worse. I was looking at something called Citrus Stripper that claims to remove paint & lacquer without some of the side effects. Have you heard anything pro/con on the Citrus stuff? At least it sounds more pleasurable to work with or am I just kidding myself and need to bite the bullet?

I have a hunch that even after the old finish is removed I'm going to have fun matching the new wood to the old. Hey maybe that's what table cloths are for?

On the finish, I guess I did say high gloss ….whoops! I believe what I have in mind is more of a satin like finish after all. For some reason I have this rubbed oil finish in my head as producing a beautiful table.
Thanks for giving me some things to think about as I investigate some of the dye and finish options.

Jerry

[Robert Goodwin]

I have not done this often, but the times that I have had success is when I used a combination of dye to take a first cut a blending the old and new. Shellac to seal the dye, and then glazes to help bring the remaining differences closer together.