AboutGreg Scholl Expertise Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.
Experience Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.
Publications Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")
Education/Credentials Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.
Past/Present Clients Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.
As you can (hopefully) see from the attached photo, I have a
beautiful kitchen, with solid hardwood cabinetry and a hand-
pieced butcher block counter top & breakfast bar with curly
maple back splash. It was all custom made in the late 70s,
and the counter tops were given some sort of urethane
finish. Naturally, after so many years of pleasurable beauty
and use, the finish is in bad shape or worn off in spots.
There is also an issue around the sink area of black mildew
in some cuts in the surface. I have cleaned these with a
bleach solution, as you recommended in another answer. Since
the counter top is extensive, do I have to refinish the
entire thing or can I just do around the sink area? The
cabinets that are below the sink are also the only ones that
show any wear--they'll need some love, too. Should I remove
the urethane by sanding? Then what? Is it better to remove
all the old urethane and redo all the counters with mineral
oil and beeswax? HELP! It is a huge task, but it would be
prohibitively expensive to have it done professionally. I
need guidance. We recently experienced a flood in the house
while on vacation, so I have issues with the bottoms of the
cabinets as well-but decided to address that question in a
separate post.
I appreciate your wisdom and thank you for sharing it!
Answer Hi Lucy, typically, polyurethane doesn't repair well, especially from that era, so the best bet is to strip the old finish off from entire surfaces, to allow refinishing. Sanding is not the proper way to remove a finish, it should always be done with a stripper, followed by the proper afterwash, and then after 24hrs. drying,... sanding, scraping, bleaching, staining, if needed. Mineral oil is a poor choice, with or without wax, and will offer almost NO wetness protection, and will be short lived unless reapplied often. Even then, it is not a drying oil and would contaminate the surface for any subsequent finish you might then choose. A good, modern polyurethane is a good choice with at least 3-4 coats, or if you don't like the plasticky look of a surface film finish, you could use a modified Tung oil finish like WaterLox. This is a curing "long" oil finish that penetrates the wood and hardens from withing to yield a durable, repairable, Satin finish (depending on the amount of coats, as it will "build" like a varnish depending on application, product Gloss level, and number of coats),that's non-toxic when fully cured.The other brilliant thing about the WaterLox, is the ease of application, and that allows anyone to get a professional result easily, unlike other surface finishes. Because it's a penetrating oil finish it won't crack, chip, or peel either....you can get it online or at WoodCraft Stores for about $24 a Quart. Hope that helps a little, here's a few links to help, go read about the WaterLox, I use it on a lot of projects, and swear by it- I'm here, so post back if need be- regards- Greg
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