Expert: Eileen Cronk - 9/1/2007

Question
Eileen: I thought that I should get a hold of you again. Firstly I must apologise, as the dining room set was an eatons 1904 vintage, (in which case I have been told that I should not mess with it... oops) I now have it stripped, and have found that the table base is quite a bit darker than the top. The base is two pieces, each consisting of a triangular shape dowling.like stair railing with mission style wood and smaller dowling connecting them, at least I think it is mission style, I get an oriental feeling from looking at it...thats just me I guess. I used the stripper and steel wool with the aid of a case of toothbrushes on the base, and am getting ready to stain, would like to do this before the snow flies and am wondering how I can make sure the base and the top match in tone as a finished product. I thought at first that maybe they had two different types of wood but that does not appear to be so, as the grains are the same. My husband likes the red oak stain, so this is our front runner in colors, closely followed by the red mahogony. I like these colors as well, but am also wondereing if there is a color we can add to darken or richen the tones to add more depth. I am also wondering if there is a special technique for staining these rails and the like evenly. All of the pieces are glued together, have 'dove joints"(?) with no screws or nails, so dismantling it is not an option for me, can it be sprayed with an air paintgun ( automotive) or can it be done by hand.( about now I am really wishing you were my neighbor for sure!!!)I look forward to your advise, thanks!

Answer
Hi Connie.
So I haven't got my wires crossed, This was your original question and my answer..Right

refinishing 1940's oak dining room set
Question:  QUESTION: I recently purchased a 1940,s oak dining room set from a friend, they had used oriental teak wood paste on it,has flaked off in spots, and appears bare on other, in desperate need of help
. The people at the hardware store recommended an antique wood stripper and steel wool, this does not seem to work, they then told me to sand with 120grit sandpaper,and sold me foam blocks to use,am not sure where to go from here, the wood grain seems to be very open, with lots of ugly black stuff in the grooves, would like to get rid of these and am planning on finishing with minwax cherry lane stain to finish, never worked with oak before, have refinished an antique beechwood set from my grandma but wood grain was very tight. Really do not want to mess this one up, please help!

ANSWER: Hi Connie
Nice to hear from you.
Oh dear it sounds like you really do need help LOL
First off hide the sandpaper till you are absolutely certain you need to sand.
Now start fresh, and forget what you have been told to date.
Get some "Circa 1850" paint and varnish remover.
Also get a couple of boxes of medium steel wool.
Brush a heavy coat of the stripper on half the table top.
Stripper quits working if it dries, so brush more on if you see it drying.
Give this about 15 minutes, but stay at the table and watch for drying.
Then wipe this mess off with rags.
At this point if you are 100% sure the old finish is gone, then start rubbing with the steel wool before the wood dries.
Keep rubbing with the steel wool until you see the wood drying and some wood dust appearing.
If the finish is not completely gone repeat the stripper step again.
Now do the other half.
The table should now be free of finish, but I bet you still see the black in the grooves.
Unfortunately the black in the grooves and the open grain is the nature of the wood.
Some wood workers like to use what is called grain filler on this open pored oak. Its readily available at the hardware and must not be confused with those tubes of wood filler.
Grain filler comes in a can with instructions for use.
Personally I would not use it on your table.
Also your color choice is wrong for this wood...in my humble opinion LOL
I would use one part Minwax Special Walnut to 3 parts Minwax Golden Oak.
Then on the top only because it will get frequently used, I would apply 3 coats of Minwax fast drying poly in a satin finish. The proper brush is an absolute must for this.
I have this product on my own old kitchen table.
Three children and four grandchildren have not hurt it in any way..its just a superb product.
Get back to me if this is not 100% clear
Regards
Eileen
PS..forgot to add that if there are marks on the table top you just cannot live with,(do not mean the black in grain as it will not come off ) then use 120 grit sandpaper then 220 sandpaper, then a final once over with the steel wool.

OK..end of your first question and my answer.
It appears to me it does not matter what year the set was made. You did not like it and the finish was off in places. So for heavens sake do not despair about that LOL.
So now we have a stripped table that should match.
I have come across this problem before and it can be done by adjusting the stain color.
Your top is lighter than the base, so I would do the adjusting on the top.
So stain your base first. (I still very much disagree on your stain choices and more so now that you tell me this is a century piece. And keep in mind if you apply the red stain, its there for good as you will never get the color out short of bleaching the entire piece..what a job)
So the color to darken the stains you choose is dark mahogany by Minwax.
When staining we always want to avoid "stain overlap" marks. These happen if we do not keep our staining rag moving till we complete the length of a section of wood.
This is a little hard to grasp, but on your table top for instance, always work with the grain, and after dipping your rag in stain, do one complete swipe across the entire width of the table. If you stop half way across and move to another area, you will for certain have "stain overlap" marks and they often will not come out.
The same on the base. Use your rag in a continuos flow.
If you feel you did not get enough stain with the first pass, that ok..just repeat. You will not get overlap on the second pass.
Stain cannot be sprayed as far as I know. And you would not want to anyway.
Actually Connie staining is a very easy thing to do.
Just jump in.
And if I was your neighbor, I would be there in a flash to help you.
Just a final note ...always test your stain in a hidden area. Under the top is a good place until you get the color to your liking..do not forget this LOL
Kindest Regards
Eileen