# Maple Dresser Finishing Help



## olifer (Jul 24, 2012)

I am a newbie at woodworking and one of my first projects is to refinish a solid maple dresser that I have. It had been previously painted and I now have it nicely sanded with 150 grit paper to a smooth bare finish.

Since I spent a lot of time removing paint and sanding it to get it to the point it is at, I really want to put a nice durable finish on it that looks and feels great.

I'm debating on whether to stain/dye it, or leave it natural. I've read some of the horror stories about stains that have gone bad on maple.

I am really looking for any and all suggestions on methods used to obtain the best possible finish.

Thanks in advance,
Olifer


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I like the natural look.














 







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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

If you do stain it, stain it lighter. Also use a conditioner or a wash coat. Never used it myself but I hear jell stains are helpful in controlling blotching.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The color would depend on the rest of the furniture you have. It would look odd if you have a bunch of dark furniture and then make the dresser blond. If you do use a stain I would do is use a wood conditioner first and then stain it with a pigmented oil stain. I use Sherwin Williams oil stains. At one time I used Minwax until someone pointed out that it was bad to fade so I got to looking around at old work I did and how much it faded and concluded they were right. Then I would topcoat it with Wood Classics oil based polyurethane varnish from Sherwin Williams.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Just a caution...anything that has already been finished may already have the grain "sealed" no matter how thoroughly you stripped it. It's very hard to get all the old finish out completely. If true, that would make the stain/dye/whatever you use (possibly) a bit more of a problem. So if you do try to color it in some fashion try to find an area to do a little test first. I guess you could use tinted shellac to give it color and then top coat that, such an approach wouldn't be affected should there be some old finish left in the pores of the wood.


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## slevapaul (Aug 25, 2012)

Generally the furniture get the good finishing by sanding and oil based painting. Oil paint finishing gives the good results and neat finishing to the furniture.The color should be selected in such a manner that it best suits the remaining parts.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

If you plan to stain it, sanding off the prior finish is not enough. Sanding will not get deeply into the pores to remove the embedded or absorbed stain. Any residual finish will cause the new stain to be absorbed unevenly leading to blotching and uneven coloring. 

Redo you finish removing by using a chemical paint stripper containing methylene chloride. This will remove all the residual finish. Then you are ready to sand and repair. Sand up to 180 grit and use a pre-stain conditioner.

Finally, before committing to applying finish on your project, test out your finishing schedule on an inconspicuous spot such as the back of a door or drawer front. That's the only way to see how your item will look and to learn how to apply your finish.

If your item will contain any cloth items, do not use an oil based finish on any of the inside surfaces. Oil based finish off-gas almost forever and the odor will permeate any cloth items.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

HowardAcheson said:


> If you plan to stain it, sanding off the prior finish is not enough. Sanding will not get deeply into the pores to remove the embedded or absorbed stain. Any residual finish will cause the new stain to be absorbed unevenly leading to blotching and uneven coloring.
> 
> Redo you finish removing by using a chemical paint stripper containing methylene chloride. This will remove all the residual finish. Then you are ready to sand and repair. Sand up to 180 grit and use a pre-stain conditioner.
> 
> ...


Howard, you have to watch the finishing forum more careful now. slavapaul is resurrecting old threads. I suspect it is a young person from India practicing English. At first I thought it was spam but she is on several different forums.


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