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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I was featured & the table that killed my new sander

I was featured! If you missed the original post, you can see it here.

The DIY Show Off


Here's the other farmhouse table I promised to show you (here's the first one). It started out as one of those ubiquitous blonde tables (shown after I started sanding):

When I first saw it at Savers, someone else was looking at it and they called it first! I was so sad. The top was already well worn and dinged, and I knew it would be perfect for a farmhouse table.

The next time I went back to Savers, it was still there, but with a "sold" tag on it! And the next...and the next! I finally asked how long they would hold a table. Apparently--only 24 hours. It had been far longer than that, so it came home with me.

Here's how it looked after:

The finish on this table was THICK. It took a ton of sanding to get down to bare wood. I had treated myself to a Skil Orbital sander only three weeks ago, but this table killed it. The worst part was that when it died, I wasn't even sure what happened. The sander would still rotate, but it didn't do the back-and-forth thing to prevent the sanding marks. That meant I got a TON of sanding marks all over my lovely bare wood.


I had to sand...and sand...and sand some more to even get close to getting rid of them. I never did get all the marks out, but hey, it's a distressed table! I beat the thing with a chain, so it didn't need to be too perfect.

The top got at least five coats of polyacrylic. It gives a great shine.

The lady who took it home has her eye on some chairs from Pier 1 to go with it...I think these ones. I think they will look great together!


Furniture Feature Fridays




9 comments:

  1. Your table is amazing! I have thought about doing furniture makeovers to sell. Just a little scared that all my hard work won't sell!

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  2. Congratulations on getting featured!!!

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  3. So sorry to hear of the loss of your sander. It is always a tragedy when power tools pass away, however; you have a killer table as a consulation!!!

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  4. Very nice! I love the stain color on top.

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  5. Looks great! Could you share what you used on the top?
    thanks!

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  6. Thank you all for your kind comments! In answer to Cassie's question, I used Minwax Dark Walnut Stain on the top -- probably about 3 coats. Then I used one coat of Minwax hand-rubbed polyurethane in satin, followed by about 4 coats of polycrylic. I know it's an odd combination, but I like the color I get with the hand-rubbed stuff better, but I don't think it protects well enough for hard use. I use the polycryclic afterward to give the hard-wearing shiny finish. I did sand between coats, except between the second-to-last and last coat.

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  7. I hope you take that sander back and get a new one! LOVE the table~ its gorgeous, great job!

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  8. GREAT makeover! I would love to score something like that!

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