Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - wood refinishing novice

Hi!
I have recently aquired an old wooden high chair, which is a little beat up. I want to refinish it but I don't have a clue where to start? Can anyone lend some insight? Thanks
Kate

Everyone starts at square 1 - don't feel alone.

First step - determine what you want the piece to look like.

Is it painted? Are you going to repaint?

Do you want to strip and stain with a clear finish?

A clue - make all mechanical repairs FIRST - repair loose joinery, etc.

Define what you want to do in your own mind and come on back.

Hi! If you are going to be removing the entire finish,which I typically do, I would dissassemble the unit, and do it piece by piece. There are products that can remove stains and paint, but sometimes the easiest way is to just sand it down with an electric palm sander. This can take a while, but if you use a sanding sheet with a low grit density, it should go pretty well. Once all the wood is bare, I would typicaly sand out any of the knicks or dents by hand sanding with the same type of lower grit sheet. Remember, you always want to follow the length of the grain, so typically with like a leg of a chair or something, the grain of the wood wod run up and down if it were assembled and on the floor. So therefore, you would sand up and down. Apply even pressure, and push and pull the sand paper up and down the entire length of the wood, all around and on each side. Often wrapping the paper around a piece of flat wood wiil be a great help. Once the dents are ground down and you have a unifor surface, you'll want to start using a higher grit sheet and reapiting the process. Typically I start with 60, go to 100, then 150, 220, and end with 320. You can usually find these grits in an assortment pack at you're local hardware store. So you'll want to repeat the process with each grit, until you have a nice smooth unifrom surface. Once all the members are done being sanded, you're ready to stain. You'll want to first pick out you're stain, then get a nice high quality brush, some paint thinnner, polyureathane(if you want a glossy finish. This comes in different levels of shine so pick you're prefence and ask for help at the store), and something called tack cloth. OK, almost done (Lol). What i like to do is put some paint thinner on the tack cloth first and wipe down all the members evenly with it. This removes any dust from sanding and promotes an even stain job at the same time. Once you do that, stir up your stain really well, making sure to disturb all the sediment at the bottom and walls of the can. Dip in your brush a little less than halfway, and start from one end of each piece, again following the grain. Apply it evenly, and after about 15 minutes wipe the staind area of the wood with a rag to really work it in and even it out .Let each member dry according to the stain cans directions. If you want it darker, you can repeat this again as many times as you like, just give the stain ample time to dry in between coats. When you are satisfied, if you want a glossy finish, apply the polyurathane in the same manner, only do a VERY THIN COAT each time. You can do this as many times a you like, and I like to let i t dry and sand it very lightly with 320 sandpaper or steel wool in between each coat. This will remove any bubbles or thick parts. Once you love it and its dry, reassemble the unti and give it some use. I know this is a lot to throw out there, but dont fret if it's not perfect your first time. It takes a bit of practice to get it perfect and to get used to the behavior of different stains and finishes. Also to keep youre brush good as new, wash it with some paint thinner, then dish soap after each use. If it stars losing shape, run a wire bush along the bristles to keep them in line and remove old stains or paint. I hope this helps let us know how it turns out!!