Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - refinishing table

I had a large dinning table made of alder. I chose to finish it and I used "Woodburst" conditioner and stain ( carbon black). In one spot there was a small dark spot so I sanded it down to the bare wood now this won't take on any stain. (I never put on a top coat/finish or sealer) what do I do?
If I want to redo the whole table to get a better looking more even finish what kind of sander would I use and how do I get it to accept the stain again?

what gritt did you use to prep sand the wood?

I used 320 and 400 grit

you didn't sand the wood, you polished it. Re-sand. start with 120 then 150 then 180. then stop, stain and apply finish. By using such fine grits you end up closing off the wood grain so that it will not take stain and you eliminate any profile on the surface for your finish to stick to.

ok thanks for the info I was just following the written direction delivered to me when the table came. use 320 gritt and tack cloth before staining. So I went to the big box store to get the right type sand paper and the guy tells me
I need striper! ok great what is it, do I need it? do you sand first or use stripper? oh man I'm in over my head ( I also have 12 chairs to do but have not screwed them up yet)

stripper, why? if all you have done is stain and put a coat or two of poly on the table top then use a DA with 120 grit pad to take it off. Your finish should also dissolve with a strong solvent, lacquer thinner or MEK. don't bother with a stripper unless you have put many coats on or used a catalyzed product. or did the legs and chairs and everything.

as for sand paper, look for fre-cut. it will work great and you don't have to spend a lot of money of the fancy stuff.

I agree with bc, there shouldn't be any need for a stripper. I read a lot on these forums where diyers use 300-400 grit sandpaper for finishing wood :eek: As a pro painter I've never seen a need for anything finer than 220 grit on wood.

Often while applying stain I've run into hard spots that didn't want to accept the stain - usually 120 sandpaper [used with direction of grain only!] in the wet stain will allow that area to accept stain.


bc - what's fre-cut? I usually use aluminum oxide or red garnet

it is a cheaper sand paper from 3M that is sold in bulk that does not have any stuff on it. many sandpapers will have coatings for paint, metal, plastic, ect and they cost more. for wood you don't need any of those fancy papers (unless maybe if you are working with an exotic hardwood, but I doubt even then). A cheap Al-oxide will work just as well and is still rather cheap. basically jepp1234 doesn't need to go out an spend a lot of money on some fancy sandpaper because it is made for X.

Thanks for the info My table looks great! now my question is what do I put on for a top coat/sealer?
I used 'woodburst" stain I don't think it is waterbase. It did smell but not too much It didn't raise the grain like waterbase did, but I never clean up anything I just used gloves and rags and threw everything away.it different.
This is alder wood and I have 6 children this will be used everyday so I don't need something high maintance and if my kids spill something on it and don't wipe it up in minutes I don't want it to look or be ruined so I have to refinish it again.
Do they make a product like this? also I found out alder is soft wood you can't even write on this table without leaving an imprint is there a better top coat that I should use?

Oil base polyurathane will dry harder than the waterbase poly will. The oil base will deepen the color a little and amber some with age.

So I bought a table from some friends and well have refinished the chairs, which look great. I just cannot figure out what color of stain to put on the top of the table, the legs are black. I tried a dark cherry stain, but that didn't turn out that well.

Welcome to the forums NavyWife!

Did you strip the existing finish before you applied the stain? or are you using a tinted poly like minwax polyshades] over the previous finish?