Restoring some chairs

Been in the process of re-finishing some chairs that I bought for cheap, they aren’t anything fancy or exactly the sturdiest, but I hated the thought of throwing them on the fire, when I know I can fix them up and have them for years to come. 

I didn’t know how I would feel about a stripper, so I decided to disassemble the whole chair and basically sand everything down. Then I will use my new HVLP sprayer to finish them

The old finish, whether a cheap finish, or just from age, is all gooey and gummy on the surfaces, and it is just nasty, you can scrape it off with your nails…

This picture above was just completed tonight, I really hope to assemble this tomorrow, but I have my lawn, our cemetery, and our church to mow, and it really needs it, so might not have a lot of time left over for this.

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A quick question regarding this chair project, what would be the preferred finish on these? I don’t want a stain, I like having the color of the wood as it is.

Can get some wood conditioner and some poly, few different oils on the market that give wood a nice look as well.

KnarlyCarl wrote:

1 hour ago, KnarlyCarl said:

Been in the process of re-finishing some chairs that I bought for cheap, they aren’t anything fancy or exactly the sturdiest, but I hated the thought of throwing them on the fire, when I know I can fix them up and have them for years to come. 

I didn’t know how I would feel about a stripper, so I decided to disassemble the whole chair and basically sand everything down. Then I will use my new HVLP sprayer to finish them

The old finish, whether a cheap finish, or just from age, is all gooey and gummy on the surfaces, and it is just nasty, you can scrape it off with your nails…

 

This picture above was just completed tonight, I really hope to assemble this tomorrow, but I have my lawn, our cemetery, and our church to mow, and it really needs it, so might not have a lot of time left over for this.

.

A quick question regarding this chair project, what would be the preferred finish on these? I don’t want a stain, I like having the color of the wood as it is.

Depends on how attractive that stripper is

KnarlyCarl wrote:

9 hours ago, KnarlyCarl said:

Been in the process of re-finishing some chairs that I bought for cheap, they aren’t anything fancy or exactly the sturdiest, but I hated the thought of throwing them on the fire, when I know I can fix them up and have them for years to come. 

I didn’t know how I would feel about a stripper, so I decided to disassemble the whole chair and basically sand everything down. Then I will use my new HVLP sprayer to finish them

The old finish, whether a cheap finish, or just from age, is all gooey and gummy on the surfaces, and it is just nasty, you can scrape it off with your nails…

 

 

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This picture above was just completed tonight, I really hope to assemble this tomorrow, but I have my lawn, our cemetery, and our church to mow, and it really needs it, so might not have a lot of time left over for this.

.

A quick question regarding this chair project, what would be the preferred finish on these? I don’t want a stain, I like having the color of the wood as it is.

Wipe down with damp cloth with distilled water, then put 2 or 3 coats clear oil modified poly sanding with 000 steel wool between coats. 

https://www.minwax.ca/wood-products/interior-clear-protective-finishes/minwax-water-based-oilmodified-polyurethane

comp56 wrote:

Wipe down with damp cloth with distilled water, then put 2 or 3 coats clear oil modified poly sanding with 000 steel wool between coats. 

https://www.minwax.ca/wood-products/interior-clear-protective-finishes/minwax-water-based-oilmodified-polyurethane

Thanks comp for the specific answer! I was hoping poly was the best way to go, as I was looking that route because lacquer doesn’t stand up to the wear like poly can. I do wipe down with damp cloth to remove dust, but I never thought of distilled water, of course this is so no deposits from the water are left behind.

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Pulled apart three more chairs to get ready to sand and prep…

Trying to find center of the turned stretchers and spindles took some figuring out, since a centering tool was nowhere to be found, had to devise my own….

Score with a knife, tap a centering hole in, then drill a hole to fit on either end of the lathe

Look at this piece of crap… I had to replace the switch, the belt isn’t right, it flexes a ton, and I might just get myself a nicer lathe, love turning wood….

Floor mounted belt sander, it’s heavy duty, just need to tweak the makeshift dust collection that my father in law rigged up… doesn’t collect all the dust, could do way better.

Don’t even know what brand it is, anyone recognize it? May go look tonight because I’m curious now….

Looking good. Thats a lot of sanding!

I’m done with sanding on the lathe, that was rediculous….

It always feels good to clean up after you’re done, especially since i can just use the dust collection system, it’s not bad, just not a real powerful suction like a shop vac, dust collection is more about volume than huge amounts of negative pressure

KnarlyCarl wrote:

On April 14, 2016 at 10:42 PM, KnarlyCarl said:

 

I’m done with sanding on the lathe, that was rediculous….

 

 

It always feels good to clean up after you’re done, especially since i can just use the dust collection system, it’s not bad, just not a real powerful suction like a shop vac, dust collection is more about volume than huge amounts of negative pressure

Nice! I want a lathe!

ClevelandQ wrote:

6 minutes ago, ClevelandQ said:

Nice! I want a lathe!

Well I want a nice lathe! This one is absolute annoying to work with. But please, go find what lathe you really want and let the rest of us drool over it too! See here;

KnarlyCarl wrote:

5 minutes ago, KnarlyCarl said:

Well I want a nice lathe! This one is absolute annoying to work with. But please, go find what lathe you really want and let the rest of us drool over it too! See here;

 

I’ve never really used one but once the shop is up and running I’m sure it won’t belong before I find an excuse to get one.

Anybody: am I going to regret making new seats out of cherry for these chairs?

The old seats were nasty and I have to make new ones, I have some cherry sitting around I can use to make new, what’s the worst that could happen? Scratch real easy? I really don’t know myself…..

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KnarlyCarl wrote:

12 minutes ago, KnarlyCarl said:

Anybody: am I going to regret making new seats out of cherry for these chairs?

The old seats were nasty and I have to make new ones, I have some cherry sitting around I can use to make new, what’s the worst that could happen? Scratch real easy? I really don’t know myself…..

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a lot of chairs seats are made from cherry, get some poly on them to seal and protect 000 steel wool sanding between coats and your good to go.

comp56 wrote:

3 hours ago, comp56 said:

a lot of chairs seats are made from cherry, get some poly on them to seal and protect 000 steel wool sanding between coats and your good to go.

 

Score! Thank you for being an excellent resource for those of us less knowledgeable in that area. This cherry came from my parents in Michigan, and will be a great change from the nasty old seats:

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Well that was fun! Gave me good experience in an easy way, they are simple manufactured chairs, but just need some TLC, and I needed them to last longer…. a few places if you look closely is some of the old stain still there, don’t tell me how imperfect these are, I already know!

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I love the uneven pattern here:

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So, nothing strenuous, just a bit of a time crunch trying to get them completed in time for my son’s third birthday when we had guests over and needed these, plus it helped I had a deadline or i would take forever on these…

Look good my brotha!!

Great job, that’s a project that seems never ending, awesome job dude

Jimbo

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Wow man, that took some serious patience! Great job.

Excellent job…..very nice 

Nice work Carl !!!!