Thread: Any woodworking experts about?

If its been stained, you are unlikely to get back to "Bare" wood of the original colour as the stain soaks into the wood.

If you want to get the paint off there are a couple of options, pain strippers, burn the paint off with a suitable propane burner or get it dipped by a professional company, which isn't as espensive as you might imagine.

Tough sander, heat gun and paint stripper and scraper

A good heat gun will make the job a lot easier Quiggers.
Is the paint in "chunks or flakes", is completely covering the wood, or has it got 'into' parts of the timber?

Get it dipped. Its the only way. To many internal angles to sand or strip by hand.

Hi Quiggers,,,If you can disassemble the bookcase, purchase a cheap (GMC) belt sander. you can buy the variety pack of belts starting at 60pp up to 240pp. It allways looks better when its down by yourself.

If it's stained you will have to sand off way too much timber to get back to natural wood colour, and it will probably be blotchy at the end. Sure you don't want to just paint it a different colour?

I must be very ignorant to woodworking skills, what's dipping? I assume this is where it's dropped into a bath of something which will remove paint, yes?

It doesn't come apart, and I did consider repainting it.

I know the old stain is in the wood, but blotchyness and a new stain (lighter) to cover the bald patches may give it the 'stressed' look. The old white paint is a light undercoat.

Or when I've had enough gloss white will do

Thanks for remindeing me I have a propane nozzle somewhere which is for this purpose, just gotta find it

Thanks guys!

GQ

Hi Quiggers,
Dipping is using a bath of caustic soda to remove the paint and dirt, you could also try bleaching the stained wood (never had much luck..very patchy results).
But if you want a distressed or aged look, maybe worth a try.
Rather you than me,
Danny

the things you get up to when your bored,
if the bookcase is pine and has been stained ( under the paint) you'll have a tough time removing it.
As far as i know there are no caustic dippers around here, there are a heap in sydney that i know of.
Your best bet would be too paint stripper it, spray or the brush on variety, take your time and get off all the paint. if you put enough stripper on it may, i say may, lighten/bleach the stain.
when you get back to the stained timber, if the colour isn't too bad looking, ie distressed, just give it a coat of satin estapol or variant.

if you don;t like the colour, but it is a light shade and you want it darker, you can buy and estapol type prestained finish, the colour is in the finish.
that wall unit thingy next to the kitchen at my place is done that way, so is the dresser in the hall way.
Its the cheats way but works well.

john