Square Oak Table Start to Re-Finish

Ten years ago I purchased a lot of used equipment from a Coffeehouse at Lake Oconee to open a coffeehouse in downtown Lawrenceville. That inventory included six beautiful oak pedestal tables. 3 square tables and 3 round tables.  During the recent sale of all the assets after closing The Singin' Bean at the end of March 2012. I found that the restaurant industry wasn't interested in these tables that had been bought and sold multiple times and thoroughly used and enjoyed for over nine years by all of our customers including some rather severe scratches and deep bright orange and purple marker stains that went all the way down to through the dark finish into the natural wood.  They still looked amazingly good for the wear and tear they had been subjected to.  This refinishing story will focus on one of the square tables.  You can tell the wear and tear around the base and edges.

The original plan was to sand paint white and distress this table and have it ready to replace the round oak table that was already in the booth at Ally's Attic. I completed 2 of the chairs by also painting them a matte white. and they look amazing if I do say so myself.I sanded this table by hand it was both medative as well as exhausting and can I just say OW to my shoulder aches. So luckily my stepson has a sander he wasn't using and let me borrow it to see if I liked the way it worked.                           

I started this past week sanding square table using the rotary electric sander.  Wow, what a difference. I sanded the table in half the time it took to sand the first table. I used the Zinsser Primer (that I like a lot but is very thick,) on the pedestal base. I decided to turn try turning the table upside down and painting the pedestal from the bottom up to see if I could cut down on some of the dripping and re-sanding I had to deal with on the first table.  It worked great.  I was able to sand the entire table base and put 2 coats of base paint on the pedestal in one day. Thank you technology.  So I now to do the top. We flipped it back over and.. oh my.. Is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing.  This table might just look excellent stripped and stained on top. The original plan to paint the table white and distress like the round table above but.... So it was off to Facebook I go. I posted this pic and asked my facebook friends their opinions. Some said green top some said black base some said strip and stain.  I had to see after all what would it cost me be some extra time right?  I got so excited about the result that I took my new little electric sander and started sanding right away, Dusk came and went and in the dark I slowly sanded the top until I got a nice smooth finish.  The only problem were the few places with scratches so deep that I sanded all the way to the natural wood. I took some Howards Restoration and what a beautiful color started to emerge.  I really can't even believe it is the same table and I did it myself. I'm really loving the color, but not so much loving the few over sanded areas. So my next step is back to the sander. with  weather now as low as 38 degrees Sanding in the cold fun,fun fun but it must be done. 

Wow this table turned out so amazing. I seriously wish I could just keep this one.  So the final steps of the project. I sanded the entire top down to the original wood. Left no residual stain behind. I love the color so I did what I could to match the color the stain had left behind. I purchased a small can of Minwax golden oak. I took a cotton cloth (aka an old T-shirt) and put on gloves and following the grain of the wood wiped on the stain.  I did one coat and had the perfect color so I stopped there no additional coats. I waited 24 hours then sanded with fine steel wool.
 
I donned another pair of gloves and got a new piece of cloth and wiped on a coat of Minwax Tung Oil.  Side note: I have to say I'm liking the Minwax products. They are really easy to work with.  I followed the instructions on the container. Buffing after 15 minutes then waiting 24 hours and putting on a second coat. It recommends 3-4 coats to make the surface waterproof. So the process took several days I just did a new coat everyday at 3 then buffed it out for shine after 15 minutes. (The instructions said to sand each coat prior to adding more with steel wool so I did that too) The third and final coat I didn't buff it out. I just wiped it on and let it dry 24 hours. The result was a nice subtle shine. So here are the final pictures. It's ready for resale but not in the booth yet. If you know someone looking for a beautiful table ask them to contact me. It could be a great entry table or small kitchen table.