25-11-2011, 10:49 AM
Hi,
What type of finish are you going for Steve? I hope it's shellac.
On a bare cabinet I tend to use either 400 grit or 600 grit abrasive paper for rubbing down but taking the precautions stated by David. A single stroke with abrasive paper across the grain will show up badly once the new finish is applied in fact it will jump out at you if you are applying stain and believe me it will annoy in the extreme because the marks will prove impossible to remove without a great deal of hassle.
I'm used to this work now and get away with courser grits during the rubbing down of bare panels; I feel that by doing so it gives the new finish a "key" to adhere to. I would like to echo David's warning about cutting through veneer especially around openings and edges and would strongly advise against using any power sander to speed up the job as this would prove a disaster.
A few years ago whilst doing my first French polishing on cabinets I was encouraging a friend to also have a go. My friend told me he was going to use his power sander (detail sander with the small triangular pads) to remove the original finish from the cabinet and this was a desirable radio. These sanders are supposed to be mild in action but I advised against this. On my next visit the cabinet was a mess; all the corners showed up as white lines where the sander had cut right through the face veneer.
I didn't offer to help and on my next visit my friend had attempted to French polish the cabinet using the traditional polishing rubber and had finally given up in failure.
I brought the cabinet home and used chemical stripper to remove all the original finish left by the power sander together with masses of tramlines left by the rubber. It was a very difficult job touching in all the white lines; I then applied stain and followed by French polishing. When I returned the cabinet weeks later having spent a great deal of time and effort working on it; my friend looked at it casually and said "That's fine".
So Steve; please take your time and be careful of cutting through the veneer; you are too old to cry and swearing won't help either.
Cabinets tend to look very rough at this stage making you wonder if it will ever look nice again but the fun part is bringing it back to life little by little.
If you are in doubt please just ask as we are all here to help.
Kind regards, Col.
What type of finish are you going for Steve? I hope it's shellac.
On a bare cabinet I tend to use either 400 grit or 600 grit abrasive paper for rubbing down but taking the precautions stated by David. A single stroke with abrasive paper across the grain will show up badly once the new finish is applied in fact it will jump out at you if you are applying stain and believe me it will annoy in the extreme because the marks will prove impossible to remove without a great deal of hassle.
I'm used to this work now and get away with courser grits during the rubbing down of bare panels; I feel that by doing so it gives the new finish a "key" to adhere to. I would like to echo David's warning about cutting through veneer especially around openings and edges and would strongly advise against using any power sander to speed up the job as this would prove a disaster.
A few years ago whilst doing my first French polishing on cabinets I was encouraging a friend to also have a go. My friend told me he was going to use his power sander (detail sander with the small triangular pads) to remove the original finish from the cabinet and this was a desirable radio. These sanders are supposed to be mild in action but I advised against this. On my next visit the cabinet was a mess; all the corners showed up as white lines where the sander had cut right through the face veneer.
I didn't offer to help and on my next visit my friend had attempted to French polish the cabinet using the traditional polishing rubber and had finally given up in failure.
I brought the cabinet home and used chemical stripper to remove all the original finish left by the power sander together with masses of tramlines left by the rubber. It was a very difficult job touching in all the white lines; I then applied stain and followed by French polishing. When I returned the cabinet weeks later having spent a great deal of time and effort working on it; my friend looked at it casually and said "That's fine".
So Steve; please take your time and be careful of cutting through the veneer; you are too old to cry and swearing won't help either.
Cabinets tend to look very rough at this stage making you wonder if it will ever look nice again but the fun part is bringing it back to life little by little.
If you are in doubt please just ask as we are all here to help.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
