How do you sand old stain off lathe-turned table legs?
August 22, 2022 8:45 PM Subscribe
Woodworkers of MetaFilter, help! A neighbor gave me the solid wood kitchen table her family used for 35 years. I decided to try refinishing it. Once I got the aging stain off, I found lovely pine! Yay! But how do I get the stain off the lathe-turned legs?
I sanded the HELL out of this table with a palm sander and put on multiple coats of clear polyurethane to get it from aging, crumbling finish to this beauty.
But the legs are lathe-turned and much harder to deal with. I sanded the flat parts, but what do I do with the rest? I could hand-sand it but that seems like it would take forever. I have a dremel and a set of tiny files I could maybe wrap in sandpaper, and I could probably borrow any tool I don’t have.
Yes, I’ve googled, but I don’t find “Try this! Or this! Or THIS!” lists helpful - so please don’t link to them. What is tried and true for this kind of sanding for you?
I sanded the HELL out of this table with a palm sander and put on multiple coats of clear polyurethane to get it from aging, crumbling finish to this beauty.
But the legs are lathe-turned and much harder to deal with. I sanded the flat parts, but what do I do with the rest? I could hand-sand it but that seems like it would take forever. I have a dremel and a set of tiny files I could maybe wrap in sandpaper, and I could probably borrow any tool I don’t have.
Yes, I’ve googled, but I don’t find “Try this! Or this! Or THIS!” lists helpful - so please don’t link to them. What is tried and true for this kind of sanding for you?
I've found that ialm sanders really don’t save all that much time over hand sanding. Those tiny orbital movements don’t add up to much. So with that as my stated point of view, I'm going to push you towards sanding the lathed bits by hand.
Buy a few narrow 1” sanding belts in like 60, 120, 220. Cut them in half and use them like dental floss. They actually sell a sort of flexible bow for this kind of job but you don’t need it. Try slicing the belts into narrower strips if need be. Get as much of the work done as you can with the rougher grade but watch that you don’t wreck the crispness of it.
The other option is making a curved sanding block and attach your sandpaper with double sided tape but I think the flossing method will go much quicker.
Beautiful job on the top. My friends have that exact table and it's seen a lot of great dinners.
posted by brachiopod at 9:15 PM on August 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
Buy a few narrow 1” sanding belts in like 60, 120, 220. Cut them in half and use them like dental floss. They actually sell a sort of flexible bow for this kind of job but you don’t need it. Try slicing the belts into narrower strips if need be. Get as much of the work done as you can with the rougher grade but watch that you don’t wreck the crispness of it.
The other option is making a curved sanding block and attach your sandpaper with double sided tape but I think the flossing method will go much quicker.
Beautiful job on the top. My friends have that exact table and it's seen a lot of great dinners.
posted by brachiopod at 9:15 PM on August 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
If you could get access to a lathe (doesn't matter what sort), you could use the 'sandpaper floss' method described by brachiopod to great effect and get a perfect job in hardly any time at all.
If you can get that, the hand-held method brachiopod describes is about the best way to go. Sanding round things with lots of internal corners by hand is a slow and painful job and there's no way around that. It looks like there is a coat of varnish over the stain, so some paint stripper may get rid of some of the bulk for you before you sand your fingerprints away.
posted by dg at 9:37 PM on August 22, 2022
If you can get that, the hand-held method brachiopod describes is about the best way to go. Sanding round things with lots of internal corners by hand is a slow and painful job and there's no way around that. It looks like there is a coat of varnish over the stain, so some paint stripper may get rid of some of the bulk for you before you sand your fingerprints away.
posted by dg at 9:37 PM on August 22, 2022
As dg says, stripper. It may not take the stain off, but it will make it easier if there's anything on top, and it might remove the stain entirely.
There are also dip strip places that will do this for you, and will know about stain.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 11:09 PM on August 22, 2022
There are also dip strip places that will do this for you, and will know about stain.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 11:09 PM on August 22, 2022
My dad and I once dealt with a wooden standing lamp that had a kind of corkscrew leg, just by improvising a lathe. One end was just a very large nail or possibly a cylindrical piece of metal, like a hinge pin, about 6mm (1/4") diameter. This was clamped in a vise; the lamp leg had a slightly larger hole drilled into it. The other end of the leg got a large woodscrew put in. This was clamped in the drill chuck of an electrical drill that was set to low gear and at its lowest speed, with the drill clamped to the workbench in such a way that the pins on both ends lined up.
That improvised lathe allowed us to work on sanding off the old coating, whatever it was, using strips of sanding linen, pulled against the lamp leg in an 'U' shape.
posted by Stoneshop at 12:00 AM on August 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
That improvised lathe allowed us to work on sanding off the old coating, whatever it was, using strips of sanding linen, pulled against the lamp leg in an 'U' shape.
posted by Stoneshop at 12:00 AM on August 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
If you take Stoneshop's advice, please be very very careful to keep the speed very low and wear eye protection- as I know someone who literally lost an eye when a setup similar to this went wrong, the attachment to the drill bent or came loose, and the piece in his improvised lathe hit him in the face.
Before I tried this, I would look into tool and plant hire for a proper lathe, or look to see if there are maker spaces or wood shops in your area that hire out the use of space and tools. If you don't want to get into the whole thing of actually hiring or using the tools yourself (there is usually an induction at least and possibly ongoing membership fees) they might put your request out to other woodworkers who would do the sanding on a lathe for you for cheap.
posted by cilantro at 3:37 AM on August 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Before I tried this, I would look into tool and plant hire for a proper lathe, or look to see if there are maker spaces or wood shops in your area that hire out the use of space and tools. If you don't want to get into the whole thing of actually hiring or using the tools yourself (there is usually an induction at least and possibly ongoing membership fees) they might put your request out to other woodworkers who would do the sanding on a lathe for you for cheap.
posted by cilantro at 3:37 AM on August 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: A medium/fine combination sanding sponge with crisp corners will make sharp work of the curves on the legs without breaking them down. Check your local home store.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mark Novak is a gunsmith with a YouTube channel called Anvil. He uses a scraper like this to remove the finish from gun stocks which, like table legs, are not flat.
Example at about 42:40 here.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:27 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Example at about 42:40 here.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:27 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm going to revise my flossing suggestion because I see a lot of improvised sanding bow ideas on YouTube. With something flexible slipped into the belt loop, it'll probably go faster and be easier to control. I’d figure out a way of mounting the legs between the points of a couple nails so you can easily rotate it with one hand as you sand (with a sawing motion) with the bow..
posted by brachiopod at 5:39 AM on August 23, 2022
posted by brachiopod at 5:39 AM on August 23, 2022
You've done an impressive amount of sanding on the legs already. I hate sanding so I would just paint those turned sections white and call it a day. (Or any color to match your decor)
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:55 AM on August 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:55 AM on August 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Emery cloth is used by plumbers to sand round pipes. It’s an abrasive cloth tape available in a variety of grits. You loop it around your item and pull the ends back and forth.
If that doesn’t cut it, I’d probably try a wire wheel or flap disk on a drill. But test them on an inconspicuous spot first! They can be a little aggressive, especially if used with an angle grinder, which is why I suggest a drill first.
posted by MonsieurBon at 6:58 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
If that doesn’t cut it, I’d probably try a wire wheel or flap disk on a drill. But test them on an inconspicuous spot first! They can be a little aggressive, especially if used with an angle grinder, which is why I suggest a drill first.
posted by MonsieurBon at 6:58 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
When we were doing a very similar table ages ago (did you have Lutheran pastor great grand-relatives whose house was described as "very very dark" too?), we ended up garage-sale snagging a Porter Cable linear sander, that only oscillates in one direction, that had assorted profiles you could wrap the sandpaper around, and that made quicker work. I have since graduated to a Festool linear sander, which is super expensive but if you know anyone... (if you lived nearer to me, I'd let you borrow my shop).
So maybe keep your eyes open for a linear sander?
posted by straw at 9:39 AM on August 23, 2022
So maybe keep your eyes open for a linear sander?
posted by straw at 9:39 AM on August 23, 2022
The hand tool you want is called a Bow Sander. You can make a homemade one, as has been suggested above, but you can also buy one.
Lee Valley Bow Sander
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:22 PM on August 23, 2022
Lee Valley Bow Sander
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:22 PM on August 23, 2022
Get a couple of packs of playing cards, take off any wrappings, put an elastic around them and wrap them in sandpaper to use as a sanding block. The cards will move inside the block so that the edge side will form whatever curve is necessary and the elastic will keep them from falling out of the open sides.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:53 PM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:53 PM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The sanding sponge idea wins a prize - grabbed one at the hardware store just to see if it would work. This is one of the legs after messing around for about three minutes. It has enough bend not to leave flat spots and it taking the color right off, so I don’t have to figure out how to rig up a lathe using my pottery wheel or buy/make a bow sander!
And honorable mention to Jane the Brown for the playing cards sanding block idea!!
posted by centrifugal at 8:20 PM on August 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
And honorable mention to Jane the Brown for the playing cards sanding block idea!!
posted by centrifugal at 8:20 PM on August 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
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Do you have any possible access to a lathe? A friend with one? A friend who works at a junior high with a woods class? Do you know someone who knows Norm Abrams?
If so, that would work in no time.
If not...
Outsource to a refinishing shop, maybe. Spend to save the headache.
Option 3: Degloss then paint with black or deep charcoal grey. Or some other color you like and find complementary.
Sanding round things is a total drag, I agree.
I hope you find a solution! You've made such great progress already.
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:03 PM on August 22, 2022