Project - Refinish Drafting Table

I was fortunate enough to receive a free drafting table from a local artist who had two to spare. It was through one of those office emails of someone knowing someone who had a neighbor who had an extra table. I saw a little thumbnail pic and figured I could do something with it. It wasn't until it was in my possession that I realized how lucky I was. The hardware alone is worth a fair amount. The table had been exposed to some weather and was in need of some refinishing.

Doing right by the process or refinishing, I took each piece apart and stripped, sanded and finished each one before reassembling.

Somehow I've managed to accidentally collect sanders, 3 different types. And somehow I needed to use all 3 of them in this project! I tried a new "green" Motsenbockers stripper for the varnish and it worked alright, though something more powerful would have done a quicker easier job. It was nice working with the solution without having to wear thick solvent proof gloves, in fact i wore no gloves, this stuff was water based!

Once I sanded the table back to 220 grit I dusted her off and thought I'd try a new finish. Cabot oil stain w/ urethane already in it. It worked very well and saved me from having to apply the 4th coat.

I decided to take the table from its light honey color down to a deep walnut. It would fit much better into our new craft room since it now houses the yarn cabinet I made last x mas.

The table ended up having some "cool" artifacts on the top surface, which being such a large surface, helped break the size of it up. I wish I could say I planned this but it was the result of me messing up earlier. I had the garage door open and it was very rainy and humid. Combined with me rushing to put the 4th coat on before it was ready and putting the coat on too thick, the stain/urethane didnt' have a chance to self level... and long story short, I had to refinish my newly refinished top. Yea. Well the stain soaked in too deep and after an hour I couldn't remove some of those "splotches". I surrendered and began restaining it. It turned out great!

There are still plenty of plans for this room, but it definately is taking shape now.