This is posted in uk.diy too but i thought that you might be able to use
your wealth of knowledge to help too! So i apologise to any who are
offended by cross posts!

Hi All,

I have just had my internal pine paneled doors chemically stripped to
rid them of many many years worth of gloss paint... i have the doors
back now but they are not in the condition that i was hoping for! I was
hoping to have a nice clean pine colour that i could varnish. What i
actually have is a darker colour which isnt particularly attractive. The
person at the strippers said that they had been stained mahogany at some
point, hence the dark pigmentation. Granted the doors are still drying
out and some of the discolouration on them is due to them still being damp.

Now for the questions!

Once the doors have fully dried, do you think that sanding them with
say, a belt sander, to remove a few mm from them would bring the finish
up any better? Would anyone have any suggestions for revitalising them?
Or should i go buy a tin of gloss paint!!?? )

I dont have a belt sander, i was looking at this one from machine
mart... http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=060310001 do you
think this would fit the bill?

How nice a finish would the belt sander give? Would i need to hand sand
/ orbital sand etc after belting?

TIA

Gerry

Visit www.refinishwizard.com and ask if you don't find anything
helpful.

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:44:35 +0000, Cuprager wrote:

This is posted in uk.diy too but i thought that you might be able to use
your wealth of knowledge to help too! So i apologise to any who are
offended by cross posts!

Hi All,

I have just had my internal pine paneled doors chemically stripped to
rid them of many many years worth of gloss paint... i have the doors
back now but they are not in the condition that i was hoping for! I was
hoping to have a nice clean pine colour that i could varnish. What i
actually have is a darker colour which isnt particularly attractive. The
person at the strippers said that they had been stained mahogany at some
point, hence the dark pigmentation. Granted the doors are still drying
out and some of the discolouration on them is due to them still being damp.

Now for the questions!

Once the doors have fully dried, do you think that sanding them with
say, a belt sander, to remove a few mm from them would bring the finish
up any better? Would anyone have any suggestions for revitalising them?
Or should i go buy a tin of gloss paint!!?? )

I dont have a belt sander, i was looking at this one from machine
mart... http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=060310001 do you
think this would fit the bill?

How nice a finish would the belt sander give? Would i need to hand sand
/ orbital sand etc after belting?

TIA

Gerry

"Cuprager" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I have just had my internal pine paneled doors chemically stripped to
rid them of many many years worth of gloss paint... i have the doors
back now but they are not in the condition that i was hoping for! I was
hoping to have a nice clean pine colour that i could varnish. What i
actually have is a darker colour which isnt particularly attractive. The
person at the strippers said that they had been stained mahogany at some
point, hence the dark pigmentation. Granted the doors are still drying
out and some of the discolouration on them is due to them still being
damp.

Now for the questions!

Once the doors have fully dried, do you think that sanding them with
say, a belt sander, to remove a few mm from them would bring the finish
up any better? Would anyone have any suggestions for revitalising them?
Or should i go buy a tin of gloss paint!!?? )

Probably a bad idea. Your question makes you sound like you have little
experience working with wood and that all by itself is good reason to be
wary of a belt sander. A belt sander is a great tool, but one which
requires a certain skill and knowledge of what to expect. It is far too
easy, in fact it is predictable in the hands of a novice that a belt sander
will create waves in your wood that will be nothing less than the ugliest
thing you could ever find, once you apply a little varnish. Even little
waves show up as huge irregularities once varnish is applied. The higher
the gloss, the worse the problem.

I'd suggest you'd be better off with a random orbital sander or even a palm
sander. Both are less aggressive than a belt sander, and less inclined to
dig. You'd want to start with something on the order of 100 grit paper and
take your time. Keep the tool moving. No matter what sander you end up
using, the most important part is to keep it moving. Holding it in one
place will create a divot. Patience. Lots of sandpaper and lots more
patience. Keep working the whole door until you get the color down to an
acceptable level. Stains can penetrate significantly into pine and you may
not be able to get it all out, but you can probably get it to a much more
acceptable level with some effort. After you get the door to a color you
can live with, continue to sand it with less abrasive grits until you have
it ready for a finish. You could probably move up to 150 grit and then to
200 or so. I would not go past 200 grit. Same thing - keep it moving. The
secret is consistency across the entire door. Try to keep the sander on all
places on the door the same amount as it was on other places. Does that
make sense?

You should be able to get this door up to something you can live with this
way. Just don't get in a rush. And don't buy that belt sander.

--

-Mike-

[makesawdust]

If you take a belt sander to your doors, odds are you are going to destroy them, or at least end up with doors that have significant low spots from the sander cutting too aggressively. If you must sand them, you would probably be better off using a random orbit sander and working through a progression of grits (i.e. 80 grit, 150 grit, 220 grit).

Chlorine bleaches can be used to remove dye-based stain from wood. A laundry grade like Clorex probably won't work because it isn't concentrated enough. Pool grade (calcium hypochlorite) may work, but it is going to depend on the stain that was used. If you are going to go this route, make sure you test the chemical in an inconspicuous place to make sure it doesn't do more harm than good.

It may be possible to re-stain the doors (if you don't mind the darker color), then compensate for any variation in color with a tinted lacquer finish.

Good luck,

Scott

Originally Posted by Cuprager

This is posted in uk.diy too but i thought that you might be able to use
your wealth of knowledge to help too! So i apologise to any who are
offended by cross posts!

Hi All,

I have just had my internal pine paneled doors chemically stripped to
rid them of many many years worth of gloss paint... i have the doors
back now but they are not in the condition that i was hoping for! I was
hoping to have a nice clean pine colour that i could varnish. What i
actually have is a darker colour which isnt particularly attractive. The
person at the strippers said that they had been stained mahogany at some
point, hence the dark pigmentation. Granted the doors are still drying
out and some of the discolouration on them is due to them still being damp.

Now for the questions!

Once the doors have fully dried, do you think that sanding them with
say, a belt sander, to remove a few mm from them would bring the finish
up any better? Would anyone have any suggestions for revitalising them?
Or should i go buy a tin of gloss paint!!?? )

I dont have a belt sander, i was looking at this one from machine
mart... http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=060310001 do you
think this would fit the bill?

How nice a finish would the belt sander give? Would i need to hand sand
/ orbital sand etc after belting?

TIA

Gerry

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:44:35 +0000, Cuprager wrote:

Once the doors have fully dried, do you think that sanding them with
say, a belt sander, to remove a few mm from them would bring the finish
up any better? Would anyone have any suggestions for revitalising them?

I have to agree with Mike that the belt sander may not be the best
choice. Not only will you have problems on softer wood such as pine
but the belt sander will not get into a lot of areas on a panel door.
A smaller sander such as a palm sander will be less aggressive and get
into some tighter areas. You will still probably have to do some
detailed sanding by hand in some of the routed areas and the corners
of the panels.
The larger flat areas of the door should go pretty fast depending on
the depth of the stain but all of the nooks and crannies will take
some time.

I would try an area by hand with maybe 100 grit to see how deep the
stain has penetrated. If it comes up relatively easily by hand, buy
the sander and go at it. If you can't get the stain off by hand, (or
at least enough to make you happy) you might be better off trying
something else....maybe very dark stain or as a last resort, more
paint.

Mike O.

snip

Thanks for all of your help. I will be doing the work at the weekend and
promise to let you know how i get on!

You are right in that i am a woodworking novice... so i might give the
idea of using a belt sander a miss!!

Thanks again

Gerry