posted & mailed

Trent D. Sanders wrote:

I'm refinishing an old maple table. I've sanded it down to bare wood
and applied a maple stain. But I don't know where to go from here.

The stain probably wasn't necessary. Maple is already maple colored!

Don't want to use an epoxy or anything like that. What did the people
use before epoxy [table is about 70 years old].?

70 years ago, probably shellac or lacquer. Of the two, shellac is much
easier to work with IMHO. Lacquer should preferably be sprayed. Spray
cans are expensive and hard to control. Spray equipment is expensive.
There are brushing lacquers, but the stuff dries FAST, and it's difficult
(impossible) to avoid lap marks.

Shellac is pretty bullet proof. If you screw it up, sand it until it's
smooth and do it over again. Eventually you'll get it right. It produces
wonderful results, and it's my current finish of choice. It dissolves in
alcohol though, and it isn't terribly wear resistant. It's pretty easy to
screw it up. OTOH, it's easy to fix it if you do screw it up.

Beyond that, there are all kinds of other finishes. Waterlox, Poly, even,
yes, epoxy. Poly is the usual newbie woodworker choice. It was the first
finish I ever used. It gives everything a dipped in plastic look, and it's
almost impossible to avoid getting dust motes, hairs, and random particles
of whatever permanently entombed in plastic resin with the stuff, because
it takes six kinds of forever to dry. You can get good results with it,
but it's not "easier" than shellac IMHO.

What wax or ? should I use to restore its original finish? Would
appreciate an e-mail reply to

Johnson's Paste Wax is what I use. There are plenty of others. You want to
use a furniture wax, not an automotive wax. Stay away from anything with
silicone in it. Apply with 0000 steel wool (which you can buy at Wal-Mart,
among other places) and it will cut the gloss on whatever finish you
applied, and then let you buff the wax out to a nice, natural looking
luster.


--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/