Second hand oak table

ronanphilip · 30-09-2020 12:27am #1

I bought a second hand oak table. There is some kind of stain / mark on it that I would like to try and remove or reduce as much as possible and then refinish the table top

I don't know what the stain is but it looks like the previous owner had sanded it against the grain

I sanded a bit with the grain to see what would happen and this is what it looks like now

Any advice on what I could try to remove / reduce the stain ?

Also any advice on what to use to refinish the tale top ?

Thanks :-)

magicbastarder · 30-09-2020 12:37pm

photos aren't loading for me?

ronanphilip · 01-10-2020 12:28am

magicbastarder wrote: »

photos aren't loading for me?

They should be visible now I think ?

dathi · 01-10-2020 11:48am

you can remove it with oxalic acid use about a teaspoon in 300ml of boiling water apply to stain and leave to dry or dry with heat gun if you have one ,it may take several applications ,when happy wash area with clean water, be careful as oxalic acid dust can irritate the respiration tract and is poisonous

ronanphilip · 01-10-2020 10:55pm

dathi wrote: »

you can remove it with oxalic acid use about a teaspoon in 300ml of boiling water apply to stain and leave to dry or dry with heat gun if you have one ,it may take several applications ,when happy wash area with clean water, be careful as oxalic acid dust can irritate the respiration tract and is poisonous

I will give it a go, thanks. Where is the best place to buy some ?

What would be the best thing to put on the table top as a finish then do you think ?

dathi · 02-10-2020 8:28am

https://www.lenehans.ie/oxalic-acid-500g.html

magicbastarder · 02-10-2020 8:59pm

you can see the stain crosses over two separate strips in the table top though.

ronanphilip · 02-10-2020 9:02pm

magicbastarder wrote: »

you can see the stain crosses over two separate strips in the table top though.

Is that a bigger issue then ?

magicbastarder · 02-10-2020 9:07pm

the post i was responding to has been deleted. someone commented it may have been natural coloration in the wood, but it's not.

so my comment was just pointing out that it can't be natural.

ronanphilip · 14-10-2020 11:06pm

Have tried the oxalic acid, applied it a few times but it didn't remove or lighten the stain

is there anything else I can try ?

recipio · 15-10-2020 11:11am

ronanphilip wrote: »

Have tried the oxalic acid, applied it a few times but it didn't remove or lighten the stain

is there anything else I can try ?

It might be some kind of oil stain. An old trick is to pour a little meths on it and set it alight. Let it burn for a few minutes - it will extinguish itself. You might have to repeat a few times.
After that a good sanding will help going up to 240 grit. Tables take a lot of abuse so I generally use a satin polyurethane put on with a good varnish brush.

ronanphilip · 21-10-2020 9:32pm

It might be some kind of oil stain. An old trick is to pour a little meths on it and set it alight. Let it burn for a few minutes - it will extinguish itself. You might have to repeat a few times.
After that a good sanding will help going up to 240 grit. Tables take a lot of abuse so I generally use a satin polyurethane put on with a good varnish brush.

I wasn't brave enough to try the lighting meths option, had visions of burning the table or the house down :eek:

I did try oxalic acid, white spirits, baking soda, light sanding and the pink stuff - the miracle cleaning paste with no luck

Decided to just try and sand it out, and managed to get most of it out. Can still be seen but its at a stage where I was happy with it. It almost looks like part of the wood now. There is a bit of a dip where I sanded it out but happy with the result overall.

I had already bought Liberon Hard Wax Oil Satin to finish it. So after treating the whole table top with oxalic acid and sanding it I applied 3 coats.

Photos of the results below

Second hand oak table

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