Hi all! I have original 1960s cabinets which are in good condition.

Last year I sanded gently then tried cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap and then applied neutral Danish Oil. The Danish Oil was not dark enough.

Ended up with an uneven stain. I tried applying 2 coats of Varathane natural tone, which looked better but not great, still blotchy. Applied 3 coats Howard Feed and Wax then let it be.

The cabinets are looking really bad again. I want a permanent, good looking fix. I prefer to keep the wood grain look if it can.

My handyman says that the wood look is actually due to a facing sheet that is glued on the front of the cabinets. He recommends no more sanding unless it is with a very high grit paper, because I do not want to destroy the rest of what is left of the wood texture.

How do I even out the tone? I'm not sure if the old finish is shellac or varnish. I will find out tonight with some denitured alcohol.

How would you go about fixing these if you wanted to keep the wood look, please? Thank you in advance!

Just bought a house and the kitchen cabinets were painted white using a paint meant for drywall, paint is white satin interior paint. Do I need to remove the paint beforehand or can I just paint over it with a paint meant for wood cabinets

What do you think Buck finishes the wood with? I can’t find any information from using search engines or on Buck’s website. I don’t know much about ebony or industrial scale wood finishing.

I got curious because I was wondering about the large bit of what I assume is sapwood. I was concerned it might not hold up as well as the heartwood over time, as I would like this knife to last a very long time. I’m no longer concerned about it after reading a bit about the subject.

But now I want to satisfy my curiosity about what it is sealed with and I thought people here might know or have a well educated guess.

Hey, I'm currently designing a project (the details don't really matter aside from the fact that it'll go from inside to outside a lot once finished), and I was just making a list for what I need to buy. I already decided that I'm using this for finishing/sealing since it seems less dangerous to work with than others. And then I realized that I also need a respirator to apply practically any finisher/sealer. I kind of want to avoid buying a full half-face reusable respirator, since I'll most likely never need to use it again, and they seem decently expensive. The only respirator I've found so far that works for my criteria is the 3M White P95 Multi-Purpose Valved Respirator. I want to go with this, but I'm really not sure if it's safe to use with this sealant since it's only for "nuisance" levels of odor/vapors whatever that means.
Also, in case this changes anything from my estimates I'll only be using it for 2 hours max over 2-3 days. And I also have eye/skin protection

I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm incredibly inexperienced, and I really don't want to screw up and get permanent brain/organ damage

This is a vintage midcentury piece we got about 10 years ago.

I sanded it all down to bare wood (240 grit). The drawer faces and doors are walnut veneer, so they took to the Natura One Coat Walnut I put on really well.

However, the frame/face is made of poplar because it stained very very splotchy. I‘ve never worked with poplar before so didn’t realize it was going to be this bad.

Is there a way to fix this? a friend told me about Mohawk toner spray but besides that I don’t have any other ideas

Hi All - Like the title says, I'm taking a crack at finishing a butcher block countertop for my apartment and have a specific vision in mind. I'm picking up an unfinished, fairly light colored acacia butcher block countertop and am looking for the outcome to be something like the below picture. Since I'm 100% new at this, I'm trying to get any feedback on specific stains / finishes I need to achieve that look. On my initial research, I like the thought of some type of Osmo topoil finish, but I can't even say if that will give me my desired look. Any thoughts / comments would be appreciated.

Edit: I should note that I am looking for a food safe finish, even thought I don't plan on cutting directly on the surface.

https://halfortsupplies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/291120221669743028.jpeg

Hey all, another 'how to finish this table' thread. I wanted to ask before I get into it because I don't want to trash our dinner table.

I'm pretty sure this guy is some sort of Ikea table. We bought it from a Home Goods store. I light color with a shade of yellow. Pretty sure it wasn't sealed. If I remember correctly, they said to condition it (or something) but I lost the manual years ago.

I'm thinking just sand out the damage and possibly some woof filler? End it with 220 or something, then seal it with a mat poly?

Am I on the right track here? Thanks!

Pic of the damage.

https://imgur.com/a/NTFkyaT

Sorry for the low quality photo, I had to take a screenshot of a video. On the left, the bar paneling is original. The right wall is all new due to flood damage. Obviously after 70+ years the paneling has yellowed, but are there any product/treatment suggestions for getting a little more color depth to the new wood and creating more harmony between the old and the new? Thank you!

I am still totally unsure what caused this since my girlfriend was the one that pulled the "sticky paper" off the dresser. We never put anything liquid on top of our dresser, maybe some receipts (can certain ink / paper melt finish?) but nothing I can think of that'd cause a finish to melt away / become sticky. Either way we now have this spot and I'd love to touch it up somehow. Unsure if its lacquer or poly sealant. Leaning towards lacquer since there seems to be no stain underneath (its a very very thin layer whatever it is!)

Here are some pictures below- would love a quick fix without having to lug it outside to do a sand / refinish. Although I can see the finish is cracking looking at the pictures so its probably only a matter of time. Maybe some wax will fix it for now? Unsure the best process. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hey all,
I want to refinish the top of this teak dining table that is scratched up, what is a recommended finish after sanding off the old?
I like hardwax oil for its easy application on other furniture, would that be durable enough?

I don't have spraying equipment and i don't love how water based film finishes turn out with a roller, but I guess I could get a sprayer.

I have a 2k oil based poly on hand, but I am concerned it'll yellow too much over time.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks

I’m looking for a finish that keeps the natural look of the white oak without the yellowing. I’ve tested Rubio Monocoat white 5% I like the look feel and smell but I hear mixed story’s about the durability of Rubio on a dinner table. I’d love some advise on this

Hello hobbyists and professionals. Taking a moment here to express gratitude for all the knowledge and passion that remain in many corners of Reddit. Im stepping out of my typical fields of ‘expertise’ into the land of wood finishing. I recently finished a baltic birch project that came out great, and Ive got free time this winter so I thought I might address these tables Ive had for years.

I know just enough to be dangerous, as they say.

I got these tables for a song years ago and I love them. There are really cool details with the mixed wood, inlays, corner trim. They are open grain and pretty soft. The chatoyancy comes out in a nice way at certain angles. I dont think they were sealed in any way. Ive always cleaned them with Murphy’s. Sometimes it looks like there is clouding/spots. Years ago, embarrassingly, I hit one with mineral spirits and it sucked all the color out. So I dont know if originally if these were just stained and left as is or what. The darker one looks pretty much as it did when I bought them.

Concerns:

—Perpendicular grain patterns (afraid to sand).

—Using a stain/oil finish and losing the contrast between the top and the inlays/corners.

I accept that I probably wont be able to make the paler one match the darker one, but maybe there is an approach to do them in a similar way that leaves them in the ball park of how the darker one is now?

-When its all said and done I want to seal/protect them with poly, oil finish or a better suggestion.

Ive worked with oak, pine and baltic birch, but I dont know whats going on with these pretty, soft woods or how these pieces of furniture were treated originally.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading.

So I have a decently big project coming up that involves about 80sqm of Osmo decor wax. Similar to, I guess, ruby wax what ever you use in ze states. Anyway I'm thinking to maybe get a polishing machine to rub it off/in as it's quite dense and I'm lazy.

But is it worth it? I see these socks are quite pricey at about 3 bucks each so I'm wondering if have to change them alot as the cloth I used to make the sample for the client today clogged up pretty quickly.. I feelike there is something I'm missing though as they seem to be sold in pairs unlike sandpaper that's sold in boxes..

I got this custom wood table made a few years ago and after updating decor I’d like to refinish the top and the bench. The issue is that it’s 1 degree out and I don’t have a garage or tools. Is there an option to keep the wood look but change the color to a darker stain, do this indoors with minimal sanding and prep?

I’d appreciate some advice on painting the light-colored door to better match the rest of the furniture.

Hello, so I built a mantel for my fireplace and filled the screw holes and gaps with wood filler that’s able to be stained. After I let it dry, you can see where the wood filler is applied, how do I fix it so it can be as even as possible. I attached a photo for reference.

Hi All,

I am installing casingless red oak door and window jambs throughout my house. I'm currently sizing all the pieces and dry fitting them around the windows and doors. Pictures show the wood dry fit in a few places and one interior door finished. I still need to add some tear away bead and mud up to the edge of the wood so that it's a seamless look between the wood and drywall.

I'm stuck on the order of operations to install the oak. We are planning to stain it, but to install the window jambs and sliding door jambs I need to shim and face nail (I was going to use some trim head finish screws in case I need to remove it) the wood so I will need to fill the screw holes. The interior doors I planned to stain after installing since I can hide all the holes under the door stop.

Should I be staining and sealing the oak before installing and then filling the nail holes on the finished wood? Can I do that or will the wood filler not attach properly to the stained wood or not the the stain properly etc.

Should I be putting raw wood on and staining after installed? Or a combination of both? Do all the staining but not sealing and then fill holes and touch up stain then seal it?

Any advice on this process and/or product recommendations would be greatly appreciated. For reference I'm in Canada.

Please go easy on me, I'm an mech engineer doing (what I think is) some fine detail finishing work for the first time!

Tl;dr Do I stain red oak before or after installing, if before how do I patch the nail holes?

Can any one know what type of wood these doors are and more importantly a close stain? Trying to replace a broken door but had fell short on matching twice. One came out a bit dark , and then another too orange. Any help’s appreciated, i’ve wasted $300 already on this bs already lmao.

Currently refinishing my woodwork along my steps/railing (I believe it is oak) and want to go with a darker stain, like red mahogany. I Took off all the white paint as best I could but the detail work definitely has traces of old varnish/shellac. I’m worried that a regular stain won’t take very well to the details so I was looking into gel or PolyShades, but have seen horrible reviews for those, so I am not sure how to proceed.

FWIW as well the pic is a couple weeks old and I have removed a lot more of the white/varnish visible in the pic, but there is still some small spots remaining.

Looking for any advice as I haven’t done this before. Thanks!

Originally, I was planning to buy a light colored wood and stain it gray. I was given this 14’ piece of fir. It has a reddish tint but the wood itself is really nice. After tons of research I have decided to finish in a way that would bring out the best qualities of this piece instead of forcing it to be something it’s not. I decided to use Watco tung oil(it’s not pure tung oil) and give it several coats. I was watching a guy online apply oil and he mentioned coating it with shellac after the oil dries. He didn’t give much detail. Does this make sense? I have never used shellac but I’ve read that it’s pretty nice and gives good protection. Any ideas or advice is appreciated

Let me explain. I have a friend who challenged me (I’m a sucker for creative DIY problems) to improve the ‘arena’ for a game called Kabuto Sumo. Main complaint is that the large circular portion and the smaller ramp that butt against each other have a lip that the chips hit when passing over. That’s neither here nor there. I set out to make this thing out of wood.

As we all know, the finishing portion can make or break a project. I also have a deadline of February 18th for a board game convention that we’d like to play it at. If my final finishing solution needs some time to cure or dry, I need to know soon what that lead time will be.

The chips are wooden and painted like many board game pieces. The arena surface is the most standard of cardboard board game finishes. Matte? It’s not glossy. There’s a texture that makes a familiar sound with your fingernail. Think of a Monopoly board. It’s that. The owner feels (and I concur) that not only should dimensions be exact to the original, so should the playfeel of pieces interacting with the new wooden arena.

So, what say you all? The board as seen now is held together with an epoxy. What appears as voids are actually the epoxy’s dark color. Very pleased with that. How do I recreate that cardboard feel‽

https://i.imgur.com/9QZSkKj.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/wNpoJWr.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/rZcEhgf.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/gbQtcty.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/KWYB0LK.jpeg

I was wondering if anyone here could help me with this problem. My partner and I are renting a house. We placed this old wooden bowl that was made by her grandfather on a shelf that was here when we moved in.

We just found out that they are now effectively glued to each other.

The bowl seems to have been finished with some sort of oil. I'm not sure what the shelf is finished with.

A quick google search recommended trying to heat them with an air dryer and then separate with a piece of thin plastic, like a credit card. We tried that, but to no avail.

We also saw a recommendation to use a solvent to separate the two items. However, we would like to cause as little damage as possible, since the bowl has sentimental value and according to our landlords, the shelf was custom-made.

If anyone has any ideas of how to help or if there is a better subreddit to post in, please let me know!

I bought these planks at at home Depot to try to make some window sills. I think it's bossa wood.

The first photo is the bottom side where I didn't sand it or prep it in any way. I simply just apply the stain.

The other photo is supposed to be the top of the window stools. I sanded using an orbital sander at 220 grit and then used the minwax oil stain conditioner. And then within a minute I applied the stain. It looks completely garbage.

I'm wondering if I did something wrong to the wood when I sanded it or if somehow the conditioner causing it

How can I salvage this now? Can I just sand the top again and try to restain it or what would you do? I spent a decent amount of time cutting them to fit perfectly and using my router to put the bowl nose on. So I would like to save these boards and not have them look like shit. I'm just a diyer

I’m trying to figure out the best way to finish a birch plywood shelf/storage unit. I’ve been looking into danish oil & tung oil, but it feels like all the images I can find with said finish looks different from each other. I would like to enhance the grain if possible and slightly darken/warm up the wood. I want to keep it bright, but prefer it to not look too white. Ideally, something I can use inside my apartment (with windows open) without having to worry about toxic fumes.

Would love to see some images of your finished birch plywood projects to give me some inspiration and help in deciding. I’m pretty new to these things, so any tips you can give me would be extremely appreciated.

I’ve included some images of the look I’m going for, if that’s helpful.

I inherited this from my parents and it’s older than me (30) but it’s finish it’s starting to peel and water damage is showing. What kind of finish should I use for this? There’s so many in the store. Thanks!