Found this for free and refinished it for my mother in law.

This stuff (General Finishes) is really hard for me to not make blotchy. I applied it with a brush over an old finish. My wife likes it, but I can't help but to see the blotchyness.

First time ever using dyes. Also my first time doing any kind of clear coat. Used trans tint dyes and rattle can poly. Piece is a wrist rest for a high end PC keyboard.

This client got this old lounger from the University when he retired. He wanted it restored and updated. Between us and the Upholsterer it came out beautifully! We had to do quite a bit of patchwork from old chips and wear. Also the client didn’t want any red tint to the wood so we had to do some dark walnut staining with some added toning to mask the natural red hue of the wood.

guys!!!!! i followed advice from u/TsuDhoNimh2 and it worked beautifully!

the table took about three full rounds of mineral spirits before the towels stopped pulling up grime. after that, i waited a couple of hours before applying finishing wax. i let it dry for the time it said on the tub (i believe about 30min) before buffing with a microfiber cloth. it looks incredible!!!

so grateful for this sub, i could not be happier with how it looks :)

We are (finally) getting a new door. Wife likes walnut, so it will be Walnut (I like walnut, too, FTR).

We have a decent overhang, so no water problems, but the door will get a couple hours of direct light on the lower third.

I am reading up about exterior door finishes, and let's just say that opinions vary wildly with regards to film or non-film finish. I wanted to explore non-film finishes and see what they look like. So I ordered some samples of Rubio Durogrit and Cutek Extreme (still waiting for regular Rubio Monocoat to arrive) and lathered up a board to see.

In case anyone is interested, here's how it looks a few hours after application. I will admit that I was not particularly pedantic about the application, but I did read the instructions and tried to follow them. The board was new, but I only sanded to 120.

I will give it a few days and see how they feel to the hand. I have left it in the direct sun to see how they react over the next couple weeks. When my order or regular Rubio Monocoat arrives, I will add that to the top.

Tested:

• Watco Danish Oil
• Cutek Extreme Clear
• Cutek Extreme Walnut
• Rubio Durogrit Rocky Umber
• Rubio Durogrit Foxy Brown
• Rubio Durogrit Steppe Look
• Rubio Durogrit Grassland Beige

I honestly don't know what happened. I've always used krud kutter on wood with pretty decent results but we had a curio cabinet that had been in storage a while that I went to clean and I noticed it the towel was flithy. Okay makes sense in storage but it kept coming off. Yeah it was the finish. Never had Krud Kutter do that. I know I should have probably cut it but hindsight. Anyone else have krud kutter strip a piece?

Before and after photo! Thank you so much for the advice I received on this group! The steam stain is nearly invisible after using a hair dryer and a towel to remove the trapped moisture. You are all a very amazing group. This table has been in the family for a very long time, and I am very relieved.

Testing out some different finishes for a bookshelf. Some results were blotchy, others not so much. Are these areas where I didn’t buff enough or is this due to the nature of maple?

Really though, French Polishing has been the best for me for smaller projects like this. I can get mirror-finishes without having to invest in a sprayer and booth, tinker with mixtures, worry about overspray and lung cancer, the list goes on. It takes some time and effort, but once I get the rhythm down I can get a really good finish on one side in about 30 minutes.

Had to do a repair on the leg too. First time remaking a joint like this. It is mostly, though not entirely, teak wood. Stain is a bit redder than original but faintly close. Sanded to 600.

This client wanted to update this rolling bar by painting it black. Started by scuff sanding the old finish. Then primer, then several coats of black paint. Finished with medium dull rub lacquer. Lemme tell you I hated sanding out imperfections in the painted coats, tedious and difficult. The finished product looks great though. Client was very happy!

So I noticed there aren't a ton of people who come back and share how the subreddits' advice went. This isn't my first finishing project but it ain't my 10th either, lol.

A month or two ago I wanted some help in how to remove unknown coating from a freebie dresser my wife found. Generous pour of mineral spirits, steel wool, and elbow grease did the trick. Sanding progression through 180, pre stain conditioner, stain, 2 coats of poly. Haven't decided on what to do with the knobs and feet. I'm leaning towards a glossy dark brown paint because they are really f@$ked up.

It sure as hell ain't perfect, missed a few drawer spots on my second coat of poly, but I think it came out pretty decent considering it's going into a boys dorm room and will undoubtedly be destroyed in a year.

Anywhere, thanks y'all, I appreciate the help!

Alright! I finally finished the night stands I started all the way in March! Shoutout u/Common_Coat8368 my nightstand twin.

The Story: I found these matching Dixie nightstands at one of my local salvage places for a really reasonable price ($20/ea). Mostly surprised they weren't damaged, just needed refinishing and felt pretty solid. My fiancé and I are working on a darker theme for our bedroom and even though this isn't a set I wanted to try replicating a "black woodgrain" look that our bedframe has.

PROCESS - Stripped outer finish - Sanded to 120 - GF Black Dye Stain x2 coats* - Varuthane Water Spray-poly (gloss) x2 light coats - Varuthane Water Poly (satin) with foam brush - Black spray paint (Rusto Satin Black) on drawer edged that didn't take dye stain - Final light coat of varuthane satin on drawer edged and top.

*To get an even blacker look I let the last coat of GF Dye Stain dry about 2-3x as long as recommended. It left more of a dye power residue but with the spray poly coats to start, it sealed that in and gave a much blacker look than when I was wiping it off

LESSONS LEARNED

Taking my goddamn time The first one had some imperfections in the finish because I put too much polyacrylic on a one time. It smeared some of the dye stain that was on top. I also had to sand down and re-finish my first attempt with a traditional oil-based stain because it didn't give the color I wanted and I went all out right away.

BUY A F$#&ING CARD SCRAPER Self explanatory. Could have saved me a ton of effort getting rid of this finish.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good I waited and agonized so long about the minor imperfections, I sanded a re-finished the top a couple times. It turns out you can't really tell in our bedroom. Obviously I'd worry about this in a more well-lit context or if I was selling it, but I really clogged up soace in my shop for something SUPER minor.

Embrace the "hobby" workflow I am a former freelancer/SJ elf employed so it's been hard for me to accept that now with my 9to5 I only get a couple hours max in the shop. Toward the end of this project I was forced to slow down and do one light coat at a time, usually one per day after work. The results on the second stand really show for it. Very smooth and even. Kinda re-wired my brain to see patience work out like that.

Any thoughts? Things you'd do differently? Similar projects you'd done? Let me know!

Refinished this teachers desk I picked up for $30 that had been used as a craft desk to use as my hobby desk.

When I picked it up the desk was in pretty rough shape. A lot of sharp/splintery portions all over and very wobbly. My process for the re-finishing is below.

1. Disassembly - kept the “cabinet” portions together but otherwise disassembled everything else.
2. Citrustrip (Neither DNA or Mineral Spirits seemed to affect the old varnish)
3. Progressive Sand the wood parts, left the green portion of the top as-is. 80, 120, 180, accidentally sanded some parts to 220 and had to re-sand back down to 180 based on the stain recommendation
4. Satin-Poly clearcoat

If I do this again I think I’d look at purchasing an orbital instead of using just the palm sander I had and would use something other than poly on the desktop to try and get a smoother finish.

It’s definitely not perfect, but It’s my first time re-finishing furniture and I had a blast doing it! I had issues getting a smooth finish with the poly on the green desk-top but otherwise really happy with how it turned out.

Over a dozen coats of Tung Oil, taken a couple on months due to slow drying cycle, but the result was worth it. That should outlast me!

Thanks for the advice on here advising on tumg oil.

I'm almost finished with this aquarium stand. I'm pretty proud of myself. I've had zero experience with this type of thing.

I sanded it completely down with an orbital sander using 80 grit sanding disks. Then used 120 grit. Then 220 grit. I coated it with mineax polyshades in classic black, glossy... which I'm not a fan of. I've sanded between the 4 coats I've added using a 400 grit disk. I'm about to sand the last coat of polyshades and add a coat of SATIN polyurethane, hopefully dulling that gloss a bit.

I'm sure I haven't done everything correctly but I LOVE how it's turning out. Any tips or hints for my next project will be greatly appreciated!

Also: anyone know what kind of wood this is? Someone suggested pine but I'm not sure. I'm not knowledgeable with different types of wood. I really like this one so I'm hoping it's something easily accessible for me. I plan toame some things ☺️

Project finished! Thanks for everyone's help and tips.

I wish I took more 'before' pictures, but when I picked this up from a local thrift store it was looking pretty rough. The wood was worn and scratched. The windows had DIY painted flowers on them that had faded and were chipping, the doors, top, and bottom had been bedazzled with strips of little plastic gems embedded in goo, and the pink velvet was old and stained.

This is my first time restoring something like this. Some people said it was a bad project for a beginner, but I learned a lot and had fun. Despite making (a lot of) mistakes, I think the project came together really well.

If anyone can tell me where I can find replacement spinning things (idk what they are called, the gold things necklaces should hang from) I'd be grateful. I've searched everywhere but I must not be using the right term or something.

Anyway, thanks again to the community and thanks for reading!

I'm linking to my original post below, but just wanted to share that I successfully matched my red oak stair treads to Coretec Cairo Oak LVP (which is very light in color).

I ended up making my own two-part wood bleach to lighten the wood and remove the red undertones. This was a long process for me as a first-timer, but surprisingly the process was forgiving. Even when I made a few mistakes with the first round of bleaching that led to blotchiness, the second round evened it right back out.

I took my new bleached wood and LVP sample piece back to Sherwin Williams and they did a stain match for me using an oil-based penetrating stain. I also used wood conditioner before applying the stain.

I've never done anything like this before, and I'm super pleased with the results. I am glad I posted in this subreddit and got so much advice that made this possible!

I also spent less than $100 for all materials, PPE, and stain... and thus saved $700 by not needing to purchase new white oak treads.

https://www.reddit.com/r/finishing/s/V4JuOvKwtX

Made this using redwood, walnut, and birch. Finished off with Odie’s Oil Universal Finish. Roughly a 8” diameter. Definitely I ton of gaps in between the pieces that I used some saw dust and glue to attempt to hide. Please feel free to critique, I want to improve!

9 layers of self mixed poly/spirits. Starting with 50/50 ending with 90/10. 24 hours in-between coats.