coffee table restore (floorboard)

[Grandpa]

Hi all
I have a coffee table that was made from floorboards(hardwood?)
Over the years the dog has scratched the top (jumped on it) and our son has given it some rough treatment.
What sort of sander would be best suited to sand the top of the table or is there something else I need to do to get rid of the scratches?
Thanks in advance.

[Cruzi]

Dints can sometimes be removed by using a damp cloth and an iron.

Scratches in finish can sometimes also be removed by a cut and polish using a buffer, something like forum sponsor's EEE Wax for example.

Metho and 0000 Steel wool can work sometimes as well

All above methods work best on shallow stuff, deep scratches would probably require stripping back.

[Grandpa]

They are pretty deep scratches. What would be the best way to strip back the wood?

[artme]

Why do you want to remove family history?

[Cruzi]

Think artme has hit a point.

The current thinking with restoration is not to strip it back to bare wood and refinish, stripping will remove most antique value and appeal.

A good rub with metho and steel wool will give you a better finish without removing patina.


If you just want to go mad and strip it back, work through your sandpapers from 80 grit up to whatever you intend to finish with, 240 for Estapol, 1200 odd for oils.

Make sure you use sandpaper intended for paint when removing old finish, ordinary papers will clog quickly.

[Grandpa]

Thanks for the advice guys but a strip back is needed. The coffee table in it's present state is painfull to look at and it's not an antique.
Sanding by hand would take years to get the scratches out. Which particular sander would be suited for a cut back?
Thanks again for the advice so far, I am learning.

[artme]

OK, from one Grandpa to another:

• You might try a stripper first.
• Random orbital sander next, going down through the grades.
• Finish with hand sanding. Tedious but for me effective for best finish.
• You could just skip first step.

OR

• Hand scrapere (gives you sore thumbs).
• Scraper type plane.

[Grandpa]

Thanks Artme, i will have a crack at it.