Refinishing Furniture

We found this mini writer's desk at an old antique store. It did have a really bad burn/stain on the surface of the desk top. It's an old piece. So the lacquer was a dull orange and caked on. It quickly gummed up my sandpaper, so I went through quite a bit. I sanded it down to bare wood. That's when I found out that it was a beautiful piece of furniture. It's made of red oak and most of it is quarter sawn with ray fleck running all through it. The little desk has a lot of tiny cracks and seams that made for some tedious sanding. But once it was done, it looked good and made it well worth it. To finish it I decided to use a wiping varnish. This is more time consuming but leaves a strong, flawless finish that provides layers of protection. Wiping varnish is 2 parts varnish (poly) and 3 parts mineral spirits. I mix them in a mason jar and stir until the color is consistent. I use a mason jar with fill lines allowing you to mix equal parts and if there is any left over, screw the lid down tight and it will keep for a while. But I try to mix only what I need. That's something you get better at the more you do it. There are a few tricks to this. So I will share the Tricks Of The Trade (TOTT): Prep surface with 220 grit sandpaper. Once surface is nice and smooth, use a tack cloth to remove all the dust. Here's the trick, with the first coat use a soft rag. The goal isn't to apply a smooth coat like you think you would with a brush. But instead, you want to flood surface and let the thin varnish flow out and penetrate the pores of the wood. The first coat on unsealed wood tends to soak in quick so go back over each area to keep it wet. Once the surface is coated, let it sit for about 5 minutes before you come back and wipe it off. You want to leave a thin film of finish but not a wet layer. The trick is to start wiping before the varnish gets sticky. Try to be thorough without wiping too hard. Let it dry for about 4-8 hours. Once it's dry sand lightly with a 220 grit sandpaper. Every time you sand you need to remove the dust from the surface using a tack cloth. For the second, third and fourth coats I use a foam brush to apply a smooth wet layer of wiping varnish WITHOUT a wipe down. This builds a thicker film. This time between coats use steel wool to sand out any dust nibs or fuzz that got trapped in the finish. This will leave the surface super smooth. And for the final coat use a soft rag again applying a thin coat with the wipe on/wipe off method similar to the first coat minus the surface flooding. This leaves a unique finish that is only achievable through the "TOTT" I just shared with you. Give it a try! Look at that finish, that shine!