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How to change coffee table timber stain colour?

Hi,

I am hoping to get some guidance on the best way to strip/remove the current stain and the best stain to use to get a darker tone. I have no idea what kind of wood it is.

Given the grooves, what type of equipment would I need for the best results?

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

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EricL

Hello @chloejane

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your coffee table.

I suggest investing in a detail sander, this will allow you to get into the tight corners of your coffee table. Plus, it will reduce the amount of time you'll be sanding. My best advice is to look for a spot in your home where you can create a lot of mess (specifically sanding dust) and where your table will be protected from the elements while you are waiting for the stain and varnish to dry.

I recommend visiting your local store and going to the stain and varnish sample board in the paint department. There you'll see all the furniture stains and what they look like when applied to timber. It will make it easier for you to decide if you can see the actual stain. I also suggest having a look at these upcycled buffets.

In regards to the type of timber, I suspect that it is ordinary pine.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their opinions.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Dave-1

Good Evening @chloejane

That is a nice looking table 🙂 Tho it will require some work to darken the stain/varnish.

If it is varnish I would use some paint stripper to remove it, one coat at a time as you cant paste a whole lot and let it dry before you scrape off the varnish. Slow work but doable (paint scraper, small and medium size I would suggest)

If its a stain, then as @EricL has said, prepare an area for a lot of sawdust 🙂 it will be a matter of taking your time and slowly working through the table. As to the stain itself, as in making it darker. There are samples of examples in the paint section.

You could test the back of a leg with some paint stripper to see if it removes it. It should ripple after a few mins and at that point you use the scraper to scrape it off.

Dave

Nailbag

Hi @chloejane

There is going to be a lot of hours needed to sand back that table back to as raw wood as possible. Obviously the glass will need to come out first. A powered sander though will help speed the process up on the flat areas, it shouldn't be used within the grooved sections, which is extensive. Even the fine point of a detail sander will not reach in to the grooves, but most importantly it will very quickly alter their shape leaving uneven flat spots. All of this will need to be done by hand. And if you do use a powered sander, you will need to finish it off with long grain strokes by hand sanding as orbital/detail sanders leave swirl marks. This will become evident when staining. Rubbing a wet cloth of the area will highlight these.

Nailbag

chloejane

Thank you so much the advice. There is a smaller side table that I may have a go with first to see if this is something I can tackle myself ☺️

Dave-1

Evening @chloejane

Now that sounds like a good move, patience and time 🙂 Maybe break it into 4 days worth, 1 day per removing stuff per side? Its how I stripped the paint from my front door and it made a huge task, doable.

Dave

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