A great custom wood finish starts with great wood preparation. If you have spent your time making a custom wood project, or spent money buying unfinished wood furniture, then you will want to put in the necessary time and effort to get the finish you deserve.
Find Damage to Furniture Before You Start
Begin by looking over the piece and take note of any damage. Damaged unfinished wood furniture that was purchased at a store should be exchanged for a piece that meets your quality expectations. However, do not consider natural blemishes in the wood to be damage. The best part about having wood furniture is the uniqueness of every piece. Trees grow outside, exposed to mother nature. There will be variations of normal, but that does not necessarily mean low quality.
Break Down Wood Furniture Into Small Pieces
Next, you will want to remove any hardware that is on the wood furniture. Take off all door knobs and hinges and even drawer glides if you wish. Remove drawers and doors and any shelves or other pieces that can easily be removed. When you have many small pieces it will be easier than staining one large piece. Some furniture will come disassembled, and it is a good idea to stain and finish all the pieces separately if possible.
Fix the Dents and Scratches
Look over your piece and see if there are any bumps or scratches that need to be addressed. If there is a slight dent, take a paper towel and dip it in some boiling hot water, and then let it sit on the dent for a few minutes. The wood will expand and hopefully pop out the dent. If there’s a scratch go ahead and sand it out with an orbital sander or finish sander. It is much easier to fix these problems before you have any stain on the wood.
First Sanding 150 Grit Sand Paper
When your piece is free from any major blemishes, give it a good sanding with a 150 grit sand paper. Be sure to sand with the grain and not against (across) it. When sanding against the grain you will create scratches that may only show up once the wood is stained. If you used an electric sander it would be good to give your project one last pass with 150 grit sand paper by hand to eliminate any small swirl marks that the sander might have left behind.
Final Sanding 220 Grit Sand Paper
Do a final sanding by hand using a 220 grit sand paper. There shouldn’t be any need to sand very hard on this pass, since you should have gotten most of the scratches out with the 150 grit sanding. If you are using a water based stain you might want to take a damp cloth and rub down your piece before your final sanding. This will raise the grain so that it can be sanded down. Now when water based stain is applied the wood will not raise as much.
Practice Makes Perfect
In order for stain to be absorbed by the wood evenly, the surface needs to be sanded evenly and to the proper smoothness. If the wood is too rough it will look blotchy. If it is sanded too smooth, the pores of the wood will not absorb the stain, and the color will not look rich. With some practice, preparing your unfinished wood furniture for stain or paint will become less work and more enjoyable.
