Tell me you’ve never had children without telling me you’ve never had children!
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We’re trying to refinish ours (old house which didn’t originally have an indoor kitchen). White oak, quite thick. The previous homeowner had them installed, and “sealed” them with a thick, thick clear-coat that has since chipped and cracked. After a few chemical bath attempts I gave up and will end up using an electric hand planer set to 1/32 thickness. There is easily 200 square feet of butcher block in the kitchen, so it’ll be a process. But I like it as a working surface.
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You might be better off with a belt sander. I think finishes can gum up a planer and kill it.
But there are people here who know more about wood working than I do who might have a better option for you.
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Tried the belt sander and the paper gets gummed pretty quickly by the clear coat.
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If you can remove the counter top instead of working on it in place I would recommend setting up a router sled to plane the whole thing.
Suggest a bit like this to do so: https://www.amazon.com/Whiteside-Spoilboard-Surfacing-Router-Shank/dp/B0728GYZFW
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I’d love to be able to do that, actually. The previous DIY installer screwed them down and then used construction adhesive all the way around for “extra hold.” They’re in tight. The sizes range from 2’x12’ to 4’x8’ so it’s a lot of surface. A router sled is a great idea, though. Takes away the human element.
It’s actually been a fun project, restoring the house. Ms Pane laughs because of the giggle-joy I get when I take a section of baseboard and no-longer-available basecap (original 1867 shaped, found an old piece in a collapsed garage on the property) and create an exact match) to fill in a missing section and it looks “perfect.”. (“Why did you paint the new baseboard, smash/dent it on gravel, then sloppy-paint it again, then nick a small gouge into it and repaint it?” Well, now it looks like the rest of the room.)
The baseboard and cap:
The test counter, which isn’t in a main area, has been the place for trying the goop, belt sander, and planer:
We might need to make a new DIYer topic!
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Could you cut out the glue points with a demo blade on a multitool/feintool?
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Heh. Points. There is a kitchen island 4x8. The adhesive was applied with a full, large bead all the way around. No idea what the point was, but there is a lot of that sort of thing. Every counter was done like that. Then once they’re off I still have to strip them.
The router sled is a great solution though. For the tops that are against walls (4 ranging from 2’x6’ to2x12) there would be some edges, but that could be handled in some way.
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My last home was built in 1880, and the one before that in 1911, so I totally understand everything you just wrote, and the effort behind it!
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That does sound like a nightmare. Might take a little longer but that bit I listed does come in a smaller shank to use in palm routers (it’s what is in my cnc machine) that would get you a little closer to the wall where a full size router wont.
Best of luck!
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Henry liked that style too:
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We have something similar, though nowhere near 200 feet; we’ll probably hand scrape if we ever get around to removing the stupid old finish, since even 1/32 is more material than I’d like to remove (and hand planing can leave the surface uneven). We have a Bahco hand scraper that is very quick at old finishes, I used it on a bit of floor a few years ago to good effect, also on a dining table.
Did you try a soy-based stripper? It can sometimes work wonders on some finishes that traditional methylene chloride or citric strippers have trouble with, and has the advantage of being food-safe and (relatively) low odor.
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I’ll check for these. By “hand-planer” I should have clarified that it’s an electric hand planer. Just not a box unit.
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You did. I have a Bosch, and have never been able to get an adequately flat result on a wide surface. You might have better skill or a better machine. (Or maybe there’s a clever jig out there that would help; a deep dive on youtube might turn up something.)
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Have you managed to identify what the hell the finish is?
I have read enough of my dad’s copies of WOOD magazine in the terlit over the years to know that’s important.
I’m sure you’ve already looked into it but I found a chart!
Looking at it, and from what you said. I wonder if it might be some sort of Spar Varnish/Urethane. A certain type of older DIYist (ie my dad) likes to put that shit everywhere for durability.
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I’m guessing urethane, given the difficulty of removal and how it manages to gum up when sanded, and chip to small pieces in the places I can scrape it. Before finally jumping into a mechanical removal I plan to try one last heat-treatment to see if it’ll budge.
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Go ask in the Crafting/making thread.
Some one has to know how to kill it.
And the woodworks seem to live over there.
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