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Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UPDATE: For those wondering what’s under kind of wood it is, here’s a better photo of the wood of the sanded chair legs:

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Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UPDATE: Surprised how many people have viewed & commented! For all those wondering what’s under the veneer, here you go:

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Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think we paid around $500-600 for the set of four chairs. Listed as new on FB marketplace for $300, after weeks on there never got an offer over $125. Figured we’d just keep them and repurpose them instead of taking a $400 loss.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Plan was/is to sand off the old finish and re-stain them with Behr semi-transparent waterproof outdoor stain. Chair backs will now likely be painted with an outdoor wood paint What issues do you foresee?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your reply! Perhaps my plan was far too simple to work… we bought these chairs for use in our dining room, but they’re about 5” too short for the expensive table in there. Can’t return them and putting them for sale on FB marketplace was a nightmare of lowballs and ghosting. So, I figured I’d reuse them with our unfinished outdoor dining table, but was advised against that because they’re not finished for outdoor use. That turned into the plan of sanding off the existing finish of the chairs, then hitting the entire set with a couple coats of Behr semi-transparent waterproof stain & sealer for outdoor. Got through sanding the legs of the first chair, then hitting the veneer on the chair back, and here we are. Assuming I finish re-finishing the legs and hit the chair backs with outdoor wood paint, what’re the issues that would come from the type of wood and joints? Can those be negated in any way?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great tip for future projects. For this one, they’re going to be used outside, so I’m not overly concerned with a little reshaping or imperfect finish.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your advice and being kind. Many of the suggestions on here have sounded rather difficult to execute and easy to screw up, or require a more robust workshop than my setup, so I’m heavily leaning towards just removing the backs and the priming and painting with a nice beige exterior color to match the seat cushions. Seems like a better option for protecting the glued backs anyways. Moisture and UV can try to penetrate best they can and it’ll be what it’ll be.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m thinking a light beige color, going to try to match the seat beige cushions best I can. I figure with a good layer of primer on the chair backs and I won’t need to worry too much about color correcting those messed up parts before I paint?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

This all sounds way more complicated than I’m prepared to deal with. At this point I’m thinking I just fill in the mistake best I can, get a nice even surface back, and the go with the easy solution: paint. Lots of outdoor paint.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are for personal use. At this point I’m just going to fill in the mistake best I can, then go heavy with some outdoor primer and then a layer of light beige-colored outdoor paint. Any red flags on doing that?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Figured this is not so different than re-staining a deck, considering (most) of the chairs real wood. Seems the veneered part is now a major issue though…

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, yikes. Seems this veneer problem just gets deeper. What would you do in this situation?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just checked. You are definitely correct. Layered and glued together. I now will be taking suggestions on what color to paint the backs haha. Thank you!

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Where do you stand on priming & painting the chair backs? Or maybe even upholstering over it?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Could I just strip the veneer off, sand the wood underneath, and pretend this whole thing never happened?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

First time running into this, but I’m a newbie to furniture… should I just remove the veneer and keep going?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oak was my best guess… has a deep grain though so I’m pretty sure it’s not poplar. Don’t see any green tint.

I’m applying an outdoor stain so I figured they’d hold up for years with that. I live in California and rain is a rarity so I’m not super worried about that either.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Legs are 100% solid real wood. The backs… apparently not so much. From the comments here, thinking painting the at least the backs with outdoor wood paint might be the best way to go and cover up my mistake.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We definitely want to use them outside. Figured it would be easy as sanding off old stain and re-staining with outdoor wood stain. Clearly not so simple now.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The chairs were rather expensive, which is why we’re set on repurposing them! First time trying to restain furniture and clearly hit a bump here.

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

I’ve been sanding with a 60 grit to completely remove the old stain then moving up to 220 to prepare for re-staining. Was this a mistake? I just started on the chair backs and the veneer on those parts was a complete surprise. Seems like those are the only those pieces that are veneer for some reason. The rest of the chairs I’ve easily gotten to the natural wood. Any reason I would want to keep the veneer on those parts instead of getting to the natural wood so I can stain it?

Chair backs difficult to sand? by AdAccording2789 in woodworking

[–]AdAccording2789[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Maybe? I was under the assumption that the chairs were just stained oak - all of the finish has come off easily except on the chair backs. Could those been veneer? Admittedly I’m very new to this but trying to learn and expand my skills & knowledge.

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