I'm In The Middle Of Refinishing The Tops But The Summer Heat And Hummidity Have Put The Kabash On The Project Until Cooler Weather Returns. The Couple Hours Spent So Far Drenched Mr. M In Sweat...So We'll Wait For Lower Temps Before Continuing! Status: Almost There! Status:

I bought this sad little pair of Lane end tables at the Mid Century combined estate auction early this spring for a song.  Kinda got what I paid for though.  I figured they were priced about right to mess with learning proper sanding, staining and finishing work on.  Huh, turns out I was right!

Yes, these were a right proper mess.  But really, it's only the tops that have been so abused.  Doesn't seem like anything a couple pieces of sandpaper and a little elbow grease can't take care of!  Truth be told, I have another Lane coffee table that I've already sanded down and stained, and it turned out fantastic...but I failed to get any before pictures of it.  I just wanted to do a good before and after to perhaps inspire YOU to try this yourself.

It's not at all hard.  It's more about committing to the job than anything technique based that is hard.  I am a child of instant gratification...and refinishing a table is not the best place to look for that.  It's a multi step process.  Take for instance what you see here.  This is just the first of four steps.  The heavy sanding needed to remove the water ring stains and shallow scratches.

Looks pretty good for having just hit the tops with 120 grit sandpaper, right?  The bottom photo here is as such with just a wipe down of water to clean the dust off and reveal the grain.  It's a close approximation of what the pair will look like when the stain is applied.  But before we get there I've got to work on the imperfections a little more with the 120, fine sand with 220, clean all the dust off and let dry, apply the stain and let dry and Finally apply a coat of satin poly.  Whew...and here I am trying to convince You to try your hand!  But for real, it can be done and it's not all that hard.  Soon as I get these done I show you the finished product as well as the Lane coffee table that I did.