Project DIYModern Farmhouse Furniture Ep 2

Modern Farmhouse Furniture Ep 2 Step by step

• STEP: 1

  We are now in part 2 of the church pew restoration and revival. In case you missed part one, we went over how to properly use a chemical stripper, as well as use scrub pads to remove an existing finish off your furniture. Now we move on to step 2, which is surface preparation. There is a lot of important, as well as helpful information in this episode, but more importantly and what I'm really excited about is now we get to see exactly how beautiful our piece of oak really is! I'm super excited to get started, so let's get to it!

  
• STEP: 2

  In the last part, we had sectioned this piece off into smaller, workable sections. We are going to do that again with this step, starting with this side of the pew.

  
• STEP: 3

  Now, at one point, this was a finished piece of furniture. It was probably finished at 180 grit, so what we're going to do and what you're probably very excited to hear about is using two grits. We're going to start off with 150 grit. The reason for that being is that we want it to be aggressive enough to take off this top layer that still has some of our finish, but yet we still want it to be smooth enough so we're not backtracking in our project. I'm going to go ahead and get the orbital sander started and get to work!

  
• STEP: 4

  Sand with the grain and let the sander do the work

  
• STEP: 5

  Ok guys, I get asked this question all the time - how do I know if I've sanded long enough? Well, there is an actual formula for this, where you travel so many inches for so many seconds, but we are going to go ahead and simplify that using just a pencil. What we are going to do is we're going to start drawing on our surface. You can do circles. You can draw mountains. You can write your mom's name if you'd like. You can do what whatever you want, but the purpose is just to give it a thorough cover. Once you've reached that point, then we're going to start sanding.

  
• STEP: 6

  You can see the pencil lines starting to disappear as you sand. Then, once the pencil lines have completely disappeared, then you know that you're done with that grit and you are able to move on to the next one.

  
• STEP: 7

  A good tip to check your progress when sanding, is to take a clean cloth and saturate it either in denatured alcohol, or in odorless mineral spirits. What we are going to do is completely saturate our cloth here, and then we're going to generously apply it onto our surface. Now, what this is going to do is show you what your piece would look like with the natural finish, as well as show you any of your sanding imperfections. Just a great way to check and see how your progress is going.

  
• STEP: 8

  Now that you are done power sanding with 150 grit, now we're going to go back over and hand sand with 150 grit. The reason for this is because whenever we use an orbital sander, it can cause things called curly cues or pigtails on your surface. You may not see them now, but you definitely will whenever you go to finish it. The way to solve this is to go back over and hand sand. Now you can do this traditionally, using a sandpaper sheet, or our finishing blocks which are excellent for flat surfaces such as the back of the pew. My personal favorite are sanding sponges. I love them because they conform to surfaces really well. They're really durable and they last forever. We're going to get this sanded with 150 grit, and then we will be able to move on to the next step.

  
• STEP: 9

  Always tack off any dust between grits.

  
• STEP: 10

  Once you are done hand sanding with 150 grit, now is the time in the project we are going to go ahead and do repairs. The reason that we are doing this now is because now that you have taken off the top layer by sanding with 150 grit, you can truly see all of the imperfections in your project. What we are going to use is just a regular wood filler. This you can get at Lowe's. Very applicable for anybody. Considering these are small nail and screw holes, this works just perfect for that kind of job. The way that we are going to apply this, we're going to go ahead and over apply. The reason for that being is that we are going to come back when we sand with 180 grit, it will take it right down to where it needs to be.

  
• STEP: 11

  Now that we have sanded everything with 150 grit and done the repairs, it is time to move on to the 180 grit and then you will be completely finished with surface preparation. The reason we are stopping at 180 grit is because the surface is perfectly smooth, but yet we don't want to take the risk of going any higher because then the wood won't take the stain, which we are definitely doing in the next step of this project.

  
• STEP: 12

  Please stay tuned for the next installment. We will be adding some color to our project. We are also going to be doing some grain filling. Please continue to follow me on social media and if you have any questions or comments, drop me a line.